| 03 August 2009

The Financial Services Institute and the The Financial Services Roundtable sent a joint letter to FINRA complaining about their new ad campaign. Chief among their concerns is the following quote from the ad: "We Americans are trusting by nature. We expect promises to be kept. So when we put money away, we expect it will be there tomorrow."

Apparently this approach irked financial advisers because investors are not putting "money away" but rather investing in the stock market in hopes of greater returns. While we can't disagree with the complaint, the letter leaves us feeling a little empty as investors. Neither industry association was willing to suggest an alternative approach to FINRA. Rather, they seem more focused on protecting advisers and shifting both the risks of investing and the blame for mistakes squarely onto the individual.

Of course FINRA is also a member-supported industry organization and makes most of its money by charging membership fees. FINRA collected only  $28 million in fines last year and a whopping $779 million in "regulatory fees" from investment firms. So they're in the always odd position of balancing investor protection with the interests of its paying members. The letter from FSI and FSR attempts to chip away at what little protection and awareness is available to individual investors.

FINRA will run the ads again in the fall. We'll keep an eye out for the ads and any response from FINRA.