June 13, 2007
SEC to Decide Fate of Advisor Revenue Stream, 12b-1
If the 12b-1 fees are abolished, the general public will suffer. My company, on a periodic basis, surveys the advisors about which clients they would like to turn over to a company service desk vs. individual service by an advisor. The criteria used are total assets and service fees generated. If the service fees (12b-1) disappear, I doubt these marginal accounts will be kept by the advisor. That means no individual service for the investor and they will probably end up talking to somewhere in India about their accounts.
I've been an advisor for over 25 years and every time a change is made it's usually the individual investor who suffers. Over the last few years because of disclosures and new compliance rules it has made it tougher to deal with small accounts. Most companies don't want to deal with them and this is just another nail in the coffin for the small investor.