Christopher Vernon, ESQ

        THE RIGHT ANGLE MEN’S CLUB APRIL MEETING 

The Right Angle Men's Club met on April 9, 2015 to enjoy comradery, a buffet lunch and to listen to the Mr. Christopher Vernon esq. discuss “Investor Protection 2015”.    

The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance, a 50/50 raffle and the introduction of our guest speaker by Roccy DeFrancesco. Mr. Vernon spoke about how to choose the right financial advisor, how to avoid financial scams and the issues with fake and high risk investment products. Some of the areas he covered were:   

1)      How to choose an investment advisor

a.      Perform due diligence on a financial advisor by using the FINRA.ORG web site

b.      Make sure they have errors and omissions insurance

c.       Ask about standards of care and investigate suitability of potential investment products

d.      Make sure that the investment advisor is either a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) or a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) as the other titles are much easier to obtain

2)      Make sure the actual investments of a fund mirrors what the fund is designed to provide, for example:

a.      The Charles Schwab Yield Plus Fund was actually invested in risky California Mortgaged Backed Securities (MBS)

b.      The UBS 100% Principle Protected Note was actually an unprotected note from Lehman Brothers which went bankrupt

3)      Investment risk, including:

a.      Liquidity risk

b.      Transparency

c.       Margin buying

Mr. Vernon handled questions from Right Angle Members and provided advice and guidance in areas of selecting investments and choosing a financial advisor.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 1:30 with Paul L’Esperance wrapping up a very successful VCC Right Angle Men’s Club in the 2014/2015 season.