Commonwealth Financial Network was subpoenaed by Massachusetts in connection with a sweep investigation, which is looking into sales practices involving alternative investments sold to seniors. Commonwealth Financial Network's principal office is located in Waltham, Massachusetts. On July 10, 2013, the state's securities division sent the subpoena to Commonwealth Financial Network asking for information on sales of the products to state residents who are 65 or over. Some of the non-traditional investments include oil and gas partnerships, private placements, structured products, hedge funds, and tenant-in-common offerings. The state demanded information from Commonwealth Financial Network on any such products that have been sold over the past year, the investors who purchased them, the commissions generated, how the sales were reviewed, and all relevant compliance, training and marketing materials - Commonwealth Financial Network has until July 24 to respond. The state added that being on the list of targeted firms does not indicate wrongdoing.
Although non-traded REITs were not part of the information request, Massachusetts has expressed its heightened concern "that the senior marketplace is being targeted for the sales of these high-risk, esoteric products," Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin said in a statement. The state has already cracked down on a number of firms for alleged improper sales of non-traded REITs. In February 2013, the state reached a settlement with LPL Financial to pay at least $2 million in restitution and $500,000 in fines related to the sale of non-traded REITs. In May 2013, it settled REIT cases with Ameriprise Financial Services Inc., Commonwealth Financial Network, Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., Royal Alliance Associates Inc. and Securities America Inc. The five firms agreed to pay a total of $6.1 million in restitution to investors and fines totaling $975,000.
Senior investors have become the targets of unscrupulous brokers, investment advisors and insurance agents. This is due in part to the fact that as we age, our ability to understand newer and complex investments diminishes every year. Therefore, senior retirement savings are ripe for picking and an epidemic of fraud is underway all across America. As a result many states, such as Massachusetts, have enacted laws with harsh penalties and are performing investigative sweeps to protect senior investors.
Broker-dealers have a duty to protect senior investors from broker misconduct by establishing and implementing an adequate supervisory system to oversee sales practices. If broker-dealers do not so, they may be liable to senior investors for damages flowing from an unreasonable recommendation and sale. Are you a senior investor suffering losses in your Commonwealth Financial Network account due to an unreasonable recommendation and sale by your broker? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation. Mr. Pearce is accepting clients with valid claims against Commonwealth Financial Network stockbrokers who may have engaged in misconduct and caused investors losses.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Showing posts with label Alternative Investments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alternative Investments. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Sunday, October 20, 2013
INVESTORS NATIONWIDE BEWARE OF ALTERNATIVE BOND FUNDS!
Alternative bond funds, which are typically touted as strategic-income funds, have been marketed to financial advisers or stockbrokers as a way to avoid the risk of rising interest rates, which concerns bond or fixed income investors. Most alternative bond funds, however, were unable to live up to that potential.
Generally, alternative bond funds have the ability to sell short and invest across a variety of markets in order to lessen the blow of rising rates, but those strategies came up short as the 10-year Treasury's yield shot up 46 basis points in May 2013. On average, the funds finished the month with a 0.46% loss. The largest alternative bond fund, the $26 billion Pimco Unconstrained Bond Fund (PUBAX), lost 0.54%, which was worse than the category's average.
Recent interest rate movements were the first real test for alternative bond funds, and the results were unremarkable. Nadia Papagiannis, a Morningstar Inc. mutual fund analyst, said "the reason for the one-month performance woes essentially boils down to the managers not being hedged against rising rates - the funds are basically long credit with the option to hedge." Ms. Papagiannis added that "most of the time, they're not hedged." So, what advisers in these funds are betting on is that the managers will be able to time the market when it comes time to hedge. "That's hard to do," Ms. Papagiannis said.
Have you suffered losses in alternative bond funds sold to you by your broker? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation. Mr. Pearce is accepting clients with valid claims against stockbrokers who recommended unsuitable investments and unsuitable investment strategies that caused investors losses.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Generally, alternative bond funds have the ability to sell short and invest across a variety of markets in order to lessen the blow of rising rates, but those strategies came up short as the 10-year Treasury's yield shot up 46 basis points in May 2013. On average, the funds finished the month with a 0.46% loss. The largest alternative bond fund, the $26 billion Pimco Unconstrained Bond Fund (PUBAX), lost 0.54%, which was worse than the category's average.
Recent interest rate movements were the first real test for alternative bond funds, and the results were unremarkable. Nadia Papagiannis, a Morningstar Inc. mutual fund analyst, said "the reason for the one-month performance woes essentially boils down to the managers not being hedged against rising rates - the funds are basically long credit with the option to hedge." Ms. Papagiannis added that "most of the time, they're not hedged." So, what advisers in these funds are betting on is that the managers will be able to time the market when it comes time to hedge. "That's hard to do," Ms. Papagiannis said.
Have you suffered losses in alternative bond funds sold to you by your broker? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation. Mr. Pearce is accepting clients with valid claims against stockbrokers who recommended unsuitable investments and unsuitable investment strategies that caused investors losses.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
CAN I RECOVER MY RETAIL PROPERTIES OF AMERICA REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST LOSSES?
Many investors in the Retail Properties of America, Inc. REIT, formerly the non-traded Inland Western REIT, have inquired about their ability to recover their losses after learning about the results of the recent Initial Public Offering (IPO) to ostensibly give them liquidity to sell their non-traded Inland Western REIT interests. The Retail Properties of America, Inc. REIT, f/k/a Inland Western REIT, IPO fell well short of its estimated pre-offering price of $12. After the reverse-stock-split, the $8 offering price only yielded original investors a split-adjusted value of $3 per share-a loss of over 70% of their original investments. As a result, many claims are being filed by Retail Properties of America, Inc. REIT, f/k/a Inland Western REIT, and other REIT investors for misrepresentation, unsuitable recommendations and/or overconcentrations of their investment funds in Retail Properties of America, Inc. REIT, f/k/a Inland Western REIT, and other REIT investments to recover their REIT losses.
At first blush, one may think that the best claim is against the Retail Properties of America, Inc. REIT, f/k/a Inland Western REIT, itself and its management but one needs to remember why they first invested. Undoubtedly, the Retail Properties of America, Inc., f/k/a Inland Western REIT, and other REIT investments were recommended by your brokerage firm and financial advisor who have a fiduciary duty to not misrepresent or omit to state important facts, perform due diligence on any REIT and first make sure that the investment is suitable at all for any investor and then specifically ensure that the investment is appropriate in light of the investor's actual age, investment experience, investment objectives, tax and financial condition. If the brokerage firm and its advisor fail in fulfilling any one of these duties under common law and under the FINRA Code of Conduct, investors will have the right to recover their investment losses against them through a FINRA arbitration proceeding and/or court if no arbitration agreement has been executed.
