TD Ameritrade Institutional president Tom Bradley met with AdvisorOne staff Thursday afternoon to discuss a wide range of topics including regulation, technology, the company's growth aspirations and his success in attracting breakaway brokers.
"We should only permit reps to provide financial advice under a fiduciary standard; period, end of story," the outspoken Bradley (left), said. "We don't need to change the standard. We just need to say, 'Here is the line. If you cross it, you're held to a fiduciary standard. If you don't cross it, then you're not.'"
By way of example, he noted TD Ameritrade retail representatives, located in the company's branches, do not provide financial advice, and therefore should not be held to the standard.
When asked to comment on the two recently released SEC studies, Bradley acknowledged the SEC's lack of resources, especially in the examination process.
"The number of SEC examiners has declined while the number of advisors has increased," he said. "Not only that, but what is the skill set of the examiners? What is their training? Who, in essence, is examining the examiners? A standard operating procedure has to be put in place to address these issues."
He believes some sort of user fee structure is inevitable, because even though Congress has authorized more funds for the SEC as a whole, most has been slated for enforcement, rather than examination.
When asked how many TD Ameritrade-affiliated advisors were moving to state supervision (for those under $100 million in assets), he said the number was not insignificant, but could not specify the amount.
The interview focus then moved to the company's growth aspirations and service levels.
