Investors clearly understand that higher fees can have a negative impact on their net return, as is evident
in the price war
in mutual fund fees, but a few basis - points
difference in visible fees is far less
meaningful in performance impact than the often - large hidden
costs.14 For example, switching from a low - turnover strategy to a sloppily constructed strategy that spends scores of basis points
in incremental trading
costs can
cost the investor dearly
in performance.15 The same holds true for the buyers of opaque high - fee products (hedge funds and illiquid private investments), for which substantial
costs may be hidden from sight.