CSRC: Lower the subscription fees and sales service fees for public funds to reduce investor costs

The China Securities Regulatory Commission has revised and released the "Regulations on the Management of Sales Expenses for Publicly Raised Securities Investment Funds," marking the implementation of the third phase of fee rate reform in the public fund industry. After the completion of all three phases of fee rate reform, the comprehensive fee rate level of publicly raised funds is expected to decrease by about 20%, saving investors approximately RMB 51 billion in investment costs each year. The revisions include a reasonable reduction in the subscription fees and sales service fee rates for publicly raised funds to lower investor costs; and it clarifies that no sales service fees will be charged for fund shares held by investors for more than one year, to encourage long-term holding.

The revised regulations state that for actively managed equity funds, the subscription fee charged should not exceed 0.8% of the subscription amount; for other types of mixed funds, the subscription fee charged should not exceed 0.5% of the subscription amount; for index funds and bond funds, the subscription fee charged should not exceed 0.3% of the subscription amount; for other funds, the charging standards may refer to these fee rate levels.

For equity funds and mixed funds, the annual sales service fee charged should not exceed 0.4% of the fund's assets; for index funds and bond funds, the annual sales service fee charged should not exceed 0.2% of the fund's assets; for money market funds, the annual sales service fee charged should not exceed 0.15% of the fund's assets. Except for money market funds and other funds recognized by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, no sales service fees may be charged for fund shares held by investors for more than one year.

In addition, the new regulations also mention that for the retained amount formed by sales to individual investors, the customer maintenance fee should not exceed 50% of the fund management fee. For the retained amount formed by sales to non-individual investors, the customer maintenance fee obtained from selling equity funds and mixed funds should not exceed 30% of the fund management fee; the customer maintenance fee obtained from selling other funds should not exceed 15% of the fund management fee