After 27% Fall, Finra Plays It Safe

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority warns on its Web site about the volatility of stocks, urging investors to "think about your risk tolerance." But the front-line regulator for thousands of Wall Street brokerage firms has been doing lots of second-guessing about its own risk-taking appetite.

The Finra investment fund, seeded with more than $1.6 billion from the agency's former stake in the Nasdaq Stock Market, shrank in value by 27% in 2008, mostly because it was heavily invested in stocks, private-equity funds, hedge funds and other assets that tumbled...

WSJ: After 27% Fall, Finra Plays It Safe (Subscription required)