March 18, 2004
I would strongly urge you to require B-Ds to have to disclose all conflicts of interest and expenses associated with a particular investment. How is a consumer to make an educated decision without all of the information necessary. I constantly meet with people who use B-Ds as financial advisors and I will ask them How much are you paying this person to work with your account? The answer I get 90 percent of the time is, I am not paying anything. Something needs to change if people who are working with brokers think the brokers are working for free.
Thank you for your diligence in looking out for the consumer.
Richard Thompson