Investor Alerts and Bulletins

The SEC staff and FINRA are issuing this Alert because we believe individual investors may be confused about the performance objectives of leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

In recent years there have been changes in the technology used for communications between advisers and clients/prospective clients, the expectations of investors shopping for advisory services, and the nature of the investment advisory industry. The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to help investors understand what to expect in advertisements from advisers, especially in online reviews or on social media, in this changed landscape.

For World Investor Week 2022, investors, investment professionals, teachers, parents, researchers, and others are encouraged to make a special effort to promote investor resilience and sustainable finance.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to educate investors about investment performance claims.  If you are in the market for an investment, you will likely come across sales and marketing materials that describe an investment’s performance.  You should know that performance information can be presented in many different ways.  Before making a decision, always make sure you understand how any performance claim is calculated and presented – and whether or not the claim is reliable and applies to your particular circumstances.  Here are a few…

The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this bulletin to help investors understand what happens when a fund closes and distributes its assets, or “liquidates.”  

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the National Futures Association (NFA), and the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) are issuing this Investor Bulletin to highlight some key topics for World Investor Week 2021, a global campaign to raise awareness about the importance of investor education and protection.  From October 4-10, 2021, investors, investment professionals, teachers, parents, researchers, and others are enc

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide investors information about closed-end funds that are traded on national securities exchanges. It is important to understand them and their risks before investing.  

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide investors information about business development companies, or BDCs, that are traded on national securities exchanges. It is important to understand them before investing.  

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide investors information about interval funds. Interval funds are legally classified as closed-end funds, a type of investment company, but they have some distinctive features that make them different from typical closed-end funds. Some important features of interval funds are:                                                              

The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this bulletin to educate investors about indexed annuities. Indexed annuities are complex products. Investors should carefully read the indexed annuity contract, and any prospectus, before deciding whether to buy the annuity.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide investors information about funds that invest in leveraged loans. As with any investment, we urge you to make sure you understand these products and their risks before investing.

The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to educate investors about variable life insurance and how it works. This bulletin provides a general description of variable life insurance. The features of each policy may vary by product and by state.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide investors basic information about index funds.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to inform investors about features and potential risks of non-traditional index funds.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to answer questions that may arise when investing in a 529 plan account. Please also see our companion Bulletin, An Introduction to 529 Plans, for background information on the plans.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide investors with background information on 529 plans. Please also see our companion Bulletin for a few questions to consider before opening a 529 plan account.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide investors information about investment adviser sponsored wrap fee programs.  This bulletin provides basic information about wrap fee programs and some questions to consider asking your investment adviser before choosing to open an account in a wrap fee program.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide tips on what to consider when opening an investment advisory account.   Investment advisory accounts differ from brokerage accounts, which generally are governed by different rules and regulations.  For information on opening a brokerage account, please see our bulletin: How to Open a Brokerage Account. Before opening an account with any financial professional, you should always remember to check the individual or entity’s background and disciplinary history.  You can do this using the IAPD…

Investment advisers provide a wide range of advisory services and play an important role in helping individuals and institutions make significant financial decisions. To allow clients and prospective clients to evaluate the risks associated with a particular investment adviser, its business practices, and its investment strategies, it is essential that clients and prospective clients have clear disclosure that they are likely to read and understand.  Part 2 of Form ADV requires investment advisers to provide new and prospective clients with a brochure and brochure supplements written in plain…

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide investors with a short overview of the SEC’s IAPD database.  The IAPD database can be accessed through the Check Out Your Investment Professional search tool on Investor.gov. For information about checking out the background of financial professionals more generally, please see our Investor Bulletin, How to Select an Investment Professional.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to explain some of the most common mutual fund fees and expenses. As a general introduction to mutual fund fees and expenses, this Investor Bulletin does not identify all of the fees that you may pay to buy and own shares in a mutual fund. This Investor Bulletin will, however, familiarize you with some typical mutual fund fees and expenses and show you how those fees and expenses reduce the value of your fund’s investment return.