The most common misrepresentation and misleading statement claims that Retail Properties of America, Inc. REIT, f/k/a Inland Western REIT, and other REIT investors have been making relate to the risk associated with the non-traded REITs. Many investors have complained that the Retail Properties of America, Inc. REIT, f/k/a Inland Western REIT and other REITs were not adequately represented before purchase and that they did not know the real truth about the valuations, performance, prospects, liquidity, or distribution and redemption practices of management relating to their investment. Many elderly investors seeking income were overconcentrated in the Retail Properties of America, Inc. REIT, f/k/a Inland Western REIT and other REITs because they needed income. Sadly they learned too late that there were no guarantees that distributions would be made. Some REIT investors have just learned that they would no longer be receiving distributions or that the distributions they actually received were derived from loans and not the true cash flow of the REIT. Brokerage firms and their financial advisors were eager to push REIT investments on their clients for the high commissions compared to other products. Unfortunately, many investors are locked in and unable to sell their REIT investments without suffering without selling into deeply discounted secondary market for some other REIT investments. If you are a Retail Properties of America, Inc. REIT, f/k/a Inland Western REIT investor with the same complaints, we believe we can help you recover your REIT losses!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
At first blush, one may think that the best claim is against the Retail Properties of America, Inc. REIT, f/k/a Inland Western REIT, itself and its management but one needs to remember why they first invested. Undoubtedly, the Retail Properties of America, Inc., f/k/a Inland Western REIT, and other REIT investments were recommended by your brokerage firm and financial advisor who have a fiduciary duty to not misrepresent or omit to state important facts, perform due diligence on any REIT and first make sure that the investment is suitable at all for any investor and then specifically ensure that the investment is appropriate in light of the investor's actual age, investment experience, investment objectives, tax and financial condition. If the brokerage firm and its advisor fail in fulfilling any one of these duties under common law and under the FINRA Code of Conduct, investors will have the right to recover their investment losses against them through a FINRA arbitration proceeding and/or court if no arbitration agreement has been executed.
The most common misrepresentation and misleading statement claims that Retail Properties of America, Inc. REIT, f/k/a Inland Western REIT, and other REIT investors have been making relate to the risk associated with the non-traded REITs. Many investors have complained that the Retail Properties of America, Inc. REIT, f/k/a Inland Western REIT and other REITs were not adequately represented before purchase and that they did not know the real truth about the valuations, performance, prospects, liquidity, or distribution and redemption practices of management relating to their investment. Many elderly investors seeking income were overconcentrated in the Retail Properties of America, Inc. REIT, f/k/a Inland Western REIT and other REITs because they needed income. Sadly they learned too late that there were no guarantees that distributions would be made. Some REIT investors have just learned that they would no longer be receiving distributions or that the distributions they actually received were derived from loans and not the true cash flow of the REIT. Brokerage firms and their financial advisors were eager to push REIT investments on their clients for the high commissions compared to other products. Unfortunately, many investors are locked in and unable to sell their REIT investments without suffering without selling into deeply discounted secondary market for some other REIT investments. If you are a Retail Properties of America, Inc. REIT, f/k/a Inland Western REIT investor with the same complaints, we believe we can help you recover your REIT losses!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
CAN I RECOVER MY WELLS TIMBERLAND REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST LOSSES?
Many investors in the non-traded Wells Timberland REIT have inquired about their ability to recover their losses after learning that their fund is no longer valued as much as they were previously led to believe. As a result, many claims are being filed by Wells Timberland REIT and other REIT investors for misrepresentation, unsuitable recommendations and/or overconcentrations of their investment funds in the Wells Timberland REIT and other REIT investments to recover their REIT losses.
At first blush, one may think that the best claim is against the Wells Timberland REIT itself and its management but one needs to remember why they first invested. Undoubtedly, the Wells Timberland REIT and other REIT investments were recommended by your brokerage firm and financial advisor who have a fiduciary duty to not misrepresent or omit to state important facts, perform due diligence on any REIT and first make sure that the investment is suitable at all for any investor and then specifically ensure that the investment is appropriate in light of the investor's actual age, investment experience, investment objectives, tax and financial condition. If the brokerage firm and its advisor fail in fulfilling any one of these duties under common law and under the FINRA Code of Conduct, investors will have the right to recover their investment losses against them through a FINRA arbitration proceeding and/or court if no arbitration agreement has been executed.
The most common misrepresentation and misleading statement claims that Wells Timberland REIT and other REIT investors have been making relate to the risk associated with the non-traded REITs. Many investors have complained that the Wells Timberland REIT and other REITs were not adequately represented before purchase and that they did not know the real truth about the valuations, performance, prospects, liquidity, or distribution and redemption practices of management relating to their investment. Many elderly investors seeking income were overconcentrated in Wells Timberland and other REITs because they needed income. Sadly they learned too late that there were no guarantees that distributions would be made. Some REIT investors have just learned that they would no longer be receiving distributions or that the distributions they actually received were derived from loans and not the true cash flow of the REIT. Brokerage firms and their financial advisors were eager to push REIT investments on their clients for the high commissions compared to other products. Unfortunately, many investors are locked in and unable to sell their REIT investments without suffering without selling into deeply discounted secondary market for some other REIT investments. If you are a Wells Timberland REIT investor with the same complaints, we believe we can help you recover your REIT losses!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
At first blush, one may think that the best claim is against the Wells Timberland REIT itself and its management but one needs to remember why they first invested. Undoubtedly, the Wells Timberland REIT and other REIT investments were recommended by your brokerage firm and financial advisor who have a fiduciary duty to not misrepresent or omit to state important facts, perform due diligence on any REIT and first make sure that the investment is suitable at all for any investor and then specifically ensure that the investment is appropriate in light of the investor's actual age, investment experience, investment objectives, tax and financial condition. If the brokerage firm and its advisor fail in fulfilling any one of these duties under common law and under the FINRA Code of Conduct, investors will have the right to recover their investment losses against them through a FINRA arbitration proceeding and/or court if no arbitration agreement has been executed.
