Abstract
AbstractThe brokerage commissions paid for portfolio transactions by a large sample of equity mutual funds are investigated. Median brokerage commissions measured as a percentage of net assets are 21 basis points per year with a standard deviation of 27 basis points. The commission levels are negatively correlated with fund size and positively correlated with fund turnover and expense ratio. The average brokerage commission measured as a percentage of assets traded exceeds the typical execution‐only commissions for large institutional traders. This finding is consistent with many mutual fund brokerage commissions including payments for research, so‐called soft dollar payments. Funds' expense ratios are positively correlated with commissions per trade, inconsistent with the idea that mutual fund managers who pay soft dollars for research have a corresponding reduction in management fees.
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