Page 10 - Investment Advisor September 2021

EDITOR’S NOTE

By Janet Levaux

New Awards for a New Era

e are proud to present this month’s cover story, One amendment “would preclude the Commission in some
“The Industry’s Changing Profile: Meet the 2021 instances from making an award in related enforcement
W LUMINARIES in Diversity & Inclusion and actions brought by other law-enforcement and regulatory
Thought Leadership.” The piece features the members of the authorities if a second, alternative whistleblower award pro-
first group of LUMINARIES honorees being recognized for gram might also apply to the action,” Gensler said. The second
the dynamic and inclusive efforts they lead to drive the finan- might be used by a future commission to lower an award
cial services industry forward. because of the size of the award in absolute terms.
This new program is split into two groups with four cat- In this month’s Industry Insights, consultant Tim Welsh
egories. This month, we highlight winners in the Diversity & argues that direct indexing may be a source of strength for
Inclusion and Thought Leadership active managers who’ve been los-
& Education categories. Winners We appreciate all the ing market share to players on
in the Executive Leadership and individuals, firms, programs, the passive side of the business.
Dealmaking/Growth categories Thanks to “dramatic innova-
will be featured in November. products and services tions in trading and rebalancing
The LUMINARIES program technology, [as well as] fractional
is an evolution of our Broker- that were nominated for share availability, combined with
Dealers of the Year awards. It LUMINARIES Class of 2021 no more trading costs in the form
emphasizes excellence across the of commissions, direct indexing is
financial services industry and and hope you enjoy this now affordable and applicable to
shines a spotlight on how the top- new program, as well as our portfolios of all sizes,” he explains.
performing industry participants Why is this “fantastically good
are producing meaningful results coverage of the winners. news”? These trends make it pos-
in the areas that matter most to sible “to replicate the SMA pro-
advisors and other financial professionals. cess and to create model portfolios or manage an index
We appreciate all the individuals, firms, programs, products by holding the individual securities and fractional shares
and services that were nominated for LUMINARIES Class of themselves that make up the index or model portfolio. This
2021 and hope you enjoy this new program, as well as our cov- replaces having to use less precise and costly methods, such
erage of the winners. as investing in a mutual fund or ETF,” according to the head
In other news, Securities and Exchange Commission of Nexus Strategy.
Chairman Gary Gensler is moving to reverse recent changes Finally, we wish you a terrific end to the summer and a great
made to the agency’s whistleblower rules, writes Washington start to the fall. Please send any views on our industry coverage
Bureau Chief Melanie Waddell in this month’s Playing Field to [email protected]. Thanks!
column. In August, Gensler explained that members of
the whistleblower community, as well as Democratic SEC
Commissioners Allison Herren Lee and Caroline Crenshaw,
“have expressed concern that two of these amendments could
discourage whistleblowers from coming forward.” GROUP EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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