The most common misrepresentation and misleading statement claims that Wells Timberland REIT and other REIT investors have been making relate to the risk associated with the non-traded REITs. Many investors have complained that the Wells Timberland REIT and other REITs were not adequately represented before purchase and that they did not know the real truth about the valuations, performance, prospects, liquidity, or distribution and redemption practices of management relating to their investment. Many elderly investors seeking income were overconcentrated in Wells Timberland and other REITs because they needed income. Sadly they learned too late that there were no guarantees that distributions would be made. Some REIT investors have just learned that they would no longer be receiving distributions or that the distributions they actually received were derived from loans and not the true cash flow of the REIT. Brokerage firms and their financial advisors were eager to push REIT investments on their clients for the high commissions compared to other products. Unfortunately, many investors are locked in and unable to sell their REIT investments without suffering without selling into deeply discounted secondary market for some other REIT investments. If you are a Wells Timberland REIT investor with the same complaints, we believe we can help you recover your REIT losses!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
CAN I RECOVER MY WELLS REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST LOSSES?
Many investors in the non-traded Wells REIT have inquired about their ability to recover their losses after learning that their fund is no longer valued as much as they were previously led to believe. As a result, many claims are being filed by Wells REIT and other REIT investors for misrepresentation, unsuitable recommendations and/or overconcentrations of their investment funds in Wells REIT and other REIT investments to recover their REIT losses.
At first blush, one may think that the best claim is against the Wells REIT itself and its management but one needs to remember why they first invested. Undoubtedly, the Wells REIT and other REIT investments were recommended by your brokerage firm and financial advisor who have a fiduciary duty to not misrepresent or omit to state important facts, perform due diligence on any REIT and first make sure that the investment is suitable at all for any investor and then specifically ensure that the investment is appropriate in light of the investor's actual age, investment experience, investment objectives, tax and financial condition. If the brokerage firm and its advisor fail in fulfilling any one of these duties under common law and under the FINRA Code of Conduct, investors will have the right to recover their investment losses against them through a FINRA arbitration proceeding and/or court if no arbitration agreement has been executed.
The most common misrepresentation and misleading statement claims that the Wells REIT and other REIT investors have been making relate to the risk associated with the non-traded REITs. Many investors have complained that Wells REIT and other REITs were not adequately represented before purchase and that they did not know the real truth about the valuations, performance, prospects, liquidity, or distribution and redemption practices of management relating to their investment. Many elderly investors seeking income were overconcentrated in Wells REIT and other REITs because they needed income. Sadly they learned too late that there were no guarantees that distributions would be made. Some REIT investors have just learned that they would no longer be receiving distributions or that the distributions they actually received were derived from loans and not the true cash flow of the REIT. Brokerage firms and their financial advisors were eager to push REIT investments on their clients for the high commissions compared to other products. Unfortunately, many investors are locked in and unable to sell their REIT investments without suffering without selling into deeply discounted secondary market for some other REIT investments. If you are a Wells REIT investor with the same complaints, we believe we can help you recover your REIT losses!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
At first blush, one may think that the best claim is against the Wells REIT itself and its management but one needs to remember why they first invested. Undoubtedly, the Wells REIT and other REIT investments were recommended by your brokerage firm and financial advisor who have a fiduciary duty to not misrepresent or omit to state important facts, perform due diligence on any REIT and first make sure that the investment is suitable at all for any investor and then specifically ensure that the investment is appropriate in light of the investor's actual age, investment experience, investment objectives, tax and financial condition. If the brokerage firm and its advisor fail in fulfilling any one of these duties under common law and under the FINRA Code of Conduct, investors will have the right to recover their investment losses against them through a FINRA arbitration proceeding and/or court if no arbitration agreement has been executed.
The most common misrepresentation and misleading statement claims that the Wells REIT and other REIT investors have been making relate to the risk associated with the non-traded REITs. Many investors have complained that Wells REIT and other REITs were not adequately represented before purchase and that they did not know the real truth about the valuations, performance, prospects, liquidity, or distribution and redemption practices of management relating to their investment. Many elderly investors seeking income were overconcentrated in Wells REIT and other REITs because they needed income. Sadly they learned too late that there were no guarantees that distributions would be made. Some REIT investors have just learned that they would no longer be receiving distributions or that the distributions they actually received were derived from loans and not the true cash flow of the REIT. Brokerage firms and their financial advisors were eager to push REIT investments on their clients for the high commissions compared to other products. Unfortunately, many investors are locked in and unable to sell their REIT investments without suffering without selling into deeply discounted secondary market for some other REIT investments. If you are a Wells REIT investor with the same complaints, we believe we can help you recover your REIT losses!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
CAN I RECOVER MY KBS REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST LOSSES?
Many investors in the non-traded KBS I and II REITs have inquired about their ability to recover their losses after learning that their fund is no longer valued as much as they were previously led to believe. Additionally, KBS REIT investors were told that they would no longer be receiving any distributions. As a result, many claims are being filed by KBS REIT and other REIT investors for misrepresentation, unsuitable recommendations and/or overconcentrations of their investment funds in KBS REIT and other REIT investments to recover their REIT losses.
At first blush, one may think that the best claim is against the KBS REIT itself and its management but one needs to remember why they first invested. Undoubtedly, the KBS REIT and other REIT investments were recommended by your brokerage firm and financial advisor who have a fiduciary duty to not misrepresent or omit to state important facts, perform due diligence on any REIT and first make sure that the investment is suitable at all for any investor and then specifically ensure that the investment is appropriate in light of the investor's actual age, investment experience, investment objectives, tax and financial condition. If the brokerage firm and its advisor fail in fulfilling any one of these duties under common law and under the FINRA Code of Conduct, investors will have the right to recover their investment losses against them through a FINRA arbitration proceeding and/or court if no arbitration agreement has been executed.
The most common misrepresentation and misleading statement claims that the KBS REIT and other REIT investors have been making relate to the risk associated with the non-traded REITs. Many investors have complained that the KBS REIT and other REITs were not adequately represented before purchase and that they did not know the real truth about the valuations, performance, prospects, liquidity, or distribution and redemption practices of management relating to their investment. Many elderly investors seeking income were overconcentrated in the KBS REITs and other REITs because they needed income. Sadly they learned too late that there were no guarantees that distributions would be made. Some REIT investors have just learned that they would no longer be receiving distributions or that the distributions they actually received were derived from loans and not the true cash flow of the REIT. Brokerage firms and their financial advisors were eager to push REIT investments on their clients for the high commissions compared to other products. Unfortunately, many investors are locked in and unable to sell their REIT investments without suffering without selling into deeply discounted secondary market for some other REIT investments. If you are a KBS REIT investor with the same complaints, we believe we can help you recover your REIT losses!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
At first blush, one may think that the best claim is against the KBS REIT itself and its management but one needs to remember why they first invested. Undoubtedly, the KBS REIT and other REIT investments were recommended by your brokerage firm and financial advisor who have a fiduciary duty to not misrepresent or omit to state important facts, perform due diligence on any REIT and first make sure that the investment is suitable at all for any investor and then specifically ensure that the investment is appropriate in light of the investor's actual age, investment experience, investment objectives, tax and financial condition. If the brokerage firm and its advisor fail in fulfilling any one of these duties under common law and under the FINRA Code of Conduct, investors will have the right to recover their investment losses against them through a FINRA arbitration proceeding and/or court if no arbitration agreement has been executed.
