In the wild and wooly world of securities investments, everything is not always as it seems.

Take Lehman Brothers 100% principal protected notes, for instance.

The now bankrupt, former high-flying Wall Street firm allegedly promoted these investments as being as safe as CD’s but with a much higher chance for bigger gains.

Here’s how they worked. These intricate securities worked like zero-coupon notes, except their upside potential was linked to the performance of an equity index, such as the Russell 2000 or S & P 500.

Investors were guaranteed return of their capital, typically in around 18 months. Any gains would be tied to the particular index, if it traded within pre-defined parameters.

However if the indexes were too volatile in that period, either falling more than 25.5% or rising more than 27.5% from the date of issue, the investor would only get his principal back and would forego any returns at all.

However, according to a recent New York Times story by Gretchen Morgenson, disaster struck when Lehman Brothers Holdings went into bankruptcy.

The article tells of one couple, the Minasians, who lost half of their life’s savings, about $100,000, with the Lehman Brothers Holdings notes.

The Minasians said their UBS broker never explained the risks in the securities and didn’t even give them a prospectus. They said they weren’t’ even told the notes had been issued by Lehman Brothers until the company went into bankruptcy in 2008.

UBS sold $1 billion of these notes to their clients. At 1.75%, commissions on these notes was far higher than those paid on sales of CDs.

Mr. Minasian said his broker told him no commissions were paid on the investments.

Have you suffered a loss from investing in Lehman Brothers or Lehman Brothers products?

Find out if you can get compensation for your Lehman Brothers losses. Complete the form on this page or call 1-800-934-2921 for a free consultation.