As money market mutual fund yields have plummeted over the last several years, money fund fees have also fallen, but not quite as much. Fundsters may not be too surprised, given that money funds and most other mutual funds include flat asset-based fees, not performance-based ones; yet Tim McLaughlin of Reuters highlights some numbers on the subject.

The wire service, citing ICI data, says that money fund shareholders received $5.24 billion in dividends last year, down 72 percent from 2009 and 96 percent from 2007. Yet money funds paid $4.7 billion in fees in 2011, down 57 percent from 2009 and 52 percent from 2007.

"The money fund industry has yet to see any real consolidation or the exodus of a major player," Crane Data chief Pete Crane told Reuters. "If the pressure were that acute, you would see fees being introduced."

The article singles out as examples the two biggest retail money funds, Fidelity Cash Reserves [profile] and Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund [profile]. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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