The most common misrepresentation and misleading statement claims that the KBS REIT and other REIT investors have been making relate to the risk associated with the non-traded REITs. Many investors have complained that the KBS REIT and other REITs were not adequately represented before purchase and that they did not know the real truth about the valuations, performance, prospects, liquidity, or distribution and redemption practices of management relating to their investment. Many elderly investors seeking income were overconcentrated in the KBS REITs and other REITs because they needed income. Sadly they learned too late that there were no guarantees that distributions would be made. Some REIT investors have just learned that they would no longer be receiving distributions or that the distributions they actually received were derived from loans and not the true cash flow of the REIT. Brokerage firms and their financial advisors were eager to push REIT investments on their clients for the high commissions compared to other products. Unfortunately, many investors are locked in and unable to sell their REIT investments without suffering without selling into deeply discounted secondary market for some other REIT investments. If you are a KBS REIT investor with the same complaints, we believe we can help you recover your REIT losses!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
CAN I RECOVER MY CIP LEVERAGED FUND ADVISORS REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST LOSSES?
Many investors in the non-traded CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT have inquired about their ability to recover their losses after learning that their fund is no longer valued as much as they were previously led to believe. As a result, many claims are being filed by CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT and other REIT investors for misrepresentation, unsuitable recommendations and/or overconcentrations of their investment funds in CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT and other REIT investments to recover their REIT losses.
At first blush, one may think that the best claim is against the CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT itself and its management but one needs to remember why they first invested. Undoubtedly, the CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT and other REIT investments were recommended by your brokerage firm and financial advisor who have a fiduciary duty to not misrepresent or omit to state important facts, perform due diligence on any REIT and first make sure that the investment is suitable at all for any investor and then specifically ensure that the investment is appropriate in light of the investor's actual age, investment experience, investment objectives, tax and financial condition. If the brokerage firm and its advisor fail in fulfilling any one of these duties under common law and under the FINRA Code of Conduct, investors will have the right to recover their investment losses against them through a FINRA arbitration proceeding and/or court if no arbitration agreement has been executed.
The most common misrepresentation and misleading statement claims that the CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT and other REIT investors have been making relate to the risk associated with the non-traded REITs. Many investors have complained that the CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT and other REITs were not adequately represented before purchase and that they did not know the real truth about the valuations, performance, prospects, liquidity, or distribution and redemption practices of management relating to their investment. Many elderly investors seeking income were overconcentrated in the CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT and other REITs because they needed income. Sadly they learned too late that there were no guarantees that distributions would be made. Some REIT investors have just learned that they would no longer be receiving distributions or that the distributions they actually received were derived from loans and not the true cash flow of the REIT. Brokerage firms and their financial advisors were eager to push REIT investments on their clients for the high commissions compared to other products. Unfortunately, many investors are locked in and unable to sell their REIT investments without suffering without selling into deeply discounted secondary market for some other REIT investments. If you are a CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT investor with the same complaints, we believe we can help you recover your REIT losses!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
At first blush, one may think that the best claim is against the CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT itself and its management but one needs to remember why they first invested. Undoubtedly, the CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT and other REIT investments were recommended by your brokerage firm and financial advisor who have a fiduciary duty to not misrepresent or omit to state important facts, perform due diligence on any REIT and first make sure that the investment is suitable at all for any investor and then specifically ensure that the investment is appropriate in light of the investor's actual age, investment experience, investment objectives, tax and financial condition. If the brokerage firm and its advisor fail in fulfilling any one of these duties under common law and under the FINRA Code of Conduct, investors will have the right to recover their investment losses against them through a FINRA arbitration proceeding and/or court if no arbitration agreement has been executed.
The most common misrepresentation and misleading statement claims that the CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT and other REIT investors have been making relate to the risk associated with the non-traded REITs. Many investors have complained that the CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT and other REITs were not adequately represented before purchase and that they did not know the real truth about the valuations, performance, prospects, liquidity, or distribution and redemption practices of management relating to their investment. Many elderly investors seeking income were overconcentrated in the CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT and other REITs because they needed income. Sadly they learned too late that there were no guarantees that distributions would be made. Some REIT investors have just learned that they would no longer be receiving distributions or that the distributions they actually received were derived from loans and not the true cash flow of the REIT. Brokerage firms and their financial advisors were eager to push REIT investments on their clients for the high commissions compared to other products. Unfortunately, many investors are locked in and unable to sell their REIT investments without suffering without selling into deeply discounted secondary market for some other REIT investments. If you are a CIP Leveraged Fund Advisors REIT investor with the same complaints, we believe we can help you recover your REIT losses!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
CAN I RECOVER MY BLUE RIVER ADVANTAGED (MUNICIPAL ARBITRAGE) FUND LOSSES?
The Blue River Advantaged Muni Fund I was a so-called municipal arbitrage bond fund created by Blue River Asset Management. It was called an "arbitrage" fund and many investors were misled into believing that it was relatively risk free, a safe or conservative investment fund. But it was nothing of the sort. It was a highly leveraged and speculative structured credit product that many believe to have been misrepresented and mismanaged.
The so-called municipal bond "arbitrage" strategy was a very complex investment strategy involving multiple investments in the tax exempt and taxable fixed income markets. The fund managers invested in long tax exempt municipal bonds and, in effect, shorted the equivalent of taxable corporate bonds utilizing libor swap contracts and swaptions. The key to the success of the strategy was "market timing" and the "continued correlation" of the tax exempt municipal bond yields and the libor swap contract yields. It was originally used by many banks as a short term trading strategy. But many firms like Blue River converted it to a flawed long term buy and hold strategy to maximize their own sales commissions and management fees.
