Financial Markets (ECON 252) Most people are not very good at dealing in financial markets. Professional money managers, such as financial advisors and financial planners, assist individuals in matters of personal finance. FINRA and the SEC monitor the activities of these managers in order to protect individual investors. Mutual funds, exchange traded funds also exist to assist individual investments, and pension funds provide further services. These investment institutions help people to put money in diversified portfolios and, in some cases, reap some tax benefits for funding their retirement income. 00:00 – Chapter 1. Introduction 04:01 – Chapter 2. Financial Advisors and Financial Planners 15:20 – Chapter 3. Assets of US Households and Nonprofits 24:09 – Chapter 4. Mutual Funds, ETFs, and Spendthrift Funds 41:53 – Chapter 5. Pension Funds: A History 54:53 – Chapter 6. Modern Innovations for Pension Management: ERISA and Beyond Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: open.yale.edu This course was recorded in Spring 2008.