Conducting Business with Senior Investors Observations and Practices

In 2015, the Social Security Administration estimated that each day for the next 15 years, an average of 10,000 Americans will turn 65. In this context, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a report to help broker-dealers assess, craft, or refine their policies and procedures for senior investors as they prepare for and enter into retirement. This book includes observations and practices identified in examinations that focused on how firms conduct business with senior investors. The examinations by the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) and FINRA focused on the types of securities purchased by senior investors, the suitability of recommended investments, training of brokerage firm representatives, marketing, communications, use of designations such as "senior specialist," account documentation, disclosures, customer complaints, and supervision.