In August 2007, the handwriting was on the wall for the "muni-arbitrage" funds. It was time to sell not buy. It was not the time to launch new funds or increase the leverage of the funds. The "continued correlation" of the tax-exempt and taxable fixed income market yields had collapsed. The lack of correlation and the high leverage was a recipe for disaster. Nevertheless the "muni-arbitrage" fund managers proceeded with the investment strategy full steam in derogation of their fiduciary duties to investors.
Blue River blamed the unforeseen and unprecedented market conditions as the reason for the collapse of the so-called "muni-arbitrage" funds in 2008. Nothing could be further from the truth, the funds were rocked in August 2007 and fund managers were put on clear notice of the dangerous market conditions and risk of loss. The real cause of the collapse was the fund managers' reckless disregard of the key factors of the strategy, "correlation" and "market timing," in relation to market conditions. As a result, many investors have commenced arbitration proceedings and recovered their losses due to misrepresentations and mismanagement of the so-called muni-arbitrage funds.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
The so-called municipal bond "arbitrage" strategy was a very complex investment strategy involving multiple investments in the tax exempt and taxable fixed income markets. The fund managers invested in long tax exempt municipal bonds and, in effect, shorted the equivalent of taxable corporate bonds utilizing libor swap contracts and swaptions. The key to the success of the strategy was "market timing" and the "continued correlation" of the tax exempt municipal bond yields and the libor swap contract yields. It was originally used by many banks as a short term trading strategy. But many firms like Blue River converted it to a flawed long term buy and hold strategy to maximize their own sales commissions and management fees.
In August 2007, the handwriting was on the wall for the "muni-arbitrage" funds. It was time to sell not buy. It was not the time to launch new funds or increase the leverage of the funds. The "continued correlation" of the tax-exempt and taxable fixed income market yields had collapsed. The lack of correlation and the high leverage was a recipe for disaster. Nevertheless the "muni-arbitrage" fund managers proceeded with the investment strategy full steam in derogation of their fiduciary duties to investors.
Blue River blamed the unforeseen and unprecedented market conditions as the reason for the collapse of the so-called "muni-arbitrage" funds in 2008. Nothing could be further from the truth, the funds were rocked in August 2007 and fund managers were put on clear notice of the dangerous market conditions and risk of loss. The real cause of the collapse was the fund managers' reckless disregard of the key factors of the strategy, "correlation" and "market timing," in relation to market conditions. As a result, many investors have commenced arbitration proceedings and recovered their losses due to misrepresentations and mismanagement of the so-called muni-arbitrage funds.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
CAN I RECOVER MY ANCHOR CAPITAL (MUNICIPAL ARBITRAGE) FUND LOSSES?
The Anchor Capital Fund and Anchor Capital Fund II was a so-called municipal arbitrage bond fund created by Anchor Capital Group. It was called an "arbitrage" fund and many investors were misled into believing that it was relatively risk free, a safe or conservative investment fund. But it was nothing of the sort. It was a highly leveraged and speculative structured credit product that many believe to have been misrepresented and mismanaged.
The so-called municipal bond "arbitrage" strategy was a very complex investment strategy involving multiple investments in the tax exempt and taxable fixed income markets. The fund managers invested in long tax exempt municipal bonds and, in effect, shorted the equivalent of taxable corporate bonds utilizing libor swap contracts and swaptions. The key to the success of the strategy was "market timing" and the "continued correlation" of the tax exempt municipal bond yields and the libor swap contract yields. It was originally used by many banks as a short term trading strategy. But many firms like Anchor Capital converted it to a flawed long term buy and hold strategy to maximize their own sales commissions and management fees.
In August 2007, the handwriting was on the wall for the "muni-arbitrage" funds. It was time to sell not buy. It was not the time to launch new funds or increase the leverage of the funds. The "continued correlation" of the tax-exempt and taxable fixed income market yields had collapsed. The lack of correlation and the high leverage was a recipe for disaster. Nevertheless the "muni-arbitrage" fund managers proceeded with the investment strategy full steam in derogation of their fiduciary duties to investors.
Anchor Capital blamed the unforeseen and unprecedented market conditions as the reason for the collapse of the so-called "muni-arbitrage" funds in 2008. Nothing could be further from the truth, the funds were rocked in August 2007 and fund managers were put on clear notice of the dangerous market conditions and risk of loss. The real cause of the collapse was the fund managers' reckless disregard of the key factors of the strategy, "correlation" and "market timing," in relation to market conditions. As a result, many investors have commenced arbitration proceedings and recovered their losses due to misrepresentations and mismanagement of the so-called muni-arbitrage funds.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
The so-called municipal bond "arbitrage" strategy was a very complex investment strategy involving multiple investments in the tax exempt and taxable fixed income markets. The fund managers invested in long tax exempt municipal bonds and, in effect, shorted the equivalent of taxable corporate bonds utilizing libor swap contracts and swaptions. The key to the success of the strategy was "market timing" and the "continued correlation" of the tax exempt municipal bond yields and the libor swap contract yields. It was originally used by many banks as a short term trading strategy. But many firms like Anchor Capital converted it to a flawed long term buy and hold strategy to maximize their own sales commissions and management fees.
In August 2007, the handwriting was on the wall for the "muni-arbitrage" funds. It was time to sell not buy. It was not the time to launch new funds or increase the leverage of the funds. The "continued correlation" of the tax-exempt and taxable fixed income market yields had collapsed. The lack of correlation and the high leverage was a recipe for disaster. Nevertheless the "muni-arbitrage" fund managers proceeded with the investment strategy full steam in derogation of their fiduciary duties to investors.
Anchor Capital blamed the unforeseen and unprecedented market conditions as the reason for the collapse of the so-called "muni-arbitrage" funds in 2008. Nothing could be further from the truth, the funds were rocked in August 2007 and fund managers were put on clear notice of the dangerous market conditions and risk of loss. The real cause of the collapse was the fund managers' reckless disregard of the key factors of the strategy, "correlation" and "market timing," in relation to market conditions. As a result, many investors have commenced arbitration proceedings and recovered their losses due to misrepresentations and mismanagement of the so-called muni-arbitrage funds.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
CAN I RECOVER MY INLAND WESTERN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST LOSSES?
Many investors in the non-traded Inland Western REIT (now known as Retail Properties of America, Inc.) have inquired about their ability to recover their losses after learning that their fund is no longer valued as much as they were previously led to believe. As a result, many claims are being filed by Inland Western REIT and other REIT investors for misrepresentation, unsuitable recommendations and/or overconcentrations of their investment funds in Inland Western REIT and other REIT investments to recover their REIT losses.
