The NASD Investor Education Foundation announced today it has awarded more than US$400,000 to two universities for research projects aimed at making financial product information more meaningful and more accessible to the investing public.

The projects funded by the awards announced today include a US$295,641 grant to The Center for Corporate Citizenship at the Carroll School of Management Boston College for Corporate Reporting of Social, Industry Cohort, and Governance Information, which will examine how non-financial performance measures are reported, in an effort to determine the extent to which investors value this information.

The second research project will be conducted by the Department of Communication Science at the University of Connecticut, which was awarded a US$111,599 grant for Effects of Visual Primes on Improving Web Disclosure to Investors. This project will examine how the visual presentation of information online can influence investors’ preferences, comprehension and retention of financial product disclosure information.

“The NASD Investor Education Foundation is dedicated to supporting important research that will help to provide investors with financial information that is clear and accurate,” said Robert Glauber, chairman & CEO of NASD, who also serves as chairman of the NASD Investor Education Foundation. “By exploring new and improved ways of explaining often complicated, yet critical, information to investors, we are hopeful the industry will be able to provide the right balance of information in a meaningful way.”

The NASD Foundation today also announced its first grant program of 2006, Improving Disclosure to Investors. The Foundation is appealing to non-profit groups, colleges and universities to submit grant proposals for research projects that examine the type of information, level of detail and method of distribution that would most benefit retail investors. Grant proposals must be submitted by April 7.

Successful projects will include an assessment of the current securities disclosure methodology. Reports must offer practical recommendations for making disclosure more effective for the benefit and protection of retail investors.

The NASD Foundation will be launching two additional grant programs this year. The 2006 General Grant Program will solicit proposals for education programs and research projects aimed at providing investors with information and tools to better understand investing and the markets. A more targeted program, the Life-Cycle Program, will focus on research about long-term investing and how ordinary people build wealth over their lifetime for retirement.