I've thought about posting some ideas on what's happening in the financial landscape for a month or two, and finally took the plunge. I recently read that the majority of blogs are read only by their authors, so I'm not expecting a lot from this, but my brother-in-law has developed quite a following with his college baseball blog, so that's a good example to follow.
My thoughts right now are mainly centered on tax time. People have one week left to open an IRA for 2006. Even if you can't start one right away, you have a whole year remaining to get one started before the next tax deadline. If you want an idea of what an IRA is or why you should have one, send me an email.
The news among the financial community is about the Broker/Dealer exemption rule. I was even asked to take a survey, sponsored by a major brokerage house, about what it would mean to me as the principal of a Registered Investment Adviser firm. There's speculation about whether the major wirehouses will try to get Congress to take up the issue.
Essentially, what's at stake is whether commission brokers can call what they do giving financial advice, without the firm having to register as an investment adviser with the SEC or the states in which they do business. Some on both sides are very outspoken on the issue. I think the recent ruling that B/D's are not exempt from registration if they're giving investment advice, even if it's only incidental to selling financial products, is a good decision. There are some great people working in that part of the industry who are doing wonderful work for their clients. I think the main issue is not what they do, but what it's being called.
Let's hope that the implications of this decision work out for those in all aspects of the industry, and most of all, that consumers are able to understand the distinctions of what various professional's roles are.
