Page 1 of 1
Big Four Independence Question
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:44 am
by Anonymous User
Anon because of sensitive information below.
So my fiance is a senior manager at a big four and I'm a lawyer at V50 firm. Becuase we are getting married this year, she has to clear all of my finances with her firm (for independence reasons). Long story short, her indepdence system says I have to sell some of the individual funds that I'm investing as part of my firm's 401K plan. Has anyone ever dealt with this issue? If so, what did you do? Quite frankly, I find it super annoying!
Re: Big Four Independence Question
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 10:14 am
by guano
Anonymous User wrote:Anon because of sensitive information below.
So my fiance is a senior manager at a big four and I'm a lawyer at V50 firm. Becuase we are getting married this year, she has to clear all of my finances with her firm (for independence reasons). Long story short, her indepdence system says I have to sell some of the individual funds that I'm investing as part of my firm's 401K plan. Has anyone ever dealt with this issue? If so, what did you do? Quite frankly, I find it super annoying!
Sell it.
It's the price you pay for being successful (or at least being on your way). Likewise, there will come a point (if it hasn't already) where you will be restricted from certain investments because of your position at the law firm.
Hell, I purposely avoided investments because of jobs close friends of mine had.
Re: Big Four Independence Question
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 10:22 am
by Jsa725
.
Re: Big Four Independence Question
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 11:04 am
by Kochel
The SEC's auditor independence rules are rather extreme and are not suited to a world where there are only four major audit firms. They're intended to create a complete financial wall between the audit firm's personnel and audit clients, and the rules are generally written without qualifiers or even the possibility of exemption from the SEC. (I speak from personal experience in trying to get a dispensation from the SEC.) Your investment in the fund(s) in question could block her employer from auditing those funds, even if she herself has nothing to do with that audit client. The last thing she needs for her career is independence problems stemming from your investments. Sell.
Re: Big Four Independence Question
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 5:51 pm
by JJ123
They don't mess around with audit independence. I work in a tax department, and I had to disclose all of this stuff so that they could be sure they were independent for audit purposes.
Just do what they tell you, and ask them if they can recommend some index funds, or other mutual funds that are acceptable for you to invest in.