FINRA Survey Concludes Investor Knowledge is Low
From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:
A recent survey conducted by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation found that investor knowledge is “low.”
The FINRA Investor Education Foundation surveyed approximately 2,000 adults who hold nonretirement investment accounts. Of the adults surveyed, only one-third were able to answer more than half of the 10 investment questions correctly. The study found that investors lacked an understanding of a range of investment topics, including the reliability of past performance as an indicator of future results as well as confusion about fees.
Some Investors did not know the amount of fees they pay or even whether they pay fees at all. 14% of those surveyed did not think they pay any fees for investing, and 32% believed they did not pay any fees or expenses for mutual funds.
In addition to investor knowledge, the study also looked at how investors get information. The most popular method for gathering information was “free online services, websites, and blogs,” used by 46% of respondents. Additionally, 17% of respondents reported using social media for investment information. The percentage of respondents who used social media for investment information outpaced the number of respondents who reported using FINRA’s BrokerCheck or the SEC’s website Investor.gov. Only 9% of respondents said they used Investor.gov, while a mere 7% said that they used BrokerCheck.
The attorneys of Eccleston Law LLC represent investors and advisors nationwide in securities and employment matters. The securities lawyers at Eccleston Law also practice a variety of other areas of practice for financial investors and advisors including Securities Fraud, Compliance Protection, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, FINRA Matters, and much more. Our attorneys draw on a combined experience of nearly 65 years in delivering the highest quality legal services. If you are in need of legal services, contact us to schedule a one-on-one consultation today.
Related Attorneys: James J. Eccleston
Tags: james eccleston, eccleston law, eccleston law llc, eccleston, finra, finra survey, investor knowledge, investing news