Tim O'Connor's Blog

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) maintains the predominant dispute resolution forum in the United States. Notably, due to mandatory arbitration clauses contained in new account forms presented to investors by brokerage firms, investors are required to have their disputes with their brokers resolved in arbitration as opposed to the courts. This means that instead […]

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority maintains a required minimum distribution (RMD) for purposes of helping investors determine their required minimum distribution from an IRA or 401(k) account. Investors in these types of accounts are required to begin withdrawing money by April 1st of the year following the year in which they turn 70 1/2. Failure to […]

On August 31, 2015, the SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy issued a bulletin to educate investors about the risks of non-traded REITs. The bulletin noted many of the downsides associated with non-traded REIT’s for small investors, including the following:  Lack of liquidity/inability to be readily sold in the marketplace at a favorable price. […]

The past several years have seen a volatile bond market in which many investors have sustained unanticipated bond principal valuation losses. While a bond is typically designed to afford investors the full value of their original investment at the time of their maturity, volatility in the bond in the financial markets has seen many investors […]

The past ten years has seen an explosion of brokerage sales activity largely involving non-traded REIT investments. REIT’s are Real Estate Investment Trusts which are not publicly traded in the conventional securities markets and exchanges and thus they can be illiquid and an inappropriate investment for any investors. Popular REIT investments include:  American Reality Capital […]