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When it comes to investing, there are precious few certainties, other than the fact that nobody works for your financial best interest as completely as you do.
That fact became obvious to the clients of the Warrenville, Ill., company Capital Management Associates recently when the SEC brought a suit against the father-and-son team that run it for "cherry picking" trades. We'll get back to that story in a moment. But it's important for everyone to know that even the ethical players in the financial industry earn their living based on the fees they get directly from you or via the providers of products they recommend to help you achieve your goals. In addition, because financial management is somewhat complicated and the future is never guaranteed, it's an industry rife with opportunities for fraud and theft. That's especially a risk when people turn over complete control of their hard-earned cash to an "expert" who promises to manage it for them. If you suspect that your financial adviser may be scamming you, here are five signs that can help you uncover it. Sign No. 1: An Adviser Won't Provide Real-Time Trading Information. In the case against Capital Management Associates, the SEC alleges that the duo ran trades without specifying whether they were for clients' accounts or for the owners' accounts. Then, once the profitability or loss of the trade was assured, the company would backdate that information, assigning the profitable trades for themselves and the losers to clients. Losing money in an investment is not a crime, but cherry-picking among winning and losing trades after the fact is. How could clients of Capital Management Associates have known that they were getting saddled with the bad trades? The short answer is: by staying in the loop. Those who trust their adviser to trade on their behalf should, at the very least, insist on receiving a running total of all trades when they are made. If your financial adviser can't or won't do that for you, then chances are pretty good that you're being scammed. Sign No. 2: An Adviser's Returns Are Too Good to Be True. Bernie Madoff swindled investors out of billions of dollars in what has been called the largest Ponzi scheme ever uncovered. While Madoff, a former chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange and securities representative on SEC industry panels, knew enough to hide from the regulators for decades, his returns were too consistent to be real. Sponsored Links Any time an investment advisor is guaranteeing returns or assuring consistency, year in and year out, there's a pretty good chance it's a scam. And while there are a few legitimate annuities with investment accounts structured in a way to "guarantee" you won't lose money, they're generally just high-cost insurance plans where you're paying dearly for those guarantees through the structure of the deal. Sign No. 3: You're Getting Hot Tips That You're Told You Need to Act on Now. Any legitimate investment worth owning will still be available tomorrow, after you've had the time to think about it (and research it independently). Any pushy advisor telling you things like, "You've got to act today to get in on the ground floor" or "You don't have time to read the paperwork" is asking you to act without reviewing something, which is a common hallmark of a scam. While there are real deadlines for things like IRA contributions, the money in those accounts can easily sit as cash until you've had time to review the details of the investment recommendation. And be aware that prices in the stock and bond markets do change regularly -- often several times throughout a trading day. If your adviser brings you an investment to consider and you do take the time to review it before buying, don't be surprised if the price winds up being a bit different than initially discussed. Still, it's better to wait and lose a little bit than to lose everything to an outright scam. Sign No. 4: You're Promised Investments That Will Be "No Cost to You." If you're working with a financial adviser, that advisor is getting paid by you, either directly by checks you write or indirectly via commissions, spreads, or fees generated by the investments you make. Any adviser claiming otherwise is hiding something -- likely an outlandishly high fee for placing an investment or insurance policy, which can often run north of 7 percent of the invested amount. A competent advisor deserves to be paid for his or her time and expertise. But one that won't tell you how much you're paying for the service or how you're paying for it is an adviser to walk away from. Sign No. 5: Your Account Is Being Churned and Burned. And speaking of fees, be wary of an adviser who regularly churns your account through multiple trades of similar types of annuities, mutual funds, or other investments. If your adviser is getting paid through a hidden commission from making the transaction, that activity is very likely lucrative for the adviser ... but not so much for you. Not all investments work out, of course, but a common definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. If your advisor is trying to convince you that the investment you are in is so much worse than a fairly similar one you should be in, that's a sign that neither investment is likely right for you.
