How Brokers’ Bonuses Can Lead To Ruin

In the past five years, five of the nation’s biggest investment firms spent at least $40 million to settle complaints filed by investors against brokers who accepted a bonus to change companiesAfter 26 years helping his clients try to get rich, Indiana securities broker James Madden thought it was his turn to make a lot of money when a recruiter from Raymond James offered him $150,000 — nearly twice his annual income — to shift his business to the Florida-based company.Madden said there was just one catch: Each time he failed to reach his sales quota in a three-month period, he would have to repay $7,500.Six months after cashing in his windfall, Madden was in trouble.