July 22, 2017
Securities and Exchange Commission,
When investors turn to financial professionals for advice, they expect advice that’s in their best interests. When I asked for advice in the summer of 2001, I did not get what I deserved. Because the broker talked me out of switching my stocks to bonds, I lost more than a third of my IRA on 9/11/01. Investors have lost out on tens of billions of dollars in investment returns each year when conflicted advisers recommend inferior investment products that pay them more. I urge the Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt new rules, modeled on the Department of Labor’s rule for retirement investment advice, requiring brokers to act in their customers’ best interests and requiring firms to reduce conflicts that undermine that standard. I have long since retired and am out of the market now, holding on to what little IRA I have left, but there are other investors who need to be protected. They need real protections from industry practices that put their financial well-being at risk.
Drollene Brown