The Financial Industry Regulation Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation is the agency that has provided Florida State University with the grant to allow the research project to be undertaken. Here, we provide a little background on the FINRA foundation. More detail can be found at the foundation's website.
Mission of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation
The FINRA Investor Education Foundation is the largest foundation in the U.S. 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. To further this mission, the Foundation awards grants to fund educational programs and research aimed at segments of the investing public who could benefit from additional resources. Since inception, the FINRA Foundation has received approximately 400 proposals requesting nearly $88 million in funding.
History of the FINRA Foundation
Formerly known as the NASD Investor Education Foundation, the FINRA Investor Education Foundation is a nonprofit, 501(c)(4) organization established in December 2003 in response to both the current environment in the markets and a survey showing that investors still have fundamental questions and misunderstandings about important investment issues. In 2007, the Foundation’s parent, NASD, consolidated with NYSE Member Regulation to form FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. At that time, the Foundation became the FINRA Investor Education Foundation—but its mission of serving investors remains the same.