NASAA/AARP Initiate Free Lunch Seminar Monitoring Program

June 4, 2010 - PRLog -- Lunch seminars that attract senior investors with the promise of free food and advice have been a red flag for regulators over the last several years. Free lunch seminars are most frequently used in the financial and insurance industries as a way to get a large group of seniors to listen to an agent or company promote products and services.

One problem with these kinds of seminars is that overall products and services that are being recommended to the group may not be suitable on an individual basis.  Seniors often will invest upon a recommendation by a friend or seemingly trustworthy advisor without considering how the recommendation applies to their own individual needs.  This leads to lost funds, penalty fees, or money being tied up for long periods of time.  

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and AARP have recently begun a new free lunch monitor initiative encouraging professionals to print a form checklist, attend free lunch seminars and assist in peer monitoring.  The checklist indicates what should be listened for and monitors submit the information to AARP for review.  Any red flags are submitted by the AARP program staff to NASAA for follow up.  

The Society of Certified Senior Advisors encourages Certified Senior Advisors to watch for seminar announcements in their area that contain red flag items such as:  endorsement by AARP, SEC, NAIC, NASAA or a state regulator;  requests for investment holding information or financial statements; zero or low risk promises; day-of decisions and contracts required.  If you are interested in reviewing additional checklist items and assisting with this program, please review the information at www.bit.ly/9qPySF  
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The Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)® designation is issued by the Society of Certified Senior Advisors.  Each individual CSA is held to the rules and guidelines in the CSA Code of Professional Conduct which can be viewed at http://www.csa.us/docs/csa_code.pdf.  SCSA’s Compliance Department works closely with each state and routinely monitors CSAs providing seminars of any kind.  Know your individual state and industry requirements, guidelines and rules regarding use of seminars for the sale of products or services.    

Certified Senior Advisors (CSAs) have supplemented their individual professional licenses, credentials, and education with knowledge about aging and working with seniors. The CSA designation alone does not imply expertise in financial, health or social matters. Please contact the Society of Certified Senior Advisors at (303) 757-2323 or visit www.csa.us if you have any questions.  Follow us at http://twitter.com/SocietyCSA

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SCSA educates professionals to work more effectively with their senior clients. That means understanding the key health, social & financial factors that are important to seniors — so you can find success in the senior market.