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Welcome to the IOSCO Investor Education Gateway! This is the place to find information about many IOSCO members' on-line investor education activities, as well as IOSCO publications and presentations regarding investor education.
Investor Education has been and continues to be a significant part of multiple IOSCO seminar training programs. Additionally, and upon requests made by IOSCO members, dedicated Investor Education training has been organized and presented by IOSCO staff. IOSCO has a major commitment to improving and promoting investor education. Just some of the priorities on the horizon for the IOSCO Education and Training team include: - Conducting Investor Education Workshops; - Expanding the Investor Education Gateway; - Making investor education resources available for all IOSCO members; - Continuing IOSCO research regarding all aspects of investor education, and offering assistance to IOSCO members with respect to their own investor education initiatives; - Providing forums and other platforms for IOSCO members to share "Best Practices" and "Good Ideas"; - Analyze what does the current research show with respect to investor education?; - Focus on what works and what does not work...and what is the proof if something does work?" The International Financial Securities Regulatory Commission was established to promote investor confidence in the securities and capital markets by providing more structure and government oversight. Running and operating a small company requires you to multi-task. Besides generating more sales and revenue, you need to make sure the company starts generating profits. As a small business owner, you also need to deal with some areas that don’t fall under your comfort zone. Legal issues is one of these important tasks.
Every successful small company relies on the services of a good lawyer for legal support and advice. However, there are times when you may not want to bear the expense of consulting a reputed lawyer. Due to this, you may plan to take care of everything yourself. This can lead to various mistakes. In this post, we’ve discussed 6 legal mistakes a small company needs to avoid. Don’t Enter Into Verbal Contracts A lot of non-attorneys don’t realize that it’s possible to enter into a legal contract without agreeing to things in writing. In some cases, even a verbal contract is considered to be binding. Many small companies enter verbal contracts on a regular basis. This is considered to be a big mistake. If it’s worth entering a contract, you need to make sure it’s documented correctly. In case you’re entering into a contract with suppliers or customers, you need to make sure all the terms are clearly set in a detailed written contract. This reduces the chances of a dispute in the future. Both parties can easily refer to the documented agreement. Get Contracts Reviewed by Attorneys One of the biggest mistakes is to draft a written contract on your own. Drafting a written contract is a skill developed over the years. When you try to draft a contract on your own, you tend to miss important clauses. This leaves the contract open to misinterpretation. It also fails to protect your interests. Before presenting a contract to the other party, you need to consult an attorney. Read Before Signing This mistake is quite obvious. You would be surprised to know that numerous people sign a contract without reading it. It’s important to spend some time going through the contract. You need to make sure the contract says exactly what you want it to say. You should make some sincere efforts to understand the contract. Act in Accordance with Governing Documents All companies have governing documents, which lay down the rules for Board of Directors, management and other employees. For instance, if you’ve chosen to offer a guarantee to another party, you need to make sure you work according to the process laid down to conduct this task. Employees Should Act in Accordance with Fair Work Act It’s worth mentioning that many small companies get into legal troubles for breaching obligations stated by the Fair Work Act. When you want to terminate an employee’s job or make him/her redundant, you need to make sure the company acts in accordance with the law. You need to work with an experienced employment specialist. Taxes Last but not the least, payment of taxes is one of the most complicated matters related to business operations. Failure to pay your taxes in time is against the law. You need to make sure you understand all the obligations. You should work with an accountant and business lawyer to avoid any legal trouble. People prefer to shop online and in heartland malls
