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Our experts frequently write blog posts about the findings of the research we are conducting.

Displaying 531-540 out of 709 results

401(k) Fees Can Drastically Reduce Nest Egg

(Jun 2012)

A recent report conducted by Demos -- a New York City-based public policy organization -- points out that the high fees charged by 401(k)'s can cut nest eggs by 30% for median-income two-wage family.

Company-sponsored 401(k) plans often include a list of mutual funds in which employees can invest. Although these fees are disclosed on the individual fund prospectuses, the account statements from 401(k)'s generally do not include such fees (only the result of the fund performance net of fees)....

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - June 22nd, 2012

(Jun 2012)

SEC Charges Massachusetts Investment Adviser with Fraud and Obtains Asset Freeze
June 20, 2012, (Litigation Release No. 22396)
Earlier this week, the SEC charged Gary J. Martel with defrauding investors through his companies Martel Financial Group and MFG Funding. According to the complaint), Martel defrauded at least a dozen investors of millions of dollars. Martel allegedly told his clientele (including retirees) that he would invest in fixed-income securities. Martel allegedly composed...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - June 15th, 2012

(Jun 2012)

Promoters of Convicted Ponzi Scheme Operator Jeffrey L. Mowen Ordered to Pay Over $20 Million in Disgorgement and Civil Penalties
June 13, 2012, (Litigation Release No. 22393)
The US District Court for the District of Utah granted the SEC's motion for entry of final judgment against Defendants Michael W. Averett, Michael G. Butcher, Thomas R. Fry, Gary W. Hansen, James B. Mooring, and Bevan J. Wilde, who allegedly "acted as promoters...through the unregistered offer and sale of high-yield...

Oppenheimer Fined for Complex Derivatives in Bond Funds

(Jun 2012)

In May 2010, SCLG released a paper on the Oppenheimer Champion Income Fund, detailing the complex derivatives transactions that led that fund to accumulate huge losses in 2008 compared to other high-yield bond funds. On Wednesday, the SEC charged OppenheimerFunds for material misrepresentations of these very risks in two funds, including the Champion Income Fund. OppenheimerFunds agreed to pay $35 million to settle the SEC's claims.

The funds, the Oppenheimer Champion Income Fund and the...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - June 8th, 2012

(Jun 2012)

Court Enters Final Judgments, Including Indemnity Bars, Against Rajnish K. Das and Stormy L. Dean, Former CFOs of infoUSA, Inc.
June 1, 2012, (Litigation Release No. 22388)
As a result of the SEC complaint against Rajnish K. Das and Stormy L. Dean, the US District Court for the District of Nebraska barred the pair from serving as an officer or director of a public company for three years and levied a civil penalty of $50,000 against each of them. In the complaint, the SEC alleged Das and Dean...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - June 1st, 2012

(Jun 2012)

SEC Charges Two Feeders for One of South Florida's Largest-Ever Ponzi Schemes,
May 31, 2012, (Litigation Release No. 22383)
The SEC charged George Levin and Frank Preve with perpetrating a Ponzi scheme through which they raised nearly $160 million from close to 200 investors in less than two years. The defendants used the investor funds to purchase (fraudulent) discounted legal settlements from Scott Rothstein (former Florida attorney). Rothstein then used the investor funds to make Ponzi...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - May 25th, 2012

(May 2012)

SEC Charges Northern California Fund Manager in $60 Million Scheme
May 24, 2012, (Litigation Release No. 22375)
The SEC charged John A. Geringer with running a $60 million Ponzi scheme. In Geringer's management of the GLR Growth Fund, he allegedly misrepresented the fund's historical returns -- double-digit annually -- in the marketing materials and then used new investor funds to finance the returns current investors purportedly realized. Geringer went so far as to produce account statements...

SLCG Research: Dual Directional Structured Products

(May 2012)

Earlier this month, SLCG released a new research paper that values Dual Directional Structured Products (DDSPs). DDSPs are debt securities that feature payoffs very much like a long straddle position on the underlying asset for small price movements -- the investor realizes gains if the underlying asset increases or decreases in price (the origin of the term 'dual directional') within a certain range during the term of the note.

DDSPs differ from a conventional straddle position in a number...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - May 18th, 2012

(May 2012)

SEC Charges US Perpetrators in $35 Million International Boiler Room Scheme
May 16, 2012, (Litigation Release No. 22370)
The SEC filed charges this week against Nicholas Louis Geranio, Keith Michael Field, The Good One, Inc. and Kaleidoscope Real Estate, Inc. for their roles in an international boiler room scheme which ran from April 2007 to October 2009 and raised approximately $35 million in proceeds. Geranio allegedly "organized eight U.S. Issuers, installed management (including Field),...

SEC Investigation into Largest Non-Traded REIT May Be A Sign of Things To Come

(May 2012)

As discussed in the financial press (see articles from InvestmentNews and Wall Street Journal) and the company's latest quarterly reports, Inland American Real Estate Trust is the subject of an ongoing SEC investigation. The SEC probe is determining whether the company incurred in any violations of the federal securities laws with regards to its fees, company organization structure, distributions paid to investors, and reported property impairments. Inland American is the largest non-traded...

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