In an effort to minimize increasing fulfillment costs, fund companies have been combining multiple fund prospectuses into a one-size-fits-all prospectus document distributed in a single mass mailing. These phone-book-sized documents may contain as many as 30 to 40 funds and be hundreds of pages long. In fact, city apartment dwellers often are unable to receive these documents because they won't fit into their mail slots.
What began as a noble effort to inform investors and protect them has resulted in "investor disclosure" that is costly, wasteful and confusing. As the industry moves toward greater transparency in mutual fund sales transactions and standardization of information, a central need has been simplicity. After more than a decade of effort by the fund industry and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, it appears the answer is on the horizon.
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