OCIE’s 2016 Share Class initiative

OCIE is seeking to identify conflicts of interest tied to advisers’ compensation or financial incentives for recommending mutual fund and 529 Plan share classes that have substantial loads or distribution fees (“Share Class Initiative”). Examples of conflicts of interest related to share class recommendations include situations where the adviser is also a broker-dealer or affiliated with a broker-dealer that receives fees from sales of certain share classes, and situations where the adviser recommends that clients purchase more expensive share classes of funds for which an affiliate of the adviser receives more fees