SEC Chair Mary Jo White said Tuesday the agency should promote investor confidence in the fairness of the equities markets.

Her comment came shortly after the commission’s lone Republican, economist Michael Piwowar, contended that objective would be a mistake.

“Promoting investor confidence creates the wrong incentive. [The SEC] should be promoting investor skepticism to fulfill its mission of investor protection,” said Piwowar.

Their views came out on a day when the SEC was urged to conduct regular surveys of retail investor confidence in the stock and ETF markets by the SEC Equity Market Structure Committee.

In a report, the committee said the SEC should use snapshots and trends in investor sentiment, including retirement readiness, where retail investors are willing to put their savings and their perceptions on buying and selling equities.

Giving her support to the idea the SEC should conduct surveys, White said, “If investors don’t think the structure of the equities market is fair, we should know about it.”

SEC Investor Advocate Rick Fleming said he will be signing a contract to start surveys soon.

However, NASDAQ Chief Economist Frank Hatheway said NASDAQ is against surveys because investors might answer based on recent investment performance and headlines.

After the meeting, committee member and FINRA Chairman and CEO Richard Ketchum said he will be involved in policy issues when he leaves Finra soon, adding he does not have a new job lined up.

Ketchum said he also wants to teach a college course. In the past, he has taught securities law as an adjunct professor at Georgetown, Fordham and New York universities.