2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Would Bernie supporters be so kind as to define "Wall Street" for us? [View all]JonLeibowitz
(6,282 posts)You are essentially saying that two people cannot enter into a contract. Maybe a particular fund has high costs due to expensive research teams but make up the difference in outstanding returns. It's difficult to know in advance (and is why I index), of course, but we should not, in my view, remove people's agency in the market. That would be a bad law and a bad policy, in my opinion.
What I would support, and notice that neither of our candidates have spoken about is clarity on the rules of fiduciary responsibility. Simply requiring that financial advisors give advice that is bound by a fiduciary duty (i.e. acting in their best opinions of your best interest, not theirs through kickbacks from high ER/loads) would be an enormous improvement.
I am actually surprised Liz Warren hasn't pushed much here. I suspect the institutional pressure on this front is very difficult to overcome, however.