Mutual fund and ETF investors are becoming increasingly aware of Fund Facts and have conversations with their advisors about fees, but mutual fund investors in particular are not as happy with the information they receive when they buy investments, according to a survey by The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC).

In its 14th annual survey of mutual fund investor sentiments conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights, more than 85% agreed that the advice they get is worth the fees, about the same as last year. Another 80% said their advisor provides them with better savings habits, up from 78% last year.

ETF investors were included for the first time in this year’s survey, with the majority saying their advisors provide advice that is worth the fees and they too have better savings habits because of their advisor.

But while the awareness of Fund Facts has increased over the past few years, the survey indicates mutual fund investors are less satisfied with the information they receive when purchasing a mutual fund.

Lesli Martin, vice president of public affairs for Pollara, said she found it unusual that mutual fund and ETF investors were less satisfied with their information, given their approval ratings on so many other aspects of the investments. 

“What surprised me was the satisfaction with the statements and with the Fund Facts. It’s surprising because I know the work that’s been put into them,” said Martin.

According to the survey, ETF investor attitudes of statements were similar to those of mutual fund investors, except the statement’s ability to clearly show fees paid, which received a higher overall satisfaction rate among ETF investors.

For his part, IFIC president Paul Bourque said investors may not understand the fees themselves and the forms are too long, but they’re happy with the quality of information.

To help turn this negative view of the information in the Fund Facts, Bourque said IFIC is looking at a study conducted earlier this year by BEworks that pointed to various ways online tools and technology can enhance investor comprehension.

“We have been out in the field with BEworks testing this and there are some things that we know we can move the dial on,” said Bourque. “We need to raise the level of comprehension.”

He said investors are looking more closely at their statements now that the push has been made for advisors to explain Fund Facts, sparking their interest in exactly what they’re paying.

“They are understanding more but they’re less happy with the information they’re getting.” 

Some of the recommendations in the BEworks study include:

  • making relatively minor changes to language and graphics
  • summarizing key pieces of information with bullet points near the top-left hand  corner of the page, and
  • IFIC members are also being asked to review their CRM2 statements and look for opportunities to apply behavioural tactics to simplify the content, such as reducing the amount of text used in the statement, and implement goal-framing and progress tracking, which BEworks said are components that halt investors’ tendency to focus only on fees.