By Tom Bradley

Below is an internal email from Chris Stephenson today. It wasn’t meant for public consumption (it’s an email, not a blog), but Chris is OK with me doing this.

With David’s experience with the [un-named fund company] rip-off, the Globe article about $1,305 in transfer fees and a couple experiences I had yesterday, it occurred to me that the industry’s transfer process is seriously letting down clients.

Not only the hefty fees, but the time it takes and the concurrent market risk. Because it’s paper based, forms are prone to hang out on an advisor’s desk or get caught up in bureaucracy. And don’t get me started on the lack of transparency / status updates.

The OSC’s discussions about implementing Fiduciary standards are nice and everything but how can the industry ever consider itself fiduciaries without addressing this giant black hole rip-off zone?