Why battle ridiculously heavy traffic and crowded trains and elbow your way past hordes of annoying people who can’t stop blocking the escalators when you can buy the exact same things on the internet or in heartland malls? Once upon a time, shopping in heartland malls meant wearing This Fashion clothes or being limited to the book selection at Popular. Nowadays, new heartland malls are much more happening. There are stores like Kate Spade Saturday, Calvin Klein Jeans and Armani Exchange at Westgate, while Nex at Serangoon has a rooftop garden with, get this, a dog park, which we have to admit is freaking cool. Even if you live in Bukit Batok or Yishun, where the neighbourhood malls still suck, you can just buy stuff online. Online shopping is often cheaper than buying stuff in malls since you don’t need to subsidise the high cost of rent, plus you can buy from retailers without Singapore outlets like Target. You know what’s better than Pedestrian Night on Orchard Road? Not having to deal with not just cars but also other people. Yvette, a 38-year-old lawyer, concurs. “I buy a large fraction of my things online now, from vitamin supplements to books for my kids. It’s so much more convenient as I don’t need to waste my time travelling to shopping malls. I can even get the merchants to deliver my purchases to my office.” Don’t even get us started about the increase in parking fares. You’d be hardpressed to find a mall in the main Orchard Road area with a per-entry fee after 6pm. Instead, they’ve been replaced with time-based per entry rates. Thankfully there are still some safe havens for relatively affordable parking, which we’ve compiled here. This 85 BHP F800ST allows you to tear up any road, country or town. As the touring version of its sister the F800, this bike comes with full fairing, a high windshield, as well as raised handlebars in order to help you conquer any road while maintaining comfort. Contact our sales department for questions or inquiries.
On June 16, Kaiser doctors and area leaders broke ground at what will eventually be the new Promenade Medical Office Building in south Elk Grove.
The two-story, 67,000- square-foot Kaiser Permanente facility will be designed to focus on matters affecting patients’ mind, body and soul. It will feature a 50-meter outdoor sports track that will be part of a 4,000-square-foot Sports Medicine Center where athletes can be evaluated and rehabilitated. In addition to the sports center, the medical office will also house adult medicine, pediatrics, women’s health, health education, radiology, laboratory and pharmacy services. The building is scheduled to open in late 2011. Elk Grove Mayor Sophia Scherman, Vice Mayor Steve Detrick, city council member Pat Hume, Dr. Richard Isaacs, M.D., and Dr. Lisa Liu, M.D., broke ground where the new facility will be built. “Your presence in Elk Grove means more quality health and wellness for our residents,” Scherman said in a speech before they broke ground. Dr. Isaacs and Dr. Liu also addressed the crowd. Liu said the building will be “thoughtfully designed” with soothing colors, local artwork and a coffee bistro inside. “We’re committed to making our facility a one-stop shop,” she said. The new office will have a Healthy Living store where members can buy health and wellness equipment. “We’ve been looking forward to this for quite some time,” Isaacs said. “Driving through the community, we’re aware of the economic impact in this area.” Liu echoed that statement in her speech, saying, “I’m sure it won’t be long until this facility is surrounded by retail stores and restaurants.” The building will be adjacent to the vacant Elk Grove Promenade Mall site where construction halted due to developer General Growth Properties undergoing bankruptcy. Kaiser’s summer internship program gives high school students a chance to see if medical field is right for them.
Valley High School senior Faith Allison thought she was interested in cardiology when she started a paid internship at Kaiser Permanente’s South Sacramento Medical Center this summer, but she liked the variety she saw in trauma. Luther Burbank graduate Melany Caldera figured “you can’t go wrong with health care,” but she got dizzy every time she saw blood. Human resources, she likes. The idea behind the Kaiser internship program is to give underrepresented and low-income students a close-up view of the career promise of health care before they make a career choice. A comprehensive program that focuses on careers in demand, it can also serve as a pipeline for future Kaiser employees. “It’s really important for people who have an interest to see their destination before they begin their journey,” said Dr. Richard Isaacs, physician-in-chief at Kaiser’s South Sacramento hospital. “Our hope is they will go back to their own community with a better idea of what they can and want to do.” The Summer Youth Employment Program is one of the community benefits Kaiser offers in exchange for tax-exempt status. There are 215 participants in Northern California this summer, about 30 in the Sacramento area. Eleven high-achieving students were selected from 150 applicants for internships at Kaiser South Sacramento. The full-time program runs for eight weeks. Students do workshops, projects and rotations in departments, meet weekly to share information — and get paid $8 an hour at a time when many high school students have trouble getting a job. Other local health systems offer internship programs for high school students, too. But most are unpaid. “Any organized professional experience we can expose young people to — and high school seems to be the focus now — can pique interest in and provide direction for college and medical school,” said Scott Seamons, regional vice president of the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California. A lot of exposure’ Karima Ziyarmal, now 23, was a 2006 summer intern at Kaiser’s South Sacramento hospital. Guaranteed Prosperity International (GP) is a Florida based training, coaching, and implementation company that ensures it’s clients succeed. – no IF, THAN or BUTs.
