In 2010, investment professionals at CUSOs, credit unions and other financial institutions should expect to see more disclosure recommendations from the SEC on things like target date funds and 12b-1 fees.
The 12b-1fees, which are automatically deducted from mutual funds to compensate securities professionals for sales and services provided to mutual fund investors, have come under fire because some investors may not know they are being deducted. In 2008, the fees amounted to more than $13 billion, up from a few million dollars in 1980 when they were first permitted.
In early 2010, the commission is also set to examine target date funds, which contain a target retirement date in an investor's name and are designed to become more conservatively invested as the target date approaches. In 2008, many investors were surprised when target date funds marketed to 2010 retirees lost between 9 and 41% of their values, SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro noted.
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"The 'set it and forget it' slogans of these funds resulted in shocked investors who were on the verge of retirement," Schapiro said.
As more muscle to protect investors, Schapiro said she has been an advocate of the commission being able to fund its own operations through fees the agency collects. The amount of fees "far surpasses" the amount appropriated by Congress to the SEC each fiscal year.
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