Thirteen years ago, financial adviser Mark Lamkin was "fired" by Donald J. Trump on the hit reality television show, The Apprentice.
Last month, he was fired — for real — by LPL Financial, his broker-dealer.
"In this boardroom, we've never had a team lose so badly," Mr. Trump said sternly as he faced Mr. Lamkin and three team members,
according to an October 2005 New York Post article. "You're all fired! All four are fired!"
LPL terminated Mr. Lamkin, in part, for failing to disclose outside business activities.
According to Mr. Lamkin's Form U5, the industry's termination notice, LPL discharged Mr. Lamkin in August for "receiving [a] loan from firm customer without firm approval, failure to disclose and incomplete disclosure of outside business activities, and personally engaging in and soliciting other investors to participate in private investment without obtaining firm approval."
Mr. Lamkin has one customer complaint
on his BrokerCheck profile. A customer alleges excessive selling of annuities, misrepresenting or failing to disclose material facts, unsuitability of products and alteration of account profiles. The alleged damages are $154,000.
He denies those allegations, according to BrokerCheck.
Mr. Lamkin declined to comment to
InvestmentNews. But on Friday he told a local business newspaper, Louisville Business First, that his firing stemmed from a disagreement with the firm.
The newspaper report characterizes Mr. Lamkin as a "high-profile wealth manager in Louisville."
"He invited two clients who were also personal friends to invest in a venture called Mission Athletecare more than 11 years ago," according to the report. "He argues that he did disclose it, but says LPL Financial doesn't believe he disclosed enough information."
"This was nothing more than a disagreement [on reporting]," Lamkin told the newspaper.
He is no longer working at a broker-dealer. Instead, he is affiliated with a registered investment adviser, AE Wealth Management.
AE Wealth Management "follows a standard process for the appointment of new investment adviser representatives," said the firm's president, Chris Radford, in an email. "This process includes a background review. AEWM's review committee reviewed Mr. Lamkin's file and determined that he satisfied our criteria for affiliation."
AE Wealth Management initially submitted Mr. Lamkin's application to register as an independent contractor, investment adviser rep with the firm and immediately received a temporary approval from the state of Kentucky, Mr. Radford said.
"He has since been moved to pending [approval] by the state as they have asked for additional information for the review," said Mr. Radford, adding that he is also joining the company's independent marketing organization group.
Mr. Lamkin had been with LPL since 2001. A spokesman for LPL, Jeff Mochal, declined to comment.
Even though he was fired from The Apprentice, Mr. Lamkin apparently remains a fan of President Trump.
In photos posted online at the Kentucky Derby, Mr. Lamkin is seen wearing a red, white and blue suit jacket that is plastered with images of Mr. Trump on the jacket.
