# Fund fees: research log

Research by Known Quantity LLC for /for-good/fund-fees/ ("What do your fund's fees really cost you?"). Read and checked 2026-11-13.
Rule: every figure on the page traces to a row here (row ids F1, F2, ...). Quotes are short and exact as returned by the reader.

How sources were read: WebSearch and WebFetch (page or PDF text extracted by a reader model) on 2026-11-13. The shell could not reach these sites directly (proxy 403), so no file was downloaded. Where a reader could not match a chart value to its label, the value is NOT used (see "Left out" below).

This log is general information, not investment, tax or legal advice. Known Quantity LLC does not recommend any fund, company or adviser.

## Sources

| id | Title | Date | Publisher | URL | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | How Fees and Expenses Affect Your Investment Portfolio: Investor Bulletin | July 23, 2025 (read 2026-11-13) | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (Investor.gov) | https://www.investor.gov/additional-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/investor-bulletin-how-fees-expenses-affect-your | Primary (government guidance) |
| S2 | Hedge Funds | read 2026-11-13 | SEC, Investor.gov | https://www.investor.gov/investing-basics/investment-products/hedge-funds | Primary (government guidance) |
| I1 | Mutual Fund and ETF Fees Remained Near Historic Lows in 2025 (news release) | March 25, 2026 | Investment Company Institute | https://www.ici.org/news-release/mutual-fund-and-etf-fees-remained-near-historic-lows-in-2025 | Industry research (trade association) |
| I2 | Trends in the Expenses and Fees of Funds, 2025 (ICI Research Perspective, vol. 32, no. 1) | March 2026 | Investment Company Institute | https://www.ici.org/system/files/2026-03/per32-01.pdf | Industry research (trade association) |
| M1 | U.S. Fund Fee Study 2026 (data as of Dec. 31, 2025) | May 2026 | Morningstar | https://www.morningstar.com/content/cs-assets/v3/assets/blt9415ea4cc4157833/bltceffe0d68d048b0a/6a076fcbc9bda1fb11c9f0a6/US_Fund_Fee_Study_2026.pdf | Independent research firm |
| P1 | SPIVA U.S. Scorecard Mid-Year 2026 (data as of June 30, 2026) | 2026 (no publication date printed; data as of June 30, 2026) | S&P Dow Jones Indices | https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/documents/spiva/spiva-us-mid-year-2026.pdf | Index provider research |
| D1 | A Look at 401(k) Plan Fees | September 2019 | U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration | https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ebsa/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/publications/a-look-at-401k-plan-fees.pdf | Primary (government guidance) |
| D2 | 29 CFR 2550.404a-5, Fiduciary requirements for disclosure in participant-directed individual account plans | current text, read 2026-11-13 | Code of Federal Regulations, via Cornell LII | https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/2550.404a-5 | Primary (regulation) |

