Posts belonging to Category Early Retirement Scams
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 28, 2013
Anastasios “Tommy” Belesis, owner of John Thomas Financial, a brokerage firm, and George R. Jarkesy Jr., a hedge fund manager, worked together to defraud investors in the John Thomas Bridge and Opportunity Fund LP I and John Thomas Bridge and Opportunity Fund LP II, according to a recently filed SEC complaint. The funds reportedly invested […]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 27, 2013
A decided majority (61%) of financial advisers do not provide their clients with a written investment policy statements. Such policy statements should, at a minimum, be based upon a number of suitability factors developed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Those factors include, but are not limited to, the client’s age, other investments, financial […]
Categories: A General Overview, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 26, 2013
A recent Wall Street Journal column advises money managers not to put more client money in municipal bonds. The column sets forth a number of risks and problems that it urged money managers to consider before placing clients’ money in these investments. First, municipal bonds’ tax-exempt status may be in political jeopardy (“Morning Call: Advisers […]
Categories: A General Overview, Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Municipal Bonds, Mutual Funds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 25, 2013
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), as well as the SEC and state regulators, have announced that they are concerned about broker/adviser sales practices involving alternative investments including variable annuities and equity-indexed annuities. They have the distribution of these complex products on their radar screens. On January 11, 2013, FINRA sent a letter to its […]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Promissory Notes, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 22, 2013
Prices of “junk” bonds keep rising as investors continue to buy the riskier debt. Yields on junk bonds, which move inversely to bond prices, settled at a record low of 5.56% recently. Demand for junk bonds is part of the yield-seeking behavior recommended by advisers to many fixed income investors, as they venture further out […]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Closed End Funds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Limited Partnerships, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Promissory Notes, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 21, 2013
Has the government gone too far in ignoring financial criminal conduct? Is the United States operating under an unspoken policy to refrain from prosecuting large financial institutions even if they believe criminal laws were violated? Are the regulators afraid that doing so might damage the economy? Those questions were raised in a recent Wall Street […]
Categories: A General Overview, Affinity Fraud, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Rights, Misrepresentation/Omission, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 18, 2013
Danger lies ahead for investors in structured products. Structured products were once used only by institutions and sophisticated investors that had the education, training and experience needed to fully understand these complex and opaque alternative investments. Over the past several years, however, structured products have been sold to individual investors, who do not understand the […]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Closed End Funds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Insurance Products, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Lehman Brothers, Limited Partnerships, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Promissory Notes, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 12, 2013
Regulators say they are continuing to focus on sales of complex alternative investments, including structured products, hedge funds and private-equity funds. The combination of persistent low interest rates and stock market volatility has led to investors being pushed into alternative products, and they are “a hot topic” with regulators. See White Paper on Alternative Investments […]
Categories: Early Retirement Scams
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 8, 2013
The problems of elder financial abuse and loss of cognitive faculties due to aging are on a steep upward trend. The inability to manage money and make sound financial decisions is one of the earliest indications of Alzheimer’s disease. Financial advisers should look out for clients who stop paying bills, seem addled about their assets, […]
Categories: Affinity Fraud, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by J. Boyd PageonMarch 6, 2013
Why do investors continue to be enamored with hedge funds and other alternative investments? The press recently reported that institutional investors are expected to increase allocations to hedge funs by 300% this year, and hedge fund assets are expected to increase by 11% to $2.5 trillion, according to the 11th annual survey of institutional investors […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Closed End Funds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Limited Partnerships, Market Developments, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Preferred Stocks, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