At first blush, one may think that the best claim is against the Inland Western REIT itself and its management but one needs to remember why they first invested. Undoubtedly, the Inland Western REIT and other REIT investments were recommended by your brokerage firm and financial advisor who have a fiduciary duty to not misrepresent or omit to state important facts, perform due diligence on any REIT and first make sure that the investment is suitable at all for any investor and then specifically ensure that the investment is appropriate in light of the investor's actual age, investment experience, investment objectives, tax and financial condition. If the brokerage firm and its advisor fail in fulfilling any one of these duties under common law and under the FINRA Code of Conduct, investors will have the right to recover their investment losses against them through a FINRA arbitration proceeding and/or court if no arbitration agreement has been executed.
The most common misrepresentation and misleading statement claims that the Inland Western REIT and other REIT investors have been making relate to the risk associated with the non-traded REITs. Many investors have complained that Inland Western REIT and other REITs were not adequately represented before purchase and that they did not know the real truth about the valuations, performance, prospects, liquidity, or distribution and redemption practices of management relating to their investment. Many elderly investors seeking income were overconcentrated in Inland Western REITs and other REITs because they needed income. Sadly they learned too late that there were no guarantees that distributions would be made. Some REIT investors have just learned that they would no longer be receiving distributions or that the distributions they actually received were derived from loans and not the true cash flow of the REIT. Brokerage firms and their financial advisors were eager to push REIT investments on their clients for the high commissions compared to other products. Unfortunately, many investors are locked in and unable to sell their REIT investments without suffering without selling into deeply discounted secondary market for some other REIT investments. If you are an Inland Western REIT investor with the same complaints, we believe we can help you recover your REIT losses!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
At first blush, one may think that the best claim is against the Inland Western REIT itself and its management but one needs to remember why they first invested. Undoubtedly, the Inland Western REIT and other REIT investments were recommended by your brokerage firm and financial advisor who have a fiduciary duty to not misrepresent or omit to state important facts, perform due diligence on any REIT and first make sure that the investment is suitable at all for any investor and then specifically ensure that the investment is appropriate in light of the investor's actual age, investment experience, investment objectives, tax and financial condition. If the brokerage firm and its advisor fail in fulfilling any one of these duties under common law and under the FINRA Code of Conduct, investors will have the right to recover their investment losses against them through a FINRA arbitration proceeding and/or court if no arbitration agreement has been executed.
The most common misrepresentation and misleading statement claims that the Inland Western REIT and other REIT investors have been making relate to the risk associated with the non-traded REITs. Many investors have complained that Inland Western REIT and other REITs were not adequately represented before purchase and that they did not know the real truth about the valuations, performance, prospects, liquidity, or distribution and redemption practices of management relating to their investment. Many elderly investors seeking income were overconcentrated in Inland Western REITs and other REITs because they needed income. Sadly they learned too late that there were no guarantees that distributions would be made. Some REIT investors have just learned that they would no longer be receiving distributions or that the distributions they actually received were derived from loans and not the true cash flow of the REIT. Brokerage firms and their financial advisors were eager to push REIT investments on their clients for the high commissions compared to other products. Unfortunately, many investors are locked in and unable to sell their REIT investments without suffering without selling into deeply discounted secondary market for some other REIT investments. If you are an Inland Western REIT investor with the same complaints, we believe we can help you recover your REIT losses!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
CAN I RECOVER MY INLAND AMERICAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST LOSSES?
Many investors in the non-traded Inland American REIT have inquired about their ability to recover their losses after learning that their fund is no longer valued as much as they were previously led to believe. As a result, many claims are being filed by Inland American and other REIT investors for misrepresentation, unsuitable recommendations and/or overconcentrations of their investment funds in Inland American and other REIT investments to recover their REIT losses.
At first blush, one may think that the best claim is against the Inland American REIT itself and its management but one needs to remember why they first invested. Undoubtedly, the Inland American REIT and other REIT investments were recommended by your brokerage firm and financial advisor who have a fiduciary duty to not misrepresent or omit to state important facts, perform due diligence on any REIT and first make sure that the investment is suitable at all for any investor and then specifically ensure that the investment is appropriate in light of the investor's actual age, investment experience, investment objectives, tax and financial condition. If the brokerage firm and its advisor fail in fulfilling any one of these duties under common law and under the FINRA Code of Conduct, investors will have the right to recover their investment losses against them through a FINRA arbitration proceeding and/or court if no arbitration agreement has been executed.
The most common misrepresentation and misleading statement claims that the Inland American REIT and other REIT investors have been making relate to the risk associated with the non-traded REITs. Many investors have complained that the Inland American REIT and other REITs were not adequately represented before purchase and that they did not know the real truth about the valuations, performance, prospects, liquidity, or distribution and redemption practices of management relating to their investment. Many elderly investors seeking income were overconcentrated in Inland American REITs and other REITs because they needed income. Sadly they learned too late that there were no guarantees that distributions would be made. Some REIT investors have just learned that they would no longer be receiving distributions or that the distributions they actually received were derived from loans and not the true cash flow of the REIT. Brokerage firms and their financial advisors were eager to push REIT investments on their clients for the high commissions compared to other products. Unfortunately, many investors are locked in and unable to sell their REIT investments without suffering without selling into deeply discounted secondary market for some other REIT investments. If you are an Inland American REIT investor with the same complaints, we believe we can help you recover your REIT losses!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
At first blush, one may think that the best claim is against the Inland American REIT itself and its management but one needs to remember why they first invested. Undoubtedly, the Inland American REIT and other REIT investments were recommended by your brokerage firm and financial advisor who have a fiduciary duty to not misrepresent or omit to state important facts, perform due diligence on any REIT and first make sure that the investment is suitable at all for any investor and then specifically ensure that the investment is appropriate in light of the investor's actual age, investment experience, investment objectives, tax and financial condition. If the brokerage firm and its advisor fail in fulfilling any one of these duties under common law and under the FINRA Code of Conduct, investors will have the right to recover their investment losses against them through a FINRA arbitration proceeding and/or court if no arbitration agreement has been executed.
