July 24, 2008 at 6:00 am by Tom Lydon
Today, the Department of Labor issued its final regulatory proposal governing 401(k) fee disclosures, taking one giant step toward exchange traded funds (ETFs) becoming incorporated into retirement plans.
Under the proposal, the third of three for improvements of 401(k) disclosures, a person’s investments would be displayed on a chart showing total fees and expenses, as well as benchmarks for how much comparable investments cost, reports Sara Hansard for Investment News.
This move could affect 65 million participants, and this information would be required for all types of investments used in 401(k)s whether they are mutual funds, bank or insurance products, or eventually, ETFs.
This information would be sent to plan participants every quarter, with statements, and is forecasted to save $6.9 billion for customers. Two-thirds is from time savings, and one-third is estimated from cost savings from price competition that would come about as investors receive better explanations.
Tags | 401(k)
