Presentation: Opening an Investment Account – Where do I Start?

Explore your options and important considerations for opening an investment account.

Technological advances give today’s investors a wide range of choices on how and where to invest. You can go the more traditional route, working with a financial professional to make and execute investment decisions. You can go it totally alone, investing through an app on your couch. Or you can fall somewhere in between. In this presentation, Robert Mascio of FINRA explains investment account options and what to know before getting started.  

Robert Mascio has been with FINRA for over 20 years and is Director of Investor Education Outreach. In this capacity, Mr. Mascio cultivates and manages FINRA Investor Education Foundation programs and partnerships related to investor protection and the prevention of financial fraud and exploitation. He also helps drive research surrounding financial fraud, the victim experience, and scam susceptibility, as well as facilitates FINRA’s Investor Issues Committee. Prior to this role, Mr. Mascio held a variety of management and investigative positions within FINRA, including managing FINRA’s Vulnerable Adults and Seniors Team, which was responsible for conducting specialized reviews and investigations of senior specific concerns, including allegations of fraud, abuse and exploitation of vulnerable adults. Additionally, he serves on the advisory board to the Cybercrime Support Network and participates on Multi-Disciplinary Teams and taskforces related to fraud and senior financial exploitation. Mr. Mascio obtained his MBA from Florida State University, an undergraduate degree from Salisbury University, and is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist.

FINRA is a self-regulatory organization for member broker-dealers that is responsible under federal law for supervising our member firms. As a not-for-profit, self-regulatory organization (SRO) with an 85-year history, FINRA’s mission is to protect investors and safeguard the integrity of our vibrant capital markets to ensure that everyone can invest with confidence.