Subject: File No. S7-06-04
From: Mike Maiden

April 25, 2004

All costs to investing in a mutual fund and compensation to the firm that sells a mutual fund to investors should be disclosed. All costs associated with that fund should be determined by the mutual fund company. The amount and form of compensation to a firm that sells and services mutual funds should be between the firm and the mutual fund company. If the government can assure investors they are getting the facts on all costs, then the government has done its job. The marketplace will determine if the costs are too high. It is a shame that this debate on mutual fund costs and compensation misses the real reason investors dont get better results from their mutual funds. They get poor results because they chase performance, aka buy high, and lose their conviction about an asset class when the price decline, aka sell low. Professionally-advised investors, net of loads and all other costs, are guided as they make those decisions, are better diversified, and tend to stay invested longer and therfore get better results than unadvised investors.