## Facts

| row | Fact used on the page | Source | Exact quote (as read 2026-11-13) |
|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | SEC example assumptions: $100,000, grows 4% a year, 20 years, three fee levels | S1 | "the impact of three different fees on a $100,000 investment that grows 4% annually over 20 years" |
| F2 | SEC example: 0.25% fee, about $208,000 after 20 years | S1 | "At the end of 20 years, the portfolio would be worth approximately $208,000." (blue line, 0.25%) |
| F3 | SEC example: 0.50% fee, about $198,000 after 20 years | S1 | "At the end of 20 years, the portfolio would be worth approximately $198,000." (red line, 0.50%) |
| F4 | SEC example: 1.00% fee, about $179,000 after 20 years | S1 | "At the end of 20 years, the portfolio would be worth approximately $179,000." (green line, 1.00%) |
| F5 | Why fees compound | S1 | "fees and expenses reduce the amount of money in your investment portfolio earning a return." |
| F6 | Small fees, big effect | S1 | "These fees may seem small, but over time they can have a major impact on your investment portfolio." |
| F7 | Where to find fees | S1 | "Find out what you will be charged by reading the disclosure documents." / a prospectus "contains a standardized table of fees and expenses" |
| F8 | Ask a professional about every fee | S1 | "Make sure to ask your investment professional to explain all of the fees you will pay." |
| F9 | Front loads are paid when you invest | S1 | "Sales loads can be front-end in that they are paid at the time you make your investment." |
| F10 | Hedge fund fees: management fee | S2 | "Investors in hedge funds typically pay an asset management fee of 1-2% of NAV." |
| F11 | Hedge fund fees: performance fee | S2 | "they also typically pay a performance fee of 15-20% of the hedge fund's profit" |
| F12 | Real performance fees often have conditions our simple model leaves out | S2 | "subject to certain measures, such as a high-water mark and a hurdle rate" |
| F13 | 2025 asset-weighted average expense ratio, index equity mutual funds: 0.05% (used as the default for the low-cost index fund) | I2 | "In 2025, index equity mutual funds had an asset-weighted average expense ratio of 0.05% (Figure 6)" |
| F14 | 2025 asset-weighted average expense ratio, index equity ETFs: 0.14% | I1, I2 | "In 2025, the average expense ratio for index equity ETFs remained unchanged at 0.14%." |
| F15 | 2025 asset-weighted average expense ratio, all equity mutual funds: 0.40% | I1 | "In 2025, the average expense ratio for equity mutual funds remained unchanged at 0.40%." |
| F16 | ICI averages are asset-weighted | I1 | "Expense ratios are measured as asset-weighted averages" (chart notes) |
| F17 | 2025 asset-weighted average expense ratio, actively managed funds (all U.S. funds, all asset classes): 0.57% (used as the default for "your fund") | M1 | "significantly lower than that for actively managed funds (0.57%)" |
| F18 | 2025 asset-weighted average expense ratio, all U.S. funds: 0.32% | M1 | "the asset-weighted average expense ratio was 0.32% in 2025" |
| F19 | SPIVA: share of all active large-cap U.S. funds that underperformed the S&P 500, periods ending June 30, 2026: 1 year 78.69%, 3 years 76.63%, 5 years 89.32%, 10 years 83.33%, 15 years 90.49%, 20 years 92.61% (YTD 67.18%) | P1, Report 1a "Percentage of U.S. Equity Funds Underperforming Their Benchmarks (Based on Absolute Return)", row "All Large-Cap Funds", comparison index "S&P 500" | YTD 67.18, 1-Year 78.69, 3-Year 76.63, 5-Year 89.32, 10-Year 83.33, 15-Year 90.49, 20-Year 92.61 (table values; read twice, same values both times) |
| F20 | SPIVA headline for the first half of 2026 | P1 | "In our largest and most closely watched comparison, 67% of all active large-cap U.S. equity funds underperformed the S&P 500." |
| F21 | SPIVA: only 36.52% of the 690 large-cap funds at the start of the 20-year period survived it | P1, Report 2 | All Large-Cap Funds: 36.52% survivorship over 20 years, 690 funds at start (table values) |
| F22 | DOL example: $25,000, 35 years, 7% average return, fees 0.5% vs 1.5%: about $227,000 vs about $163,000, no further contributions | D1 | "your account balance will grow to $227,000 at retirement," / "If fees and expenses are 1.5 percent, however, your account balance will grow to only $163,000." |
| F23 | Your plan gives you investment and fee information before you first direct investments and every year after | D1, D2 (d)(1) | "The plan should give you this information before you can direct investments for the first time and annually thereafter." |
| F24 | The plan's yearly notice lists each option's expense ratio, in a chart built for comparing | D2 (d)(1)(iv)(A)(2), (d)(2)(i) | "The total annual operating expenses of the investment expressed as a percentage (i.e., expense ratio)" / "in a chart or similar format that is designed to facilitate a comparison" |
| F25 | Quarterly statements show the dollar amount of administrative and individual fees actually charged, but not fees paid indirectly from investments | D1, D2 (c)(2)(ii) | "You also will receive a quarterly statement with information on fees and expenses" / "This statement does not include charges paid indirectly from your investments." |
| F26 | You can ask your plan for prospectuses | D1 | "You also may request copies of prospectuses or similar documents from your plan" |

## How the sources differ (noted, not hidden)

- Method: the SEC example (F1 to F4) matches a model where the fee is taken as a percentage of the balance after each year's growth: $100,000 x 1.04^20 x (1 - fee)^20 gives $208,413, $198,211 and $179,213, which round to the SEC's "approximately" figures. Our calculator uses this method, and the test reproduces these three numbers. The DOL example (F22) instead subtracts the fee from the return ("fees and expenses reduce your average returns by 0.5 percent"): $25,000 x 1.065^35 = $226,557 and $25,000 x 1.055^35 = $162,846. Under our method the same inputs give about $223,965 and $157,268. The DOL's method is slightly more generous to the higher-fee account; the direction of the result is the same. The page uses the SEC example, not the DOL example, for that reason.
- Averages: ICI (F13 to F15) reports by fund type (index equity mutual funds 0.05%, all equity mutual funds 0.40%); Morningstar (F17, F18) reports all U.S. mutual funds and ETFs of all asset classes (active 0.57%, all funds 0.32%). They measure different groups of funds, so the page names which one each default comes from.
- SPIVA percentages are not monotonic by horizon (10 years 83.33% is lower than 5 years 89.32%); the page shows each figure as printed.

## Left out (could not verify today)

- ICI's 2025 asset-weighted average for actively managed equity mutual funds. The reader returned 0.64% but said the Figure 6 labels "don't map cleanly"; no sentence in the report text states it. Not used. Morningstar's 0.57% (all actively managed U.S. funds) is used instead, labelled as such.
- ICI's 2025 average for actively managed equity ETFs (not stated in the text).
- Any figure on how many hedge funds charge "2 and 20" today. The page uses only the SEC's "1-2%" and "15-20%" ranges (F10, F11).
- An SEC statement that higher-fee funds do not perform better on average. We did not find it in the SEC bulletin we read, so the page does not claim it.