Posts belonging to Category Investment Malpractice
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 20, 2013
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has finally joined the crowd in warning investors about the risks of bonds and bond funds in the current environment. If FINRA is worried about bonds, the end may be near. FINRA may be late in warning investors about bond and bond fund risks say financial advisers, but investors […]
Categories: Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Church Bonds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mutual Funds, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 18, 2013
LPL Financial, the country’s largest independent broker-dealer, is encountering serious problems involving its sales of alternative investments. LPL is also (not coincidentally) one of the country’s largest sellers of alternative investment products. In 2011, LPL sold $758,435,677 of variable annuities (which are considered by most industry observers as being alternative investments) and $110,643,148 of other […]
Categories: Alternative Funds, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Closed End Funds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Crowd Funding, Derivatives, Disciplinary Actions, Elder Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Life Policies/Viatical Settlements, Limited Partnerships, LPL Financial, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Regulatory Developments, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Supervisory Failures, Tenant-in-Common Interests, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 18, 2013
Georgia’s elected officials and legislators are ‘dropping the ball’ when it comes to protecting members of the public from investment fraud. State securities regulators have historically been the first line of defense against securities fraud. In recent years, however, lack of funding and resources have crippled the Georgia Securities Division, which is responsible for protecting […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 15, 2013
Citigroup, one bank that has been accused of scamming investors in CDO transactions, appears to have been scammed by another Wall Street Bank, UBS, that engaged in similar activity. The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent lawsuit against Standard & Poor’s has identified dozens of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) that were allegedly given the highest AAA […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, CDOs, Citigroup/Smith Barney, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mortgage Backed Securities, Mortgage Securities & Collateralized Debt Obligation Problems, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, UBS
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 13, 2013
Investment scams targeting senior citizens continue to proliferate in Georgia and across the country. In fact, the Atlanta Journal Constitution recently published an article dealing with financial fraud perpetrated against seniors. The article (“Financial fraud scams target Georgia seniors”) focused on an 81 year-old lady who was the victim of a ponzi scheme. A ponzi […]
Categories: Affinity Fraud, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Economy, Elder Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Life Policies/Viatical Settlements, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, Private Investments/Reg D, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 13, 2013
InvestmentNews recently published a lengthy excerpt from Simon Lack’s book entitled “The Hedge Fund Mirage: The illusion of Big Money and Why It’s Too Good to be True” (“Hedge funds benefit insiders only”). Mr. Lack studied the matter and concluded that the appeal of hedge funds has no sensible basis. While there are occasional shooting […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Citigroup Hedge Funds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 12, 2013
The biggest problem with exchange traded funds is the fact that they can be traded, according to Vanguard Funds Founder and index fund proponent John Bogle. The ability to trade ETFs plays into one of the top ten mistakes made by investors. That mistake – trying to time the market. Market timing is speculation, not […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Churning, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 12, 2013
Individual investors who sold and fled the stock market are starting to buy stocks again as stock prices have risen significantly off their lows in March 2009. According to contrarian philosophy, the return of panic sellers to the market is a sign of a market top and an imminent correction. If so, retail investors will […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Economy, Elder Abuses, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Market Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 5, 2013
Experts are seeing signs of bubbles in stocks, bonds and farmland. This froth is basically the result of the Federal Reserve’s policy of credit easing – implemented primarily by its purchase of Treasuries and mortgage securities, which lowers interest rates and drives investors into riskier assets. The Fed’s primary reason for doing this is to […]
Categories: Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Economy, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Market Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Stocks
Posted by Alan PerryonJanuary 21, 2013
Leo Wells, CEO of Wells Real Estate Funds, told broker-dealers that his firm will not register any new nontraded REITs pending new guidelines that are expected to be published by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). He indicated that his firm needs “clarity” before marketing any new products (“All’s not well as Wells halts REIT […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, REITs, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Unsuitable Recommendations
