April 19, 2018
To Whom it May Concern at the SEC,
As someone who has worked in the financial services industry for 12 years, both as a Financial Advisor and Employee of 2 major Financial Services companies, I firmly believe that Financial Services Professionals should be held to a high standard of fiduciary care when advising retirees, families, business owners, etc. in any investment or financial capacity. I believe it is the role of the SEC as the governing body overseeing this industry to be working to protect Americans while balancing the needs of the industry. I believe that the sooner we can get to that level of care, the sooner the industry can be elevated to that of other professions like attorneys, doctors, and accountants. There is absolutely no benefit to the long term viability of our industry in allowing any wiggle room when it comes to providing objective financial advice, both on a fee base and commission base. The sooner our industry can be viewed as a Profession that has high ethical standards instead of a sales industry, the better off we will be as an industry. I strongly feel that anybody who opposes this sort of change simply wants to protect the ability to sell questionable products and services to hard working Americans or not have the same level of accountability and oversight that other professions have. The role of the SEC is to protect against these types of activities and my hope is that the voting members of the SEC will eventually get to this same conclusion, which I feel will be best for both consumers and practitioners.