Members

The American Association of Individual Investors is a not-for-profit organization formed to assist individuals in becoming effective managers of their own assets through programs of education, information, and research.

To help address the need for greater financial literacy, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the national, professional organization for all Certified Public Accountants, launched its award-winning 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy effort in May 2004. Combining grassroots, state-driven financial literacy models, with free resources for the public, and tools that CPAs can use to volunteer to educate Americans of all ages on financial topics, the program provides a comprehensive approach to making informed financial decisions critical at various stages of life.

Founded in 1951 and headquartered in Madison Heights, Mich., BetterInvesting is considered the pioneer of the modern investment club movement, as well as the voice of the individual investor. BetterInvesting is dedicated to providing a sound program of investment education and information to help its members become successful long-term, lifetime investors. BetterInvesting and its subsidiary, ICLUBcentral, provide the full array of tools and investment education resources for investors of all experience levels.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) is non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. that sets professional competency and ethics standards for personal financial planning. CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements. Founded in 1985, CFP Board's mission is to benefit the public by granting the CFP® certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for personal financial planning.

CFA Institute is the global, non-profit professional association that administers the Chartered Financial Analyst® curriculum and examination program worldwide. CFA Institute sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting standards for the investment industry.

The mission of the Council for Economic Education is two-fold: To advocate for better and greater school-based economic and personal finance education at the K-12 level; and to educate young people in the United States and around the world, primarily through well-prepared teachers, so they may become empowered with economic and financial literacy. The Council for Economic Education offers comprehensive, best-in-class K-12 economic and personal finance education programs, including the basics of entrepreneurship, consisting of teaching resources across the curriculum, professional development for teachers, and nationally-normed assessment instruments. Each year, the Council's programs reach more than 150,000 K-12 teachers and over 15 million students in the United States and in more than 30 other countries. These programs are delivered through a diversified system: directly from the Council, through a network of affiliated state Councils and university-based Centers for Economic Education, and through other partner organizations.

The American Savings Education Council and Choose to Save are programs of the Employee Benefit Research Institute's ® Education and Research Fund. Founded in 1978, EBRI’s mission is to contribute to, and enhance the development of sound employee benefit programs and sound public policy through objective research and education. EBRI is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization based in Washington, D.C. EBRI does not lobby and does not take positions on legislative proposals.

FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulation Authority, is the largest non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business with the U.S. public. Created in 2007 through the consolidation of NASD and NYSE Member Regulation, FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market ingegrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services. FINRA touches virtually every aspect of the securities business - from registering and educating all industry participants to examining securities firms; writing and enforcing rules and the federal securities laws; informing and educating the investing public; providing trade reporting and other industry utilities, and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and registered firms.

The mission of the Financial Publishers Association (FiPA) is to share knowledge of best business practices to help our members’ publications grow and prosper, while empowering readers with unbiased, independent information. The FPA is devoted to enhancing and maintaining the financial publishing industry’s reputation for excellence while helping individual investors build their wealth.

Formed in 1989, the ICI Education Foundation (ICIEF) is the educational affiliate of the Investment Company Institute, the national association of US investment companies. ICIEF partners with government agencies and other nonprofit organizations to develop, deliver, and promote investment education programs to a variety of specific audiences. The Foundation also participates in financial education advocacy coalitions, conferences, and initiatives that promote saving and investing nationwide.

Founded in 1993 as part of a multi-state settlement to resolve charges of misconduct, the Investor Protection Trust serves as an independent source of noncommercial investor education materials to help equip investors, and would-be investors, with the armor they'll need to protect them from sophisticated scams, and the knowledge they will need to better navigate their travel through the securities market.

A foundation partnering for the financial well-being of the public, the National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®) evolved from and served as the parent entity of the Denver-based, non-profit College for Financial Planning, which was founded in 1972 as the nation's first financial planning educational institution. NEFE is the only private, nonprofit foundation wholly dedicated to educating Americans about personal finance and empowering them to make positive and sound decisions in order to reach their financial goals. NEFE is completely non-partisan, unbiased and focused on consumer education, providing a crucial voice against the rapid rise in unchecked consumer spending and debt accumulation.

National Futures Association (NFA), a congressionally authorized self-regulatory organization, is the premier independent provider of innovative and efficient regulatory programs that safeguard the integrity of the derivatives markets. National Futures Association provides innovative regulatory programs and services that ensure futures industry integrity, protect market participants and help our Members meet their regulatory responsibilities.

The Retirement Security Project is dedicated to promoting common sense solutions to improve the retirement income prospects of millions of American workers and is supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts, in partnership with Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute and The Brookings Institution.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association(SIFMA) brings together the shared interests of more than 650 securities firms, banks and asset managers. SIFMA's mission is to promote policies and practices that work to expand and perfect markets, foster the development of new products and services and create efficiencies for member firms, while preserving and enhancing the public's trust and confidence in the markets and the industry. SIFMA works to represent its members’ interests locally and globally. It has offices in New York, Washington D.C., and London and its associated firm, the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, is based in Hong Kong. More information about SIFMA is available at www.sifma.org.

The SIFMA Foundation is an independent 501c3 organization that develops and directs initiatives to promote financial and investor education for all ages, spurring greater economic independence for individuals and enabling them to better access the opportunities inherent in our global marketplace. An affiliate of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and a merger of the legacy Foundation for Investor Education, The Bond Market Foundation, and the New York District Economic Education Foundation, the SIFMA Foundation administers an array of award-winning, instructional programs and websites that have advanced the financial knowledge of tens of millions of children and adults during the past three decades. Programs include The Stock Market Game and Investwrite; Tomorrow's Money (Spanish version www.ahorrando.org); Path to Investing; Investing in Bonds and Investing in Bonds Europe. More information about SIFMA Foundation is available at http://www.sifma.org/education/education.html.

When a brokerage firm is closed due to bankruptcy or other financial difficulties, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation steps in as quickly as possible and, within certain limits, works to return to you cash, stock and other securities you had at the firm. Without SIPC, investors at financially troubled brokerage firms might lose their securities or money forever or wait for years while their assets are tied up in court.

Advisors

Congress created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in 1974 as an independent agency with the mandate to regulate commodity futures and option markets in the United States. The mission of the CFTC is to protect market users and the public from fraud, manipulation, and abusive practices related to the sale of commodity and financial futures and options, and to foster open, competitive, and financially sound futures and option markets. Through effective oversight, the CFTC enables the futures markets to serve the important function of providing a means for price discovery and offsetting price risk.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System/The Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States. It was founded by Congress in 1913 to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system; over the years, its role in banking and the economy has expanded.

FTC/Bureau of Consumer Protection. The Federal Trade Commission is a law-enforcement agency mandated by Congress to protect the workings of a free marketplace. Its mission is to ensure that consumers can make sensible and unrestricted choices without distortion by misinformation, omission, or deception.

Organized in 1919, the North American Securities Administrators Association is the oldest international organization devoted to investor education and protection.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Investor Education and Assistance provides investors with the information they need to invest wisely and avoid costly mistakes.