March 17, 2004
I I believe that all fees that a mutual fund investor pays either directly or indirectly, seen or unseen, should clearly be spelled out by the mutual fund in bold readible print and in clear language that is readable and understandable by an average investor. These costs include, but are not limited to, upfront costs, rear end costs, 12b1 costs, management fees, early redeeming costs, break point costs, fees on reinvestment of dividends and capital gain, and other fees which are now hidden from the investor which I dont even know about. The mutual fund should clearly state whether early redemption fees go to the mutual fund company or are credited to the other investors. Many mutual funds do not reveal clearly and in readable print and language easy to understand what each and every fee is. Also, funds should indicate whether they engage in practices which cost long term investor such as after hours trading.