Posts belonging to Category Hedge Funds
Posted by Page PerryonMay 24, 2012
Broker-dealers’ conflicts of interest and the proliferation of complex financial products being sold by financial advisers are the top areas of concern to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), according InvestmentNews (“Ketchum: Finra’s focus on conflicts of interest compounding,” by Bruce Kelly).
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Elder Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Limited Partnerships, 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, Tenant-in-Common Interests, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonMay 23, 2012
The Securities and Exchange Commission has identified broker-dealer due diligence as an area of high risk. Before recommending any investment, a brokerage firm is required by law to have a reasonable basis for believing the investment is suitable for customers to whom the investment is recommended, and for understanding all the material facts (the pros […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, CDOs, Churning, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, Private Investments/Reg D, Regulatory Developments, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonMay 18, 2012
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is showing stepped-up interest in the role of broker-dealers and individuals that act as wholesalers in the sale of private (Reg D) offerings that clients and often brokers do not fully understand. (See InvestmentNews article by Bruce Kelly entitled “Finra eyes wholesalers’ role in vending.”
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Limited Partnerships, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mutual Funds, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Regulatory Developments, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Tenant-in-Common Interests
Posted by Page PerryonMay 9, 2012
Wall Street is peddling snake oil ? new financial products that are the equivalent of bottles of medicine with labels like “Dr. Bartlett’s Beneficent Balm ? Boon to Mankind” ? and they should be regulated as such, according to University of Chicago professors Eric A. Posner and E. Glen Weyl. The FDA protects consumers from […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Asset Backed Securities, Brokerage Firms, CDOs, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Credit Default Swaps, Derivatives, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Hedge Funds, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, Investor Rights, Regulatory Developments, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes
Posted by Page PerryonApril 24, 2012
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has ordered Morgan Keegan to pay $633,715 to 10 pension plans that were victimized by a scheme in which Morgan Keegan received kickback payments for recommending funds of hedge funds to plan clients, according to an (See InvestmentNews article entitled “Morgan Keegan ripped by DOL over kickbacks”). Morgan Keegan’s […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, ERISA Fiduciaries and Claims, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Morgan Keegan, Raymond James, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation
Posted by Page PerryonMarch 27, 2012
The prospect of several more years of extremely low interest rates is causing people who depend on interest income to accept Wall Street’s recommendations to purchase relatively illiquid and opaque alternative investments like structured products, non-traded REITs, hedge funds and variable annuities. (“Itchy Investors Ramp Up the Risk,” Wall Street Journal). Regulators worry that the […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Derivatives, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Hedge Funds, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Limited Partnerships, Misrepresentation/Omission, Municipal Bonds, Mutual Funds, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, REITs, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonMarch 8, 2012
Could Wall Street’s role in creating the recent financial crisis boil down to something as simple as a conditioned reflex? Apparently so, according to William D. Cohan, a former investment banker. Cohen writes: Wall Street “rewards bankers and traders for the revenue they generate by constantly selling whatever comes across their desks, regardless of its […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, CDOs, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Financial Industry Whistleblowers, Hedge Funds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, Limited Partnerships, Mortgage Securities & Collateralized Debt Obligation Problems, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Structured Notes, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by Page PerryonFebruary 27, 2012
There has been a marked uptick in purchases of high-yield or junk bonds by retail investors. Junk bonds pay a higher interest rate to compensate investors for the increased risks of default, among other risks. So far this year, retail investors are have put $11.8 billion into junk bond mutual funds, $9.9 billion into investment […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Hedge Funds, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, Mutual Funds, Nontraded REITs, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools
Posted by Page PerryonFebruary 22, 2012
Former investment banker and financial writer William Cohan has written a blistering critique of the SEC’s settlement with former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, essentially accusing the SEC of abject surrender to the forces of evil and begging the judge to reject the settlement: “We are all worse off for […]
Categories: Asset Backed Securities, Bear Stearns, Bear Stearns Hedge Funds, Brokerage Firms, CDOs, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Hedge Funds, Investment Advisers, Mortgage Backed Securities, Mortgage Securities & Collateralized Debt Obligation Problems, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation
Posted by Page PerryonFebruary 6, 2012
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has issued a Regulatory Notice (12-03, Jan. 2012) to “remind” its member firms of their sales practice obligations with regard to complex products, and to provide them “guidance” in exercising heightened scrutiny and supervision over marketing and sales of complex products. Complex products are not defined in the Notice, but […]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Limited Partnerships, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mortgage Backed Securities, Nontraded REITs, REITs, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Stockbroker Standards of Conduct, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations