August 30, 2010
Dear Mary Shapiro,
I have worked as a portfolio manager since 1980, ran my own RIA firm(Marcia Joslyn Sill,Inc.)from 1988 until I sold it to Joseph A. Perry of Potomac Investments,Inc.in 2007 where I am currently employed as a senior VP as portfolio manager.While working at SeaFirst Bank(now BofA) I worked both as a buy side and a sell side employee. I am trained and experienced in both sides of the street. It is my sincere opinion given my many yrs of experience that:
The SEC should hold all brokers and advisers to the highest standard of customer service. Please see the CFA ethics and standards of behavior to which I am held to as an investment professional.The client's best interest , not the profit of the firm should be the gold standard.
For each of our clients , we collaborate with them to tailor their own individual Investment Policy Statement.Both our firm and client then sign the final version. Their IPS states what invsetments are appropriate and puts down in written form what are our guidelines given their needs,timeline and preferences,objectives, risk tolerance and experience.The IPS states guidelines for the recommended asset allocation and serves as our roadmap for investing their money in their best interests. We rebalance and select new investments using this as our roadmap. We review the IPS each time clients meet with us.