According to a recent poll and article from investmentnews.com 52% of financial advisors polled said they were not “…as knowledgeable about [alternative investments] as [they’d] like to be.
A wide range of investment vehicles may be considered alternative “…ranging from real estate, to managed futures, to structured products or private equity.” Given that there are many types of alternative investments it is very possible for advisors to be well-versed in one type of alternative investment but not others.
However, the investmentnews.com makes an interesting point about their survey when they note that, “Even though the majority of advisers are not as well-versed on the subject of alternative investments as they might like, few are deterred from discussing them with clients — or actually putting them to use in their clients’ portfolios.”
According to the survey, 88% of advisors asked said they feel comfortable having discussions with their clients about alternative investment vehicles and 89% of them currently have clients invested in alternative investments.
This disconnect, highlighted by the investmentnews.com article, between the knowledge about alternative investors by financial advisers and their willingness to discuss or invest their clients in such vehicles is worth monitoring.
Alternative investments are currently a hot topic in the world of securities arbitration. Alternative vehicles such as REITs and structured products account for a large portion of the securities arbitration cases we see here at The White Law Group. Additionally, alternative investments commonly offer higher commissions to brokers who sell the products which may in some cases explain why the advisors have recommended those investments.
If you are concerned about an alternative investment that you have bought and would like to speak to a securities attorney please call our Chicago office at 312-238-9650.
The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.
For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://www.whitesecuritieslaw.
