Require that the fund
companies provide much greater detail regarding the components of the expenses they bill to their clients.
The concerns raised at the confab and in my testimony are the same ones we continue to face today.
As I noted, many of my peers have made similar pleas to the industry, regulators and the media with little apparent success. As I've watched a seemingly endless series of financial scandals-accounting, corporate, analysts and most recently mutual funds-and continued to mull these issues over the ensuing years, I reached the conclusion that there is really a very simple solution.
If the financial services industry would just follow two of the Ten Commandments, in spirit as well as in fact, it would resolve most of the problems.
1. You shall not steal.
2. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Until then, I'm pleased to see the regulators stepping up to the plate. As fiduciaries for our clients, I know they have the full support of the independent advisor for prompt and aggressive actions designed to protect the interest of our clients, i.e., the retail investor.
Harold Evensky is chairman of Evensky, Brown & Katz in Coral Gables, Fla. He is an internationally recognized speaker on investment and financial planning issues.