Subject: File No. S7-25-99
From: Jeff Bernier, CFP, ChFC, CFS
Affiliation: President, TandemGrowth Financial Advisors, LLC

September 8, 2004

To whom it may concern:

Todays consumer of financial services has a difficult task evaluating the differences in the various service and advice models. By allowing the major brokerage firms to operate without registering, this rule only makes the differences more difficult for the typical investor to distinguish. If a large broker dealer is advertising their services as advisory in nature, they should be registered. Competition is good for the consumer, however, there must be a level playing field. I believe this rule should be recinded.