Full Price Disclosure (from my local auto dealer)

"If only the mutual fund and investment selling industry would be as pro-active and forward thinking as the auto selling business". Today it appears investment salespeople are lagging behind auto sales in ethics.

Two points on this topic were recently noted:

My local Toyota auto dealer has begun to advertise that it's salespersons are now called, "product advisors". In much the same manner as stockbrokers and commission investment salespersons began referring to themselves as "investment advisors", a while back. Is the change in name backed by a change in methods? Time will tell, but in the case of the investment business, the commission compensation model is still paramount. It is still either an "eat what you kill" industry for most salespersons, and an "eat what you gather" industry for those who have converted to fees instead of commissions.

Second item, last weekend, I noticed a Cranbrook, BC, Toyota dealer advertising, "full disclosure" pricing on their vehicles. This is a welcome change after the decades of buyer beware pricing tactics found in the auto industry.
If the mutual fund industry were to follow this trend toward openess and honesty in the manners of compensation disclosure (instead of prospectus confusion), it would help considerably toward restoring the reputation of the industry. Without that, it will continue to drive the reputation of the industry into the ground.

The question is, will the auto sales industry step ahead of the investment industry as far as reputation goes...........or will the investment selling industry change course and come clean?