Pieciak said it is very important for him to promote uniformity in regulation while preserving state authority, not just in sales conduct and fiduciary regulations but in all arenas. “When you ask our members what their biggest issues are, uniformity and preservation of state authority are their number one concerns, so where appropriate, we will drive that,” he said.

As a millennial himself, Pieciak hopes the advisor industry will focus more on his generation now, rather than waiting for millennials to reach retirement age. “There’s a huge need for financial advice that millennials have this year and will continue to have as the huge transfer of wealth from boomers to millennials takes place. Statistics show millennials have delayed a lot of the hallmarks of adulthood like buying homes, getting married, having children … but once they have money to invest, they’ll need advice.

“From a business perspective it’s smart to work with these clients now,” Pieciak said. “Even though millennials are so phone, app and social media based, at the end of the day when faced with financial decisions, they rely on the people they trust. So it would be helpful to the industry and to millennials, too, to work with them.”

The regulator said he was shocked that 25 percent of millennials who have retirement savings are fully invested in cryptocurrencies. “It is shocking to me that this was the case, considering how volatile these offerings have been and how many have failed. It’s fine if anyone wants to invest in cryptocurrencies, but millennials need help with the very basic concept of diversification, understanding alternate asset classes and being able to understand which cryptocurrencies will work for them. These are areas advisors can help highlight,” Pieciak said.

Recent statistics showing that some 80 percent of initial coin offerings were deemed to be scams in 2017 makes good investment advice that much more needed for younger generations, he said.

Since many millennials haven’t accumulated significant assets yet, traditional asset-based fee models are unlikely to entice the industry to work with the group. While regulators have not traditionally been fans of hourly or retainer-fee advisory models, Pieciak recognizes the industry may need more flexibility when it comes to working with millennials and middle-income clients. “I think from my perspective that we have to keep an open mind about fee arrangements and business models, especially when we talk about systemic changes in the industry and demand from consumers and investors regarding the way they want to receive investment advice,” he said.

Pieciak is not only open to new business models, but also is tuned into the importance of balancing investor protection with capital formation. Some 78 percent of the 17,000 advisors NASAA regulates are one- or two-person shops, he said.

Which, unfortunately, makes state RIAs prone to cyberattack, the regulator added. Cyber criminals are 300 percent more likely to target a financial services firm than a traditional company and 61 percent more likely to zero in on a small firm.

“That’s our RIA industry and that’s why we are proposing our new cybersecurity model,” Pieciak said. The model, out for comment until November 26, is principles-based rather than prescriptive, he added. For the first time, the model would require state-registered RIAs to do a cybersecurity risk assessment and create practices that safeguard “reasonably anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of client records and information.”

In May, Pieciak is kicking off a new program at NASAA’s 2019 Public Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., designed to raise awareness of the role of state securities regulators. “Every state regulator will have the opportunity to invite a key state legislator to the conference,” the regulator said. “The goal here is to help the regulator build important relationships so they have people who understand our deliberative process when they introduce model regulation.”