A former Vancouver Canucks player is suing his financial advisors after alleging they gave him disastrous financial advice.
In a notice of civil claim filed with the B.C. Supreme Court on Oct. 22, Jason Garrison claimed his advisors failed to take his circumstances into account while selling him expensive policies he did not need.
Garrison, who is from White Rock, signed on with the Canucks as a free-agent in 2012. He currently plays for the Swedish Hockey League.
The civil suit takes aim at the Richard Jones Financial Group, Richard Jones himself, the BMO Life Assurance Company, the IDC Worldsource Insurance Network, and a variety of other insurance agencies.
Garrison alleges that he hired Jones in 2013, the same year as he signed a six-year $27.6 million deal with the Vancouver Canucks.
At the time, the civil suit states, he “had no foreseeable risk of bankruptcy.”
Garrison alleges he hired Jones because he specialized in “short-term, high-income athletes,” and that in 2013, the hockey player had “limited experience with financial matters,” something Jones was aware of.
Garrison claimed that he was sold several multimillion insurance policies: a $10.3 million Transamerica Universal Life Policy in 2013, a $10 million BMO Insurance Universal Life policy in 2013, and another $10.3 million BMO Insurance Universal Life policy in 2016, as well as multiple other policies.
Garrison alleges Jones failed to do a “needs analysis,” which would have shown the hockey player did not need those policies.
The suit also alleges Jones and the agencies did not undertake a financial plan and “failed to sell suitable products… and [was] negligent in delivering professional services to the plaintiff.”
Garrison claims he was not told that the policies would invest more money than his entire net income from the six-year Canucks contract, with the final years of the 10-year deals “unbudgeted,” and unaffordable.
The plans Jones sold Garrison, court documents state, would cause “financial loss” to the hockey player after 10 years, and not result in $43.5 million in capital as the insurance agent had promised.
Garrison is suing for damages including premiums paid for life insurance policies, charges and penalties in terminating insurance contracts, interests paid on loans loss of opportunity and cost in mitigating his losses.
Neither Jones or any of the investment agencies have replied to the civil suits. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
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