A recent Wall Street Journal article asked four mutual fund and investing experts: What do you think officials in Washington could do to help mutual fund investors the most? Robert Pozen, former chair of MFS Investment Management and ex-president of Fidelity, wants to abolish tax rules that require funds to distribute their net realized capital gains to investors each year. Mercer Bullard, founder and president of Fund Democracy, wants clear rules requiring broker-dealers to disclose what incentive payments they receive for mutual fund recommendations. John Bogle, founder of Vanguard, wants to improve disclosure on costs and risks of mutual funds and ETFs, including a how a fund’s expense ratios compare with the average expenses for all funds in a given category. Finally, Don Phillips, President of Morningstar’s Investment Research Division, wants funds to increase their expense disclosures, including more disclosure around securities-trading costs and marketing and distribution payments.
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