Under Chairman Jay Clayton, who concluded his tenure at the Securities and Exchange Commission in late December, the SEC experienced an era of great productivity and rational reform. He furthered the historic mission of the SEC while maintaining nonpartisan credibility and independence in a highly charged political environment. Chairman Clayton affirmed the Commission's tripartite purpose—to protect investors, to maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and to facilitate capital formation—throughout his time in office, rightly emphasizing in public statements that these three elements should be viewed as correlated rather than as contradictory.

During his tenure, Chairman Clayton spoke frequently of the Commission's role in "looking out for" the long-term interests of the 52% of American households who participate in the capital markets. Reforms such as Regulation Best Interest and the amendments to the rules relating to proxy advisory firms increased protections for retail investors and improved the quality of their institutional relationships by requiring better disclosure, fewer conflicts of interest, and heightened fiduciary obligations. In the coming years, Main Street investors will reap the benefits of not only the heightened protections, but also the expanded market opportunities, that will result from SEC initiatives taken under Chairman Clayton's leadership.