Investor Alerts

It’s no secret that when a promising company emerges or an industry sector becomes “hot,” investors typically flock to get a piece of the action. But what happens when the company is privately held and investors can’t readily buy shares because the company has not conducted an initial public offering of its stock? FINRA is issuing this alert to warn investors about pre-IPO scams purporting to offer access to shares of Facebook and other popular, well known private companies.

You may have received "spam" or junk email recommending you invest in a stock, perhaps even invest in that stock before it is first publicly offered for sale in an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

High-yield investment programs (HYIPs) are unregistered investments created and touted by unlicensed individuals. Typically offered through slick (and sometimes not-so-slick) websites, HYIPs dangle the contradictory promises of safety coupled with high, unsustainable rates of return—20, 30, 100 or more % per day—through vague or murky trading strategies. Virtually every HYIP we have seen bears hallmarks of fraud. We are issuing this alert to warn investors worldwide to stay away from HYIPs.

The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission and FINRA are issuing this alert to warn investors about potential scams that exploit the Gulf oil spill, which began in April 2010 with a blowout at an oil-drilling platform off the coast of Louisiana, and related cleanup efforts. While some of the companies touting their role in the cleanup may be legitimate, others could be bogus operations that are only looking to clean out unsuspecting investors.

FINRA and the FINRA Foundation aim to provide Americans with the tools and information they need to make sound financial choices. At the dawn of a new decade, here are 10 tips to help you stay on track with your finances.

FINRA is issuing this Alert to warn investors about green energy investment scams that dangle the promise of large gains from investing in companies purportedly involved in developing or producing alternative, renewable or waste energy products. To avoid putting your portfolio in the red, learn how to spot potential green energy scams and know where to turn for help.

The marketing efforts used by some variable annuity sellers deserve scrutiny - especially when seniors are the targeted investors. Sales pitches for these products might attempt to scare or confuse investors.

Lately, more and more seniors are hearing about opportunities to sell their existing life insurance for cash in transactions known as life settlements. A life settlement, or senior settlement, as they are sometimes called, involves selling an existing life insurance policy to a third party--a person or an entity other than the company that issued the policy--for more than the policy's cash surrender value, but less than the net death benefit.

Especially in a down market, investors may be tempted to try and avoid the trauma of seeing the reduced value of their holdings by not opening their statements for their brokerage, mutual fund, or 401(k) or other retirement plan accounts.

Buying mutual funds through a broker or other investment professional usually means choosing among different mutual fund classes. The only differences among these classes is how much you will pay in expenses and how much your broker will be paid for selling you the fund.

Before you consider investing in a registered fund of hedge funds, you should understand the features of these investments, how they are regulated, what risks are involved, and how you can get more information on them.