Posts belonging to Category Mutual Funds
Posted by Page PerryonJuly 10, 2012
JPMorgan financial advisers say that they were encouraged to push the firm’s proprietary products despite the availability of less expensive, better performing alternatives, and that the firm exaggerated the returns of at least one crucial offering (See “Former Brokers Say JPMorgan Favored Selling Banks’ Own Funds Over Others,” by Susanne Craig and Jessica Silver-Greenberg).
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Investor Rights, J. P. Morgan Chase, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mutual Funds, Securities, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonJune 14, 2012
Wall Street is adept at adjusting its marketing to the times and is never at a loss to pitch products, including those designed to play on investor fears. After all, that is what securities salespeople do. Many investments that Wall Street is currently calling “safe”, however, are actually both too risky and too costly, as […]
Categories: Alternative Funds, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mutual Funds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Stocks, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by Page PerryonJune 7, 2012
Investors in search of higher yields are increasingly being steered into funds that buy floating rate bank loans. They are pitched as paying 5% with little if any interest rate risk. However, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) warns that these loans come with significant risks, including potential credit, valuation and liquidity problems.
Categories: Alternative Investments, Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mutual Funds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Page PerryonJune 7, 2012
OppenheimerFunds has agreed to pay more than $35 million to settle SEC charges the investment management company and its sales and distribution arm made misleading statements about two of its mutual funds in the midst of the credit crisis in late 2008. The settlement payments consist of a penalty of $24 million, disgorgement of $9,879,706, […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities, Common Securities Broker Abuses, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mortgage Backed Securities, Mutual Funds, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation
Posted by Page PerryonJune 6, 2012
Investors need to be cautious when considering floating-rate bond funds. Such funds are attractive to investors because of their relatively high-yields and of their inflation-protection based on the fact that they are floating rate. With inflation running at 2.3 percent, and 10-year U.S. Treasuries paying 0.6 percent less than that, floating rate funds paying an […]
Categories: Alternative Funds, Alternative Investments, Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mutual Funds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, 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 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 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 8, 2012
Various well-respected market followers are beginning to sound alarm bells regarding municipal bonds and municipal bond funds. Investors and financial advisers are encouraged to take heed and proceed with caution.
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Economy, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, Market Developments, Municipal Bonds, Mutual Funds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools
Posted by Page PerryonJanuary 20, 2012
The dynamics of equity investing are changing and investors need to consider these changes when making investment decisions. Investors have pulled over $400 billion out of equity mutual funds since 2008, resulting assets of some of those funds being cut in half. Money has flowed into bond funds, but even more money (eight times as […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Economy, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, Market Developments, Mutual Funds, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Stocks