Re: Letters to the Editor: Banning commissions has proven to be a failure, by Greg Pollock, investmentexecutive.com, February 25, 2016

Re: Science-denying tactics will do the mutual fund industry no good, by Neil Gross, Inside Track, www.investmentexecutive.com, February 22, 2016

It was very refreshing to read Greg Pollock’s letter and see that someone’s voice other then Neil Gross’s is being heard.

Pollock refutes many of the arguments that Gross has been making — and that does not surprise me in the least. I, for one, as well as some of my colleagues, will definitely be leaving the investment industry should trailing fees be eliminated as the idea of taking care of my clients free of charge makes no sense.

I have one client who is in a wheelchair for life and whom I have taken care of for 15 years, helping him and his wife make very nice investment returns. They live very far from any city and totally rely on me to take care of them and are very upset at the thought of losing me. I could give you many more examples but that could be very time consuming.

Needless to say, I enjoy helping people very much and wish to continue helping them, but this idea of not getting paid is not acceptable as it is very, very expensive to run a business. Thanks for publishing Pollock’s letter as it gives hope to many of the hard-working financial advisors out there who are preparing to leave the industry.

Robert Thompson
Financial Advisor
GP Wealth Management
Newmarket, Ont.