FINRA and the USATF Foundation team up to help elite athletes avoid investment fraud, make smart financial decisions

12-2-2011

WASHINGTON - The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation and the USA Track & Field Foundation (USATF Foundation) announced today that they are working together to help track & field athletes spot and avoid investment fraud and make informed financial decisions.

The FINRA Foundation will present its Outsmarting Investment Fraud (OIF) curriculum at the 2011 USA Track & Field Annual Meeting (November 30—December 4), where track & field professionals will learn to spot financial fraud and learn fraud-fighting tactics, including how to check the background of individuals selling financial products and services. The two foundations will work together to identify additional opportunities to provide financial education to track & field athletes.

“We are fortunate to have the FINRA Foundation and its investor education program now benefiting USA Track & Field athletes,” said USATF Foundation Director Dan McClory, who was involved with the planning and launch of the pioneering program. “Our support of the USA’s elite track professionals now includes the same program FINRA delivers to NFL players,” McClory concluded.

A key feature of the OIF curriculum is an explanation of the psychological persuasion tactics con artists use to get their victims to make emotional rather than logical investment decisions. For elite track and field athletes, an understanding of these psychological tactics and how they can be used against investors can help them to avoid becoming a con artist's next victim. The educational curriculum that will be delivered has been tested and shown to reduce susceptibility to investment fraud by over 50 percent among participants.

"With an Olympic year approaching, it is an opportune time to share what we’ve learned about financial fraud with the country’s elite track & field athletes,” said Gerri Walsh, President of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation. "Working with the USA Track & Field Foundation, FINRA will provide information and resources to help these athletes avoid financial pitfalls and help them make sound financial decisions."

The FINRA Investor Education Foundation is the largest foundation in the United States dedicated to investor education. Its mission is to provide investors with high-quality, easily accessible information and tools to better understand the markets and the basic principles of saving and investing.

The USATF Foundation provides a means to attract and guide funds to new and innovative track and field programs with an emphasis on providing opportunities for youth athletes, emerging elite athletes, distance training centers and anti-doping education. The Foundation depends upon donations from its Board of Directors and from generous fans of track & field.

For more information, or to contribute to the USA Track & Field Foundation, visit www.usatffoundation.org.