Since business are composed of individuals and at GP we know that success in business is directly related to the ability of the executives to handle the individual’s MINDS and hence our products and services design to handle the individual and as a result the business get handled. What we teach works and works 100% of the time and hence the name Guaranteed Prosperity – we simply guarantee our clients prosperity. We ensure the individuals that make up the our client’s companies are in the best possible condition and it includes their health, personal relationships, ethics and everything in between and the results are always - viable, expanding and prosperous companies with increasing money to owners reserves and a very well paid staff. Guaranteed Prosperity employ host of tools to achieve its mission and the following are some of the training programs we deliver:
And much more Founded by entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist, Meir Ezra, Guaranteed Prosperity’s purpose is: TO BRING ABOUT A NEW GOLDEN AGE FOR BUSINESS AROUND THE GLOBE And we do that each and every day! Like it’s name, Guaranteed Prosperity, warrants all its services with guaranteed results or your money back. Why do we do this? It’s simple. We are that good. But don’t take our word for it…see what our clients have to say. Many of those who wish to succeed find relief and an improved attitude from this quote:
"THE TOTALITY OF POWER IS ORDERLY PROGRESS." -- L. Ron Hubbard Discouragement and frustration from not making your goals quickly enough are resolved through orderly progress. Do you ever get frustrated because your life is not the way you want it? Perhaps you are trying to skip steps necessary to reaching your goals. Instead of demanding PERFECTION TODAY!, focus on orderly progress and your odds of success are much higher. Do you ever feel overwhelmed? If so, orderly progress becomes even more important. Confronting huge amounts of work is not overwhelming when you see yourself making orderly progress, even in small amounts, toward your goals. Do you ever feel like you are losing ground or failing? If you map out your actual goal and move one inch closer on a regular basis, you have new power. Do you ever feel like you are treading water and going nowhere? It is time for you to focus on some orderly progress. How do you eat an elephant? How do you move a mountain? How do you reach huge goals? One mouthful, one rock and one step at a time. Examples: giving a positive impression to one more person; learning one more new skill; lessening one bad habit, investing a few more dollars in savings. Daily progress in a specific direction creates long-term power when the progress is constant and orderly. If you have been dissatisfied with your progress in life, or if you feel discouraged, overwhelmed or frustrated, make a list of orderly steps you can take every day and every week. Calm, direct, orderly steps. Once you have your strategy worked out there is no need to worry about the past or the future-just concentrate on the present; on the steps of this plan. By putting order into your progress, nothing and nobody can stop you. A mountain creek is more powerful than a granite boulder when the creek slowly and surely wears the boulder down. Orderly progress toward your goals starts with small, positive steps. You can generate new power from this week forward. Deciding to have orderly progress is the first step. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will conduct a "review in place" in Panama from 12-14 January 2016. A successful outcome is crucial for Panama to leave the list of non-cooperative countries with regard to the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing. If Panama is deemed compliant with FATF standards, they will be removed from the list in February 2016.
The FATF put Panama on the list in June 2014 after an unfavourable report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The country then adopted an action plan that included the amendment of five laws and reporting requirements with regard to suspicious transactions. Panama aims to pass the review which, in addition to being beneficial to their financial system, would be an extraordinary achievement in such a short period of time. |
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