August 13, 2010
I am in favor of policing the financial services industry to the extent that it protects investors against the 'Bernie Madoffs' of the world. I am against the proposed fiduciary standards on Registered Representatives because much of this is already done in house by the firms. This would ultimately put the burden of the costs on the clients who already pay heavily. It would curtail clients from wanting to put money into investments due to the heavy costs associated with them. As financial advisors, we already pay a high price for errors and omissions coverage and we would then see these costs escalate as well. There is no winner in doing something of this nature.