FINRA Investor News

December 2, 2003
 

NASD Announces $10-Million Investor Education Fund

 

NASD Chairman and CEO Robert R. Glauber announced today the establishment of the NASD Investor Education Foundation, whose mission will be to provide investors with high-quality, easily accessible information and tools to better understand investing and the markets. The Foundation, which will have an initial endowment of $10 million, is a response to both the current environment in the markets and a recent survey conducted by NASD that showed investors still have a number of fundamental questions and misunderstandings about important investment issues. Grants from the Foundation will be used solely to fund educational programs, materials and research aimed at segments of the investing public who could benefit from additional resources.


In announcing the Foundation, NASD Chairman and CEO Bob Glauber said, "NASD has long been committed to investor education. Our investment in the Foundation makes that commitment clear and responds to a desire by investors for information that can help them create a more secure future for themselves and their families."


To learn more about the Foundation, please read the press release.

 

 

NASD BrokerCheck

 

NASD also makes available at no charge a service that allows the public to check the professional background and history of brokers and securities firms. In 2002, members of the public used this service to conduct more than 2.5 million searches for existing brokers or firms and requested almost 200,000 reports in cases where disclosable information existed on that individual or company. In order to help spread the word more broadly about this service, NASD also announced today that NASD has now changed the name of this program from the Public Disclosure Program to NASD BrokerCheck. Investors can link directly to the program by going online to www.nasdbrokercheck.com. Investors can also continue to access this service by calling 1-800-289-9999.

 

 

Past Issues of Investor News Available

 

Previous issues of Investor News are now available on our Web site.

    

NASD Releases Results of Investor Survey

 

Investor Knowledge Quiz Available on NASD's Web Site


NASD today released the results of an investor survey conducted last spring.


Among the key findings of the survey:

 

  • An overwhelming 97 percent of investors realize they need to be better informed about investing. And nearly half of the participants said they could have avoided a negative experience had they known more about investing.

  • Nearly 50 percent thought stock market losses were insured.

  • Seventy percent of investors failed to understand that when you buy on margin, you can lose all of your investment even if the value of your shares does not go to zero.

  • Nearly 80 percent did not understand fully the meaning of "no load" mutual funds.

  • Almost 70 percent did not know why municipal bonds offer lower pre-tax yields.

A survey summary is also available for those who want to learn more about the questions and the findings.


NASD has posted the survey's financial literacy questions as an online quiz for anyone who wants to test their knowledge.

 

 

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