More than half of balanced and fixed-income funds did not disclose commissions or were late doing so last year, according to a new study by fund tracker Lipper. That compares to less than half of the equity funds that lagged or did not report the commissions at all, according to the study, "Mutual Funds Trading and Portfolio Transaction Costs." In 2003, 57% of balanced funds and 81% of income funds did not report their commissions at all or did not include it in their annual reports, according to the study.
Don Cassidy, a senior analyst and author of the report, says funds that invest in bonds commonly show only the net price of trades, rather than breaking out separate trade and commission costs. That is why many fund managers fail to report the commission costs, he explains. "Commissions data clearly is being masked behind a technicality," Cassidy writes in the report.
