I am writing to state my opposition to any new rules (Notice #22-08) which would restrict my ability as an individual investor to use many of the investment products available, including leveraged and inverse investment products. I believe that the job of FINRA should be to assure us that the products are soundly constructed and to insure that the risks associated with their use are adequately provided. Nothing more. I have traded the markets for over forty years and remember the bad old days when a single stock trade could cost over $100 commission and there was virtually no way for the average investor to economically hedge their position. The idea that individual investors must be tested and display some pre-determined level of competency to employ these products is absurd. Most so called professional money managers rarely beat the S&P 500 returns of a buy and hold strategy. Should they be held to a similar test of competency in order to hold their license? It seems that if some of these ideas are implemented, we would be forced back to the bad old days of when a few mutual fund companies held a near monopoly of investment choices for the average investor.
Allan Weiss Comment On Regulatory Notice 22-08
I am writing to state my opposition to any new rules (Notice #22-08) which would restrict my ability as an individual investor to use many of the investment products available, including leveraged and inverse investment products. I believe that the job of FINRA should be to assure us that the products are soundly constructed and to insure that the risks associated with their use are adequately provided. Nothing more. I have traded the markets for over forty years and remember the bad old days when a single stock trade could cost over $100 commission and there was virtually no way for the average investor to economically hedge their position. The idea that individual investors must be tested and display some pre-determined level of competency to employ these products is absurd. Most so called professional money managers rarely beat the S&P 500 returns of a buy and hold strategy. Should they be held to a similar test of competency in order to hold their license? It seems that if some of these ideas are implemented, we would be forced back to the bad old days of when a few mutual fund companies held a near monopoly of investment choices for the average investor.