Data & Research August 31, 2007

Retirement Savings Ranks High as a Concern for Investors

American investors are more worried about losing money on their investments and saving for retirement than they are about losing their job, buying a house or paying for college.
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Retirement ranks as the most important saving and investment milestone for a majority of investors (72%), but less than half (47%) are highly confident they are saving and investing enough for their retirement, according to a recent survey by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)

Serious health care problems ranked at the top of the list of the life events that caused investors the most anxiety, followed by losing money on their investments (78%), saving for retirement (73%) anxiety about losing their job (50%), buying a house (42%) or paying for college (35%).

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More than half of the 1,334 investors surveyed say they are highly confident that the investment information available to them is objective and unbiased; however, 59% have made an investment that resulted in a loss of some or all of the money.

The majority of investors (67%) are anxious about being defrauded. One in 12 investors reported losing money in an investment because they were mislead or defrauded, and only a small number of these investors reported the fraudulent activities.

Young investors are the most likely to receive investing information from friends or acquaintances and to invest in unsolicited investment offers.

FINRA was formed when the National Association of Securities Dealers and the New York Stock Exchange merged.

An executive summary of the survey is available here.

Products August 31, 2007

Missouri Touts “Terror-Free” Option for 529 Plan

The state of Missouri will begin offering an actively managed “terror-free” investment option for its 529 plan that ensures participants’ and investors’ portfolios exclude companies with ties to countries that support terrorism.
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UMB Investment Advisors, the investment division for UMB Asset Management, will manage the investment portfolio. The UMB product is the first such “terror-free” portfolio that has been open to institutional and individual investors, according to a press release.

Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman created the Missouri Investment Trust (MIT), an initiative to make terror-free investing possible on the state and national level by establishing a terror-free policy for a public fund. The state partnered with Conflict Securities Advisory Group (CSAG) to identify and screen publicly-traded companies that have direct ties to Iran, Syria, Sudan and North Korea, as established by the Missouri Investment Trust.

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The Missouri 529 plan is not restricted to residents of the state, but open to anyone wanting to invest.

“We have seen the movement toward terror-free investing develop substantial momentum over the past few years as people increasingly choose to invest in a security-minded manner that reflects their views on corporate decisions to partner with countries that support terrorism,” said Roger Robinson, president and chief executive officer, CSAG, in the press release.

UMB also has the ability to customize other investment offerings to meet specific “terror-free’ criteria or policies.

For information on CSAG visit www.conflictsecurities.com.

For more information on terror-free investing, visit www.terrrorfreeinvesting.com.

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