Still Work To Do
By Journal of Indexes Staff

Mutual fund fees fell to their lowest levels in more than 25 years in 2005, according to a new study by the Investment Company Institute (ICI). The average stock fund shareholder paid 4 basis points less than in 2004, while the average bond fund shareholder saved 2 basis points.

Before we start popping the (budget) champagne, let's put things in context: The record low expense ratio that has the ICI's PR team doing cartwheels was still 1.13 percent. By comparison, investors in Vanguard's Total Market Index ETF (ticke r: VTI) paid just 7 basis points to gain exposure to all the stocks in the United States.