Okay. We are finally getting close to some movement on this fiduciary issue. Mercer Bullard, the esteemed Associate Professor of Law at the University of Mississippi Law School in Oxford, Mississippi is chairing the all important subcommittee called the Investor as Purchaser Subcommittee. This particular committee "will consider the fiduciary duty owed to investors by those who provide investment advice, as well as issues related to pre-sale and other disclosure, intermediary fees and compensation practices, arbitration, and technology.", as stated on the SEC press release site:
http://sec.gov/news/press/2009/2009-197.htm
Looking at Mr. Bullard's Fund Democracy activities, I can see that Mr. Bullard has long been a proponent of the fiduciary duty owed to investors. See his article on Broker-Advisor at the Fund Democracy web site. Here is the link:
http://www.funddemocracy.com/Regulate%20Broker-Advisers%20Now%202.htm
Mr. Bullard has made his position plain in the past and we must assume that his thoughts are only stronger after the events of the last year. Therefore, this is where we find out if the deep pockets of Wall Street can override the efforts of Mr. Bullard.
Mr. Bullard has also made his opinion known about broker sold mutual funds and how investors typically lose money by buying broker sold mutual funds as opposed to true no load funds. He is liable to make mutual fund companies and Wall Street firms squeal like stuck pigs when they find out he is chairing this subcommittee. The old way of making revenue from high load and commission mutual funds may just have a shot at disappearing. We will see a big fight in this area. That is for sure.
It looks like investors may actually have a shot at getting things done in their best interests. For the sake of investors everyone, let's say a prayer for Mr. Bullard's success.
Stay tuned.
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