October 6, 2009
Ms. Elizabeth Murphy
Secretary
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549-1090
Re: Political Contributions by Certain Investment Advisers (File Number S7-18-09)
Dear Ms. Murphy:
The following supplements the comment letter I submitted yesterday, October 5, 2009.
The proposed rule would prohibit investment advisers from paying third parties to solicit government entities as adviser clients or in pooled investment vehicles (including mutual funds) managed by the investment adviser. Specifically, the proposed rule would any payment to a person to solicit a government entity for investment advisory services. Payment is broadly defined to include "anything of value" and solicit is defined as a communication ..."directly or indirectly, for the purpose of obtaining, or retaining a client to, an investment adviser." Because the language of the proposed rule is broad, my concern is that it covers revenue sharing payments made by an investment adviser to broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries. I recommend that the Commission expressly provide that any such revenue sharing payments made in the normal course of business by an investment adviser to a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary not be considered a payment to solicit a government entity.
I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the proposal. Should you have any questions, feel free to contact me directly at (626) 716-6756 or (213) 244-029
0.Sincerely,
Philip K. Holl