Financial advisers need to know that dangers lurk in the complex world of alternative investments and they must disclose these dangers to their clients. At present, many investment advisers are under pressure to sell alternative investments and are doing so in greater numbers than ever before. Alternative investments can include virtually any investment that is not a traditional stock or bond, such as gold or currency to mutual funds that employ hedges, leveraged exchange traded funds, options, short-selling, derivatives and nontraded REITs (“Stern Advice-Investors pressed to go alternative,” by Linda Stern, Reuters). “A majority of advisers — 66 percent of a mix of commissioned brokers and fee-only advisers — are inclined to employ alternative investment strategies, even for middle market clients,” according to the article, citing a study released earlier this month by Natixis Global Asset Management.