July 24, 2018
My message is for Jay Clayton, even though I suspect my email will not reach him. If possible, please pass this to him.
I strongly encourage Jay to take a stance on behalf of individual investors. Anything that gets us closer to all persons giving financial advice being required to serve the client as a fiduciary will be a positive step forward.
I have been a fee-only financial planner for 20 years. I wrote a book titled The Joy of Financial Security, and I have seen first-hand the war stories from clients being abused by brokers and insurance salespeople. It is very sad to see instances where a client trusted an advisor, only to find out later that the advisor had enormous conflicts of interest and took advantage of the client's trust. I believe allowing only fiduciaries to use the terms advisor or adviser is a good step, especially if the public can be educated to beware of anyone not calling themselves an advisor. However, the wealth managers, investment reps, and other titles will still be there to confuse the individual investor.
From a personal standpoint, I believe most of the recent SEC commissioners are very forgettable. If Jay takes a stance on protecting the individual investor, he will stand out as someone who actually did something worthwhile. Within the industry, most people consider the SEC and FINRA as serving the best interest of the brokerage community. I would love for someone to put the interest of the individual investor first for a change.
Please contact me if anyone wants more information.
Thanks!
Donna
Donna Skeels Cygan, CFP®, MBA
President of Sage Future Financial, LLC
Author of the multi-award winning book,
The Joy of Financial Security