The insurance company can save distribution charges for online sales, less paperwork, logistics and people cost and pass it on to the customers, making term insurance affordable. (maxlifeinsurance.com)
Distribution charges pay for marketing, distribution of the fund's shares as well as services to investors. (en.wikipedia.org)
So, if private firms are more efficient than public firms, that should have no effect on regulated distribution charges, only on relative profitability. (johnquiggin.com)