Recovering Losses from Vora Wealth Management Structured Notes

If you were a client of Vora Wealth Management or worked with Dharmesh Vora in Flagstaff, Arizona, you may have seen your retirement savings significantly depleted due to investments in “Structured Notes” or “Equity-Linked Notes” (ELNs).

Many investors are only now discovering that the “guaranteed income” products they were sold were actually high-risk instruments that led to a collective loss of over $89 million. At The Securities Lawyers, we help investors navigate the FINRA arbitration process to recover losses caused by unsuitable recommendations and breaches of fiduciary duty.

The Problem: Concentration and Unsuitable Risks

According to a 2024 SEC enforcement action, Vora Wealth Management invested approximately 85% of its total assets under management—roughly $124 million—into structured notes tied to just four Nasdaq-listed stocks.

For many clients, particularly retirees, these investments were fundamentally unsuitable. Structured notes are complex derivatives; they are not simple bonds or CDs. In the case of Vora Wealth, these notes were often funded by liquidating safe annuities, replacing guaranteed growth with a “cliff” risk: if the underlying stocks dropped below a certain level, the interest payments stopped and the principal could be wiped out.

Do You Have a Claim?

Many investors don’t realize they have a claim because they believe market volatility is to blame for their losses. However, you may have a case for recovery if:

• Your portfolio was over-concentrated: Having 80% or more of your savings in a single type of complex product is rarely appropriate for a retail investor.
• Risks were downplayed: Were you told these notes were “safe” or “like a CD” while the advisor “touted” 18% to 32% interest rates?
• Lack of transparency: Many Vora clients reportedly never received a prospectus and only found out about the trades after seeing them on their account statements.
• Undisclosed Conflicts: The SEC found that Vora received undisclosed benefits from brokers, such as wine tastings and subsidized events, while funneling client money into these products.

How FINRA Arbitration Works

You don’t have to “sue” your advisor in a traditional court to get your money back. Most disputes are resolved through FINRA Arbitration. This is a private process designed to be faster and more efficient than a court trial.

In a recent case involving Vora-managed assets at Charles Schwab, arbitrators ordered the firm to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to investors for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty. This demonstrates that even if the advisor is barred (as Dharmesh Vora has been for three years), there may be other avenues for recovery, including claims against the custodians or firms that facilitated the trades.

When to Take Action

There are strict time limits (statutes of limitations) on how long you have to file a claim. If you suffered losses in Vora Wealth Management structured notes between 2020 and 2024, the time to act is now.

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