FINRA, SEC Issue Investor Alert on Pension and Structured Settlement Income Streams
(May 2013)
Last week, both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued investor alerts concerning pension and structured settlement income streams. The SEC's investor bulletin and FINRA's investor alert can be found online. We haven't discussed the potential problems surrounding pension or structured settlement income streams before, but these regulatory notices highlight some of the potential issues that we think are important for...
SEC and FINRA Issue Investor Alert RE: Year-End Investment Considerations
(Dec 2012)
Late last week, FINRA and the SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy issued an investor alert encouraging investors to take stock of their investments and finances at year-end. This alert is rather brief, but offers sound advice to prevent disputes that could lead to the kind of arbitration or litigation we see every day.
In particular, the two regulatory bodies suggest reviewing asset allocations and consider rebalancing. Conventional wisdom tells us that investing in more than one...
Many ETF Issuers Consolidating Offerings
(Aug 2012)
As inflows to ETFs have exploded over the past few years, many issuers expanded their lineup of funds to take advantage of the increased investor interest. Some have tried to compete with established funds by creating funds with very similar exposure, while others have offered highly specific investment strategies in an attempt to capture a niche market.
In general the ETF market has exhibited a 'winner take all' pattern whereby the oldest and largest funds attract by far the most investor...
FINRA Investor Alert: Municipal Bonds
(Jun 2009)
Municipal Bonds-Staying on the Safe Side of the Street in Rough Times
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published an Investor Alert on municipal bonds. This provides a thorough background on municipal bonds and advice on investing.
There are certain risks in investing in municipal bonds. For example, the municipality issuing the municipal bonds can default, leading to the loss of some (if not all) interest and principal to the investor. This is called default risk....
FINRA Investor Alert: Auction Rate Securities
(Nov 2008)
Auction Rate Securities: What Happens When Auctions Fail
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published an Investor Alert on auction rate securities (ARS). This provides quite a thorough background on ARS, their auction mechanism and risks of failure, alternatives to ARS, and redemption and liquidity issues.
ARS are issued widely by institutions ranging from closed-end mutual funds, municipalities to student loan trusts. ARS are long-term floating rate securities whose...
