The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority revealed it is targeting potential abusive sales practices in alternative mutual funds, securities-backed lines of credit, floating-rate bank loan funds and exchange traded products tracking alternatively weighted indices.

In its 10th annual list of exam priorities, the regulator said it wants to make sure that investors are not burned by these hot products.

Alternative mutual funds have become glowingly hot with a six-fold increase in value since 2008.

Finra said it is going to double-down on the sales of alts out of a concern brokers don’t understand how the funds will respond to various market conditions and can’t warn their customers appropriately.

The regulator added it is concerned some firms are not reviewing alt funds through their new-product review processes, especially when they already have an existing agreement with the funds’ creators.

On securities-backed lines of credit (SBLOCs), which allow investors to borrow money on the value of stocks and bonds in their brokerage accounts, Finra said it wants to make sure brokers tell clients how markets could affect the value of this loan collateral and limits on the loans.

Finra noted these loans are often used to pay for non-essentials such as a second home and luxury goods.

Floating-rate bank loan funds are appearing on Finra’s radar screen for the initial time for low liquidity along with credit risks despite claims by proponents these products hedge exposure to losses from interest-rate fluctuations.

Exchange-traded products tracking alternatively weighted indices may be too complex and unfamiliar for retail investors, Finra warned.

In addition, the agency cautioned these investments are too new to provide a reasonable basis of how they will react to market swings.