The most common misrepresentation and misleading statement claims that the Inland American REIT and other REIT investors have been making relate to the risk associated with the non-traded REITs. Many investors have complained that the Inland American REIT and other REITs were not adequately represented before purchase and that they did not know the real truth about the valuations, performance, prospects, liquidity, or distribution and redemption practices of management relating to their investment. Many elderly investors seeking income were overconcentrated in Inland American REITs and other REITs because they needed income. Sadly they learned too late that there were no guarantees that distributions would be made. Some REIT investors have just learned that they would no longer be receiving distributions or that the distributions they actually received were derived from loans and not the true cash flow of the REIT. Brokerage firms and their financial advisors were eager to push REIT investments on their clients for the high commissions compared to other products. Unfortunately, many investors are locked in and unable to sell their REIT investments without suffering without selling into deeply discounted secondary market for some other REIT investments. If you are an Inland American REIT investor with the same complaints, we believe we can help you recover your REIT losses!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
WATCH OUT INVESTORS--"STERN ADVICE" ON ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS
Alternative investments can include virtually any investment that is not a traditional stock or bond, such as gold or currency to mutual funds that employ hedges, leveraged exchange traded funds, options, short-selling, derivatives and non-traded REITs ("Stern Advice-Investors pressed to go alternative," by Linda Stern, Reuters). "A majority of advisers -- 66 percent of a mix of commissioned brokers and fee-only advisers -- are inclined to employ alternative investment strategies, even for middle market clients," according to the article, citing a study released earlier this month by Natixis Global Asset Management. Financial advisers need to know that dangers lurk in the complex world of alternative investments and they must disclose these dangers to their clients.
Unfortunately, few sellers of alternatives have an in-depth understanding of these complex products and are thus unable to explain the risks to investors. Many alternative investments use derivatives and options to try to achieve their goals. It takes an expert to understand how they work. For instance, options are priced using a complex mathematical formula that won its creators a Nobel prize.
As a group, alternative investments lack a ready secondary market and therefore tend to be illiquid. Moreover, some of them (private equity, natural resource limited partnerships, and real estate) have lengthy lock-up periods during which sales are prohibited.
A major driving force behind the effort to sell alternative investments is the high fees associated with them. Hedge funds, for example, were dubbed by Warren Buffett as "manager compensation schemes." Alternatives also come with high expenses. Consequently, it takes an extraordinary return just to break even.
Some alternative investments like structured notes put all of the investor's principal at risk. Investors in so-called "100% principal protection" notes issued by Lehman Brothers lost almost all of their value after Lehman's bankruptcy. It turned out that the notes, which were sold by other firms, were really just the unsecured obligations of Lehman Brothers.
Investors should beware of the hype associated with alternative investments. They are too risky and complex for most investors.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Unfortunately, few sellers of alternatives have an in-depth understanding of these complex products and are thus unable to explain the risks to investors. Many alternative investments use derivatives and options to try to achieve their goals. It takes an expert to understand how they work. For instance, options are priced using a complex mathematical formula that won its creators a Nobel prize.
As a group, alternative investments lack a ready secondary market and therefore tend to be illiquid. Moreover, some of them (private equity, natural resource limited partnerships, and real estate) have lengthy lock-up periods during which sales are prohibited.
A major driving force behind the effort to sell alternative investments is the high fees associated with them. Hedge funds, for example, were dubbed by Warren Buffett as "manager compensation schemes." Alternatives also come with high expenses. Consequently, it takes an extraordinary return just to break even.
Some alternative investments like structured notes put all of the investor's principal at risk. Investors in so-called "100% principal protection" notes issued by Lehman Brothers lost almost all of their value after Lehman's bankruptcy. It turned out that the notes, which were sold by other firms, were really just the unsecured obligations of Lehman Brothers.
Investors should beware of the hype associated with alternative investments. They are too risky and complex for most investors.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
WATCH OUT INVESTORS--EXOTIC ETFS CAN BLOW UP YOUR PORTFOLIO
Look at Morningstar's list of the 20 best-performing ETFs year-to-date. These ETFs, which have shot up between 22% and 112% so far this year, could just as quickly lose that much and more. They may be liquid, but it is no place for the average investor to be. They are all ultra-high-risk speculative ETFs that are designed for day-trading and use leverage, short-selling and derivatives to try to achieve returns, or are niche-specialty exchange traded funds. To give you an idea of what they are talking about, the top five are:
ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Natural Gas
Direxion Daily Nat Gas Rltd Bear 3X Shares
Direxion Daily Retail Bull 3X Shares
ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Crude Oil
ProShares Ultra Nasdaq Biotechnology.
And it's ultra-high risk all the way down to number 20 and beyond.
Investors who cannot afford to lose (or are unwilling to lose) every penny of their "investment" have no business buying such ETFs, and financial advisers have a legal obligation not to recommend the purchase of these kinds of ETFs to most investors. According to Morningstar, investors should "beware" of specialty ETFs and use care (to say the least) in considering leveraged ETFs.
Investors and their advisers need to be wary and skeptical of ultra-high-risk securities and misleading sales pitches that seek to entice them to invest in them. These ETFs are about gambling, not investing.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Natural Gas
Direxion Daily Nat Gas Rltd Bear 3X Shares
Direxion Daily Retail Bull 3X Shares
ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Crude Oil
ProShares Ultra Nasdaq Biotechnology.
And it's ultra-high risk all the way down to number 20 and beyond.
Investors who cannot afford to lose (or are unwilling to lose) every penny of their "investment" have no business buying such ETFs, and financial advisers have a legal obligation not to recommend the purchase of these kinds of ETFs to most investors. According to Morningstar, investors should "beware" of specialty ETFs and use care (to say the least) in considering leveraged ETFs.
Investors and their advisers need to be wary and skeptical of ultra-high-risk securities and misleading sales pitches that seek to entice them to invest in them. These ETFs are about gambling, not investing.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Monday, November 12, 2012
WATCH OUT INVESTORS--DON'T GET PUSHED INTO ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT MUTUAL FUNDS
Investors have been misled into believing that alternative investment mutual funds will deliver short-term positive returns in any type of market conditions. There have been two bear markets since 2000 and the S&P 500 stock index is almost 10 percent lower today than it was in 2000. Investors have not forgotten and are desperately exploring viable investment options. According to John Waggoner (USA Today), investors' fear and loathing of the stock market has resulted in $182 billion in outflows from actively managed stock mutual funds since the bottom in March 2009, and record inflows into various alternative investment mutual funds ("Funds Craft Lures for Skittish Investors"). They include "long-short" funds, which both buy some stocks and sell other stocks short; volatility funds, which bet on how violently the market lurches in one direction or the other; bear funds, which sell short in the belief that markets will fall in the short term; and absolute return funds, which speculate in risky securities like commodities, foreign currencies, and emerging markets.
In the past 12 months, however, the S&P 500 has returned 4.6 percent, but market neutral funds are down 1.4 percent, long-short funds are down 2.7 percent, currency funds are down 5.4 percent, and multi-alternative funds are down 2.6 percent, according to the article, citing Morningstar.
