SEC Commissioner Saw the Future of Mutual Funds

When SEC Commissioner Paul Carey passed away on Thursday at age 38 after a long bout with cancer, mutual fund shareholders lost a true unsung hero. Without much fanfare, Carey, a former legislative liaison for President Clinton and the son of former New York Gov. Hugh Carey, frequently tackled tough issues with insight and a knack for seeing what the future holds for mutual funds.

Commissioner Carey's vision and resolve made important contributions to issues ranging from Social Security private accounts to fund proxy voting.

Social Security Private Accounts

When former Chairman Levitt discussed the prospect of Social Security private accounts, he could only see the sky falling. While claiming neutrality, Levitt warned that private accounts would "provide the unscrupulous with new opportunities to deceive and distort," require "an unprecedented level of broad-scale policing of the equity markets" and permit fraud to "be perpetrated against an army of novice investors." ...