Dear President Obama and Secretary Perez:

As members of the financial advisor community, we are writing to express our appreciation for the leadership and hard work that you have devoted to the fiduciary duty rule just released by the U.S. Department of Labor.

This extraordinarily important reform will protect millions of hard working Americans from the conflicts of interest that annually siphon away billions of dollars of hard-earned retirement savings due to inflated commissions and poor returns. With the rule in place, everyday Americans will be much better equipped to meet the difficult challenges of investing for a secure and dignified retirement. Moreover, we firmly believe that the rule will result in fundamental and positive changes in the entire advisory market, raising the standard of loyalty and care for the benefit of all retirement savers.

Our firm, Rebalance, is part of a broad trend of companies harnessing technology and new business models to provide American savers with alternatives to antiquated high-fee investment services. We believe that a regulatory “level playing field,” combined with enhanced disclosure and strict limits on conflicted investment advice, will accelerate this process, unleash the transformative power of the free market system, and provide American consumers with a wider array of high-quality, low-cost retirement investing options. By ensuring that all financial advisors must give retirement investment advice that is in their clients’ best interest, the new rule brings us closer to achieving these goals.

In conclusion, we applaud your leadership and celebrate this historic victory for Americans saving for retirement.

With much gratitude,

The Rebalance Investment Committee

Dr. Charles D. Ellis
Dr. Burton G. Malkiel
Scott Puritz, Managing Director
Mitch Tuchman, Managing Director
Jay Vivian