lower fees? not likley

Will investment patterns change. Would lower fees attract more investors to the major companies? Frankly, I doubt it.

Although high fund fees have been a favourite target of the media in recent years, I have not sensed a rebellion against them on the part of ordinary investors.

After all, there are plenty of low-fee house they could turn to (e.g. Saxon, Chou, PH&N), yet they all remain relatively minor players.

Moreover, the big fund companies can’t make deep enough cuts in their equity fund costs to make a major difference.
That’s because a large percentage of the expenses goes towards paying commissions and trailer fees to the financial advisors on whom they rely to sell their products.

So the companies are trapped in a vicious circle of their own making.

David Denison’s legacy is to have made the first big move towards forcing the industry to take a fresh look at itself and the way it does business.

Now that he is leaving, it remains to be seen if anyone else will pick up his standard.

Thanks to:

Gordon Pape, Contributing Editor of 50Plus.com, is one of Canada's best known and most respected financial authors and commentators. He is Publisher and Editor of the popular Mutual Funds Update and Internet Wealth Builder newsletters.
© January 2005 Gordon Pape Enterprises Ltd.