Behringer Harvard REIT I, Inc., a Dallas-based real estate investment trust, has announced a new name – TIER REIT, Inc. as of June 23rd., 2013. TIER REIT owns 44 commercial office properties throughout the United States with the majority being in Houston, Austin and Dallas/Ft. Worth, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C.; Charlotte, North Carolina and select […]

With mounting pressure from regulators, broker/dealers are making changes to how they sell alternative investments. VSR Financial Services Inc., Berthel Fisher & Co. Financial Services Inc. and the Cetera Financial Group Inc., which has four independent-contractor broker-dealers under its umbrella, this year have revised policies or added new guidelines and procedures for the sale of […]

Massachusetts securities regulators sued LPL Financial, LLC, in December over sales practices of brokers regarding the REITs. Secretary of the Commonwealth, William Galvin, charged LPL Financial with a failure to supervise registered reps who sold the nontraded REITs in violation of both state limitations and the company's rules. The Securities Division also charged LPL Financial […]

Broker-dealers' falling short in due diligence when selling complex, illiquid products has been a focus of FINRA examinations and fines since the market collapse of 2008, writes Bruce Kelly of InvestmentNews.com. FINRA recently fined and sanctioned a handful of broker-dealers that sold two series of private placements that imploded in 2009 — Medical Capital Holdings […]

In an article by Bruce Kelly of InvestmentNews.com, from May 10, 2011, he writes that the largest nontraded real estate investment trust in the industry, Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc., is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for potential violations of federal securities laws regarding its fees and administration. The SEC's investigation […]

Have you invested in these  non-traded real estate investment trusts and funds that have recently seen steep devaluations?Name         Offering price      Per share Current estimated value       % decline per share  Behringer Harvard Opportunity REIT I          $10.00      $4.12           -58.80%       Behringer Harvard REIT I                                     $10.00     $4.64           -53.60%       Behringer Harvard Short-Term Opportunity Fund $10.00     $0.40          -96%       Cornerstone Core Properties REIT                     $8.00        $2.25           -71.88%       Inland […]

In an InvestmentNews.com article, Dan Jamieson writes that Green Street Advisors Inc., says to forget the new breed of nontraded REITs. Investors are far more likely to be better off with publicly traded REITs, the research firm said in a report released Wednesday. The current regulatory scrutiny has forced sponsors of nontraded REITs to address […]

Bruce Kelly writes in a February 9th., 2012 article for InvestmentNews.com that securities regulators are taking a close and careful look at a fast-growing alternative investment known as a nontraded business development company. The InvestmentNews.com article states that the North American Securities Administrators Association is “gearing up to draft a statement of policy” on nontraded […]

In an article for InvestmentNews.com, on February 1st, 2012, Mark Schoeff Jr. writes that in a market defined by low interest rates, investors are searching for higher returns. But brokers better be careful how they try to deliver those results, according to their primary regulator. In a 16 page letter posted on its website, the Financial Industry […]