In this new age of heightened disclosure, fund companies and broker/dealers are being more up front about revenue sharing agreements, but the admissions are being "provided in language that is often vague or so dense that many fund buyers never digest it," according to an editorial in this week's issue of BusinessWeek magazine.
The magazine's editors further claim that "existing disclosure requirements are meager at best," and they argue that new rules proposed by former
That would be an improvement, but even more information needs to be disclosed. As an example of the sort of disclosure it would like to see, the magazine cites how
That kind of data gives investors a clearer picture of the incentives Smith Barney has to pitch particular funds and should be required of all broker dealers, according to the editorial.