mickeyd
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Very few posters here pay a 12b-1 fee I'm guessing, but evidently there are still a boat-load of [-]suckers, loons, imbeciles, idiots [/-]unsavvy investors who have not gotten the word yet, so what will MF companies think up to make up for the loss of $9,500,000,000 annually? Higher ER?
Goodbye 12b-1 Fees? - Financial PlanningThe Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to propose limits on mutual fund distribution fees and provide more transparency for investors.
The mutual fund industry collected approximately $9.5 billion through 12b-1 fees last year, according to data from the Investment Company Institute.
The fees, which were developed in the late 1970s when funds were losing investor assets faster than they were attracting new assets, are used to offset a variety of expenses including advertising, broker's commissions and sales and marketing costs. These fees are equal to about 18% of all fund expenses, not counting sales charges, or about $2 for every $1,000 invested.
The SEC's proposal would protect investors by limiting fund sales charges (funds would be allowed to charge a “marketing and service” fee of up to 0.25 percent of a fund's assets per year), improve transparency of fees for investors, encourage retail price competition, and revise fund director oversight duties.