SEC Office of the Investor Advocate Issues Report on Nationally Representative Survey of Investors and Continues Focus on Investment Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Investor Advocate today published its Report on Activities for the Fiscal Year 2024 to Congress, highlighting the work of the office during the fiscal year.

The report includes:

• The office’s findings from a program of quarterly, longitudinal surveys of investors launched in fiscal year 2024. The Thoughtful Households Relating InVesting Experiences (THRIVE) Panel is a nationally representative survey panel that can facilitate frequent survey research to provide timely data on investment-related topics and support investor testing projects to help inform policymaking or long-run research priorities.
• The office’s continued focus on investment fraud. Reported fraud incidents continued to grow in 2024, as reported by numerous investors, regulators, and law enforcement agencies.
• An update on the SEC’s creation of the Interagency Securities Council, a joint task force where federal, state, and local regulatory and law enforcement professionals meet to discuss the latest in financial frauds, scams, trends, and mitigation strategies, and receive briefings on emerging and complex topics to better protect investors.
• From the Office of the Ombuds, part of the Office of the Investor Advocate, a report which describes in detail what has emerged as a prevalent pattern of investment fraud, as learned from the victims who contact the Ombuds for assistance. The Office of the Investor Advocate and the Office of the Ombuds continue to seek insights and recommendations from a variety of stakeholders on this proliferation of fraud and encourage the greatest possible coordination among regulators and law enforcement to curb and cure the impacts on individual victims, but also on the victims’ families and communities who all pay a price for fraud.

“This year’s report brings into focus our efforts to understand investors’ preferences related to their investments through data and research, and outline some of the investment fraud trends that are increasingly common,” said Cristina Martin Firvida, Director of the Office of the Investor Advocate. “I am particularly supportive of the Commission’s efforts to combat retail investor fraud and the formation of the Interagency Securities Council to coordinate efforts across the whole of government. The ongoing fraud epidemic in America continues to be of paramount concern, and our advocacy reflects those interests.”

The Office of the Investor Advocate is an independent office within the SEC, created by Congress, to provide investors with a voice inside the Commission, to assist retail investors, to study investor behavior, and to advocate for investors’ interests. The Office also provides operational support to the SEC Investor Advisory Committee.