Alternative investments

Catherine J. Weatherford has been named president and chief executive officer of NAVA, the Association for Insured Retirement Solutions, based in Reston, Va.

To the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), there are plenty of modern-day Willie Suttons eager to go "where the money is."Today, the money is largely held by seniors. Hence, regulators say, seniors are the targets of unscrupulous salespeople armed not with pistols, but with professional designations that exaggerate their competence or their concern for seniors' well-being.Now some of these individuals are being sought out not by potential clients, but by federal regulators, including the SEC and FINRA. These regulators are making it clear that advisors who use the word "senior" or various synonyms to transact business unethically are squarely in their sights. These individuals are "among [regulators'] top targets," says Tracy DeWald, general counsel at Securities America, a broker-dealer based in Omaha, Neb. "People age 60 and over are the biggest source of regulatory complaints."According to NASAA, some product salespeople using "senior" designations typically invite senior citizens to seminars where a free lunch is served along with a presentation on investments. Either at the seminar or through follow-up contacts, some advisors ultimately sell unsuitable investments to some of the attendees.In April, NASAA introduced a model rule on the use of senior- specific certifications and professional designations. This rule, which prohibits the misleading use of designations that include words like "senior" and "retiree," has already been adopted by the state of Washington. At press time, New Hampshire was set to adopt the rule and other states are likely to follow suit. A report issued last year by NASAA, FINRA and the SEC lists the popular Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) designation among those it considers misleading or confusing.Some broker-dealers have effectively banned reps from publishing senior-related credentials. Genworth Financial, for example, prohibits its employees and agents from using the CSA designation (the most common senior designation) on their business cards or in their marketing materials."We have a similar policy," says DeWald of Securities America. "In fact, we have lists of which designations are acceptable in published materials and which aren't. None of the 'senior' or 'elder' designations are on the accepted list. Some of our reps have these designations, which they can mention to clients in conversation. They can't put the letters behind their names to promote themselves."The CSA designation is conferred by the Society of Certified Senior Advisors (SCSA), which bills itself as the world's largest membership organization for professionals seeking to improve their skills in working with seniors. More than 9,500 advisors now hold a CSA designation.SCSA executives are quick to defend their organization."We're aware of regulators' concerns that certain professional designations may be misperceived by the public," compliance specialist Bill Kaluza says. "That's why SCSA requires each CSA to provide a written disclaimer to clients and potential clients."Are the CSAs telling the disclaimer to potential customers?"To date, we've had very little indication that CSAs are not using the statement," Kaluza said.

Rather than acquire or invest only in companies seen as turnarounds, private equity firms are increasingly attracted to the strength and high-net-worth retail customer base of asset management firms, a category they traditionally have sidestepped, Dow Jones reports.As Miguel Sagarna, a partner in the private equity group at KPMG, put it, “It’s a very scalable business, and it is a good quality product, it can grow fast with good margins.”And with so many banks and asset management firms looking to raise capital by selectively selling off divisions, private equity firms are seeing this as a great opportunity to take advantage of good prices. Some are even planning to build broad financial services operations, said William Kirsch, chairman of the private equity group at Paul Hastings.Certainly, private equity firms are looking to diversify their holdings, Sagarna agreed.However, since most private equity firms closely guard their business, it is likely they will run any asset management firms they acquire alongside their business, experts said. That does not mean that they may not still share information and research, Kirsch said.Asset management firms might even help private equity shops develop new products, added Adam Schneider, a principal at Deloitte.

West Virginia and Nebraska offer the best 529 college savings plans, according to a ranking by SavingforCollege.com, a unit of Bankrate Inc., set to be released Friday.

Investors are interested in going green with their portfolio, but advisers are failing to even suggest investing in it, according to a Roper Center poll.

WASHINGTON - Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab & Co. are suggesting state and federal securities regulators focus their auction-rate securities investigations on the major banks and broker-dealers that underwrote ARS rather than smaller brokerages that had no advance knowledge that the ARS market was going to collapse.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has unveiled its latest plan to make financial information far more accessible and easy to use.

U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers is considering shedding part or all of its money management division in order to raise capital and ease real estate losses, according to the International Herald Tribune.

Many alternative asset managers, who brag about their ability to make money regardless of market conditions, posted their worst figures in years last month after worldwide sentiment suddenly changed on energy prices, financial stock and the U.S. dollar.

While there has been growing talk of the aging of America, two National Bureau of Economic Research economists have now coined a term for it: “age inflation,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

William F. Galvin, Massachusetts secretary of the commonwealth, has written a letter to Fidelity Chairman Edward C. Johnson III asking the firm to repurchase auction-rate securities that it sold to investors through its brokerage unit, Dow Jones reports.

Equity indexed annuities, which provide investors a portion of the market’s rise but do not decline in value when the market falls, have become increasingly popular among seniors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a website originally created for internal purposes at the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations to fight anti-money laundering, for compliance officers at mutual funds.

In addition to helping employees save for retirement, a solid 401(k) plan can help companies to attract, motivate and retain good workers, enhance a company's corporate reputation and contribute to the long-term financial success of the business, according to a new study by Charles Schwab.

Ever since those first gatherings under a buttonwood tree, the business of Wall Street has been highly social, with personal contacts, access to information and networking abilities playing a crucial role.

Sharp money managers love market volatility.

As more investors begin to believe that the global economy is in a recession, fears of inflation are dropping, and money managers are turning their concerns from credit risk to leverage.

The Security and Exchange Commission’s 30-day rule temporarily banning short selling of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae stock is set to expire Tuesday night.

It took more than a decade of negotiating to get approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission, but actively managed exchange-traded funds finally came to market this year.

Despite the credit crisis — or perhaps because of it — there has never been a better time to invest in fixed-income products, particularly triple-A commercial mortgage-backed securities, according to portfolio managers at Putnam Investments.