July 19, 2007
Dear Ms. Morris:
My practice in the Financial Services industry involves the sales and service of mutual funds for retirement planning purposes.
12b1 fees are an important part of the mutual fund business, as they pay a small trail commission allowing compensation be paid through to our office for the service we provide. The mutual fund clients we have have chosen to do business with us knowing that they are paying a small fee for service, as contrasted to dealing directly on the internet without the services of an advisor.
We certainly do believe in disclosure, and have no objection to more clarification to clients as to the subject of 12b1 fees. However, eliminating them, would cause us to need to charge a separate fee for service. The end result would be no savings, and perhaps actually an increase cost to the client.
To summarize - please retain 12b1 fees - but full disclosure is certainly appropriate.
Thank you for taking these thoughts into consideration.