SEC Says Fund Fees Have Risen Nearly 20% in Past 20 Years

Fund fees have increased nearly 20% in the past 20 years, according to a report that the Securities and Exchange Commission issued today.

In the report, the SEC recommends that mutual fund companies tell investors exactly how much the investors are paying them in fees -- not in percentages but in dollar amounts. Disclosing this information in semiannual and annual reports would allow investors to compare a fund's fees alongside other key information, the SEC says.

In three of the past four years, mutual fund fees have decreased, the report says. But over the past 20 years, average expense ratios for funds increased 19%, from 1.14% in 1979 to 1.36% in 1999. The report also gives fees weighted by asset size, because funds with $1 billion or more in assets charge fees nearly 50% lower than those of than smaller funds, according to the report. The asset-weighted average expense ratio for all classes of funds was 0.73% in 1979, rising 29% to 0.94% in 1999. ...