The Securities and Exchange Commission is examining more than a dozen firms to determine whether mutual-fund managers are dipping more deeply than allowed into their investors’ money to pay the brokerages that distribute their products, reports The Wall Street Journal.
OppenheimerFunds, Franklin Templeton and J.P. Morgan Chase are among the fund firms under review by the SEC, which has been conducting a broad sweep of how companies sell their products for the past two years. The SEC is concerned that the additional fees aren’t being properly disclosed to investors, and that brokers may be more likely to suggest funds that pay for such services. “It creates the notion of pay to play,” says Bing Waldert, a Cerulli Associates director.
Jeffrey Newman represents whistleblowers.
