Posts belonging to Category Alternative Investments
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 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
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 4, 2013
Recent warnings regarding dangers in the bond market were recently issued by bond maestro Bill Gross. These warnings are reminiscent of Alan Greenspan’s implicit warning in a 1996 speech when he asked: “How do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values, which then become subject to unexpected and prolonged contractions?” Specifically, Mr. […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Church Bonds, 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, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Life Policies/Viatical Settlements, Limited Partnerships, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Private Investments/Reg D, Promissory Notes, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 26, 2013
The financial world continues to beat the drum warning investors about the risk of bonds. When interest rates rise (or when the market believes a significant rise in interest rates is imminent) bond prices will fall, and investors in bond funds and individual bonds will suffer declines in value and/or losses. Retirees and others, who […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Bonds, 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, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Limited Partnerships, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mutual Funds, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Promissory Notes, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Tenant-in-Common Interests, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 25, 2013
On February 8, 2013, a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel ordered Deutsche Bank and its former registered representative, Karl Hahn, to pay $934,000 to a couple who had sought to recover $2,193,931 for losses associated with the improper sale of premium-financed life insurance. The award included $100,000 in attorney’s fees. Hahn worked in […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Deutsche Bank, Early Retirement Scams, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Insurance Products, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 20, 2013
Investors in search of fixed income have poured money into a variety of alternative investments, including nontraded real estate investment trusts (REITs). Alternative investments encompass most investments other than traditional stocks and bonds and mutual funds that hold stocks and/or bonds. There are three basic clusters of problems that investors who are considering these products […]
Categories: Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, CDOs, Closed End Funds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Crowd Funding, Derivatives, 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, 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, Supervisory Failures, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
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 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
