Brokers get a mixed review on how they treat older investors: SEC- FINRA Report

One of the primary missions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) is the protection of investors, of which senior investors are an important and growing subset. As part of a collaborative effort, staff of the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”)1 and FINRA (collectively, the “staff”) conducted 44 examinations of broker-dealers in 2013 that focused on how firms conduct business with senior investors as they prepare for and enter into retirement. These examinations focused on investors aged 65 years old or older; this report refers to these investors as “senior investors.”

The results suggest more has to be done.“..More than a third of brokerage firms examined by regulators made one or more potentially unsuitable recommendations of variable annuities to senior investors, a report issued Wednesday found.The greatest issue regarding these sales was whether it was appropriate to exchange variable annuity contracts in light of the fees incurred, according to the report on the treatment of senior investors by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.(FINRA), the self-regulator of brokers. Firms generated the most revenue from seniors by selling open-end mutual funds, variable annuities, equities, fixed-income investments, unit investment trusts and exchange-traded funds, nontraded real estate investment trusts, alternative investments and structured products, in that order..”.

This report highlights recent industry trends that have impacted the investment landscape and discusses the key observations and practices identified during the recent series of examinations with regard to securities sold to senior investors, training, use of senior designations, marketing and communications, account documentation, suitability, disclosures, customer complaints, and supervision. OCIE and FINRA staff are providing this information to broker-dealers to support their thoughtful analysis of their policies and procedures as they serve the needs of senior investors.

OCIE and FINRA staff are concerned that broker-dealers may be recommending unsuitable securities to senior investors or failing to adequately disclose the related risks. It is imperative that senior investors receive proper and understandable disclosures regarding the terms and risks related to securities recommended to them, particularly non-traditional investments.

The 41 page Report National Senior Investor Initiative is available at http://www.sec.gov/ocie/reportspubs/sec-finra-national-senior-investor-initiative-report.pdf