Investor Alerts and Bulletins

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to educate investors about ABLE accounts.

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 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 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).

This Investor Bulletin discusses only ETFs that are registered as open-end investment companies or unit investment trusts under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”). It does not address other types of exchange-traded products that are not registered under the 1940 Act, such as exchange traded commodity funds or exchange-traded notes.

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…

As a teacher, you have a number of choices to make when investing for retirement. The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to help teachers make informed investment decisions, including about 403(b) and 457(b) plans -- tax-advantaged retirement savings programs often offered to teachers of public educational institutions.  More information for teachers is available in our A Guide for Teachers: Saving and Investing for K-12 Educators.

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 Investor Bulletin to show investors how to use Investor.gov’s free and easy search tool to help you check out brokers and investment advisers.  Always research an investment professional—including confirming they are registered and whether they’ve had any disciplinary events—before deciding to work with them. 

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide investors information about the customer or client “relationship summary” (also called Form CRS and Form ADV Part 3) that broker-dealers and investment advisers are required to provide when they offer services to retail investors.

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.

Choosing an investment professional is an important decision. This updated Investor Bulletin provides a few key tips to help you make a well-informed choice. A number of questions you should consider asking before you hire an investment professional are in our investor bulletin “Questions to Ask When Hiring an Investment Professional.” Should you have any questions for us, feel free to call our toll-free investor assistance line at 1-800-SEC-0330 or use our online question web form at https://www.sec.gov/oiea/QuestionsAndComments.html.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this investor bulletin to explain how to check out an investment professional’s registration status and background.

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 educate investors about variable annuities and how they work.

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 provide investors basic information about index funds.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to answer some common questions investors ask us about investment clubs.