SEC Commissioner @HesterPeirce: I do not celebrate everything that is going on in the markets now. Financial products that fan a momentary hope of great riches in the same way lottery tickets do are dull and uninteresting to me. I expect that some of these novelties will fade away as investors lose interest, and their legal, technological, and market infrastructure will be repurposed for more durable investment and risk management products. The financial markets innovations that give me an adrenaline rush are those that help capital markets fulfill their core objective of serving investors, entrepreneurs, growing companies, the economy, and society at large. I love seeing new products and services that enable people to build resilient investment portfolios to provide security for them and their families. Another favorite is innovative products and services that make it easy and fun for retail investors to understand their investments and the associated expenses. I welcome market developments that facilitate the matching of people with great ideas and promising companies with investors—including people who come from different backgrounds, geographies, and social circles than the entrepreneurs. I champion innovations that enable investors to buy or sell when they want to with low transaction costs. These aspects of the capital markets drew me to this job and remain the ones that inspire me still to be here eight years later. - May 8, 2026