March 24, 2004
I believe brokers should be required to make a full disclosure of information about costs and potential conflicts of interests to investors who purchase mutual fund shares, UIT interests, 529 plan shares, and certain other investments. The rules should be changed so that brokers would have to disclose in detail specific information about the fees and expenses we will pay for a particular product. Brokers should also be required to tell investors how much they and their firm stands to benefit from our purchase of that product.
It is difficult to understand why brokers should not be required to disclose in a full, plain and complete manner all relevant information so that there is total transparency and a sound basis for trust in the capital markets. The investing public can only benefit from this requirement.