And so, why should investors allow advisors to push them into investments they don't understand, that employ new and untested strategies and the highest fees and expenses? Don't jump into alternative investment mutual funds simply because you're disappointed with your stock and bond mutual funds. If you do, the new alternative investment track record indicates you will only be disappointed!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
In the past 12 months, however, the S&P 500 has returned 4.6 percent, but market neutral funds are down 1.4 percent, long-short funds are down 2.7 percent, currency funds are down 5.4 percent, and multi-alternative funds are down 2.6 percent, according to the article, citing Morningstar.
And so, why should investors allow advisors to push them into investments they don't understand, that employ new and untested strategies and the highest fees and expenses? Don't jump into alternative investment mutual funds simply because you're disappointed with your stock and bond mutual funds. If you do, the new alternative investment track record indicates you will only be disappointed!
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
WATCH OUT INVESTORS--HEDGE FUND-LIKE MUTUAL FUNDS UNDERPERFORM THE MARKET
Hedge fund-like mutual funds are "today's hottest yet least rewarding strategy," according to Lewis Braham ("Serving Up Disappointment," Bloomberg Markets). They use market-neutral, long-short, managed-futures and other alternative strategies. The long and short of it is that they cost more and may return less than an index fund. Expenses can be as high as 6.7 percent.
Highbridge Statistical Market Neutral mutual fund is a case in point. The fund was created by JP Morgan hedge fund managers, and holds $866 million in equal portions of long and short positions, according to the article. During the seven years from inception through March 2012, its annualized return was 1.2 percent - compared to 4.1 percent for the S&P 500 stock index. That dismal return put it at the head of the class of 255 hedged U.S. mutual funds.
Alternative investments have been pitched as a panacea to investors who have lost faith in traditional stock and bond investments. Observers say the flow of investor funds into alternatives has begun to slow due to poor performance, high fees, valuation issues and illiquidity.
Have you suffered any hedge fund-like mutual fund losses? If so, call the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Highbridge Statistical Market Neutral mutual fund is a case in point. The fund was created by JP Morgan hedge fund managers, and holds $866 million in equal portions of long and short positions, according to the article. During the seven years from inception through March 2012, its annualized return was 1.2 percent - compared to 4.1 percent for the S&P 500 stock index. That dismal return put it at the head of the class of 255 hedged U.S. mutual funds.
Alternative investments have been pitched as a panacea to investors who have lost faith in traditional stock and bond investments. Observers say the flow of investor funds into alternatives has begun to slow due to poor performance, high fees, valuation issues and illiquidity.
Have you suffered any hedge fund-like mutual fund losses? If so, call the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Friday, October 12, 2012
SEC AND FINRA GIVE LIP SERVICE TO WALL STREET'S FAILURE TO PERFORM ADEQUATE DUE DILIGENCE
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has issued a number of notices to its member firms reminding them of their obligation to perform due diligence before recommending an investment. However, it has been our experience that, despite these "reminders," firms often fail to perform adequate due diligence, essentially accepting the promoter's assertions about the offering uncritically. Lack of due diligence has resulted in significant losses to investors, regulatory actions, lawsuits and arbitrations by aggrieved investors. Ultimately, the failure to perform due diligence has resulted in the collapse of numerous smaller broker-dealers under the weight of their legal liabilities.
Broker-dealers are also required to provide training sufficient to ensure that their registered representatives have a thorough understanding of the securities they sell. Again, firms have failed miserably in this regard. Over and over, representatives have demonstrated a lack of understanding of structured products, non-traded REITs, and other private investments, and have often frankly admitted that they just followed sales scripts.
In the midst of these problems, which have existed for a long time, an SEC official was quoted as saying, "We're looking at due diligence." ("SEC warns B-Ds to do their homework," by Bruce Kelly, InvestmentNews). 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 and the cons) about the investment so that it can explain them to potential investors. The process by which the selling firm investigates a potential investment and learns the material facts about it is called due diligence. Due diligence is particularly important in recommending complex, non-publicly traded investments such as nontraded REITs.
The reasons why there is a lot of "looking at" the problem and little, if any, effective action being taken are twofold. First, many regard the SEC as a captive agency because of its revolving door and chummy relationship with Wall Street. Second, even assuming the SEC has the right kind of culture to take on Wall Street, there is a lack of political will in Washington to provide the necessary resources for successful regulation and oversight - perhaps because a majority of politicians in Washington are afraid to bite the hand that feeds them political contributions. There is no money in investor protection.
In the meantime, the SEC will continue to "look into" the lack of effective due diligence and the myriad other problems on Wall Street, and occasionally ask brokers whether they understand what they are selling - thereby putting the onus on ordinary investors to perform due diligence on the brokerage firms that promise, in their advertising, to be their expert guides through the bewildering maze of financial and investment decisions.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Mr. Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. Our law firm is devoted to protecting investors' rights nationwide! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
Broker-dealers are also required to provide training sufficient to ensure that their registered representatives have a thorough understanding of the securities they sell. Again, firms have failed miserably in this regard. Over and over, representatives have demonstrated a lack of understanding of structured products, non-traded REITs, and other private investments, and have often frankly admitted that they just followed sales scripts.
In the midst of these problems, which have existed for a long time, an SEC official was quoted as saying, "We're looking at due diligence." ("SEC warns B-Ds to do their homework," by Bruce Kelly, InvestmentNews). 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 and the cons) about the investment so that it can explain them to potential investors. The process by which the selling firm investigates a potential investment and learns the material facts about it is called due diligence. Due diligence is particularly important in recommending complex, non-publicly traded investments such as nontraded REITs.
The reasons why there is a lot of "looking at" the problem and little, if any, effective action being taken are twofold. First, many regard the SEC as a captive agency because of its revolving door and chummy relationship with Wall Street. Second, even assuming the SEC has the right kind of culture to take on Wall Street, there is a lack of political will in Washington to provide the necessary resources for successful regulation and oversight - perhaps because a majority of politicians in Washington are afraid to bite the hand that feeds them political contributions. There is no money in investor protection.
In the meantime, the SEC will continue to "look into" the lack of effective due diligence and the myriad other problems on Wall Street, and occasionally ask brokers whether they understand what they are selling - thereby putting the onus on ordinary investors to perform due diligence on the brokerage firms that promise, in their advertising, to be their expert guides through the bewildering maze of financial and investment decisions.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Mr. Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. Our law firm is devoted to protecting investors' rights nationwide! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
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