What is Churning?

In business, churning refers to a practice where a broker intentionally trades an investors securities at inconsistent rates different from investors investment objectives. If you are paying more on commission than what you are earning on your investment portfolio, then this is termed as churning.

How Does Churning Work?

Basically, a broker would use your investment money to make more commission for himself by charging excess rates on your securities. Churning is an illegal and unethical move in most jurisdictions. Brokers who practice this violate securities law and Sec rules (15c1-7). An investor can take action against the broker to ensure that he or she refunds all the paid commission. The refund also includes any other losses elicited by the broker. The court will look at the investments account turnover or the number of annual capital reinvestment. Initially, the buying and selling of a mutual fund that is actively traded are transacted once every six months. However, where churning is involved, all the investors assets are usually traded monthly or even frequently. Since a commission is paid to the broker for every transaction made, the investment account can be completely destroyed. Note that where trading is done in a fee-based account, it is not referred to as churning. However, when you put clients who traded less frequently into a fee-based brokerage account, it becomes reverse churning. This is because there is a fee which the clients are charged in their accounts in case of any transactions.

Churning Implications

Churning is a practice which can see investors incurring substantial losses in his investment account. In case the investment is generating profits, then you should expect tax liability on the profits. However, there is no commission generated from an investment portfolio trading in securities with less fluctuation in price and steady in returns. When it comes to such investments, it is not a good idea for brokers to trade their clients investment money.

How to Avoid Churning as an Investor

Basically, churning happens where a broker has authority from the investor to manage or maintain his or her investment account. However, if an investor can manage his or her own investment account instead of a broker, then churning can be prevented. Also, you can use the fee-based account to avoid churning. However, this may also result in reverse churning if a customer is placed in a fee-based account with little activity to justify the charges.

Types of Churning

Churning may exist in various types. Some of the common types of churning are as explained below:

• Excessive trading

This is the most common type of churning exercised by brokers to make commissions. This is where brokers inflate securities prices against the investors investment objectives to make a commission. If you notice that your investment account is paying excessive commission while there are fewer gains, know that churning has taken place.

• Excessive/Unnecessary trading on mutual funds and annuities

Note that mutual funds that have an upfront load also known as A-shares and they are long-term investments. Assume that you are trading on A-share fund within a period of five years. On the other hand, you are acquiring another A-share. In this case, you need to make a careful investment decision to be able to substantiate the two. If within a family, investors are allowed to switch fund without an upfront fee, then consideration of funds within the fund family is crucial. However, unlike mutual funds which have an upfront fee, retirement savings accounts also known as deferred annuities do not have. Instead, they have what is called contingent deferred surrender charges. These charges vary in schedules and can range from 1-10 years. There are exchange and replacement rules in most states put in place to prevent churning. These rules give investors an opportunity to make a comparison of the new contracts as well as surrender fees or penalties.

Churning Sanctions

Churning is a great offense though hard to prove. Where it can be proven churning may see those involved lose their jobs. There is also a possibility of exclusion from the industry for those involved in churning activities. In addition, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority may enforce a fine of about $5,000 to $110,000 on those involved in churning. The Finacial Industry Regulatory Authority (FIRA) has a right to suspend violators from the market for a period of 10 business days or even a year. In serious cases, the suspension can go up to 2 years.