BUM BROKER LOOKOUT

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Tip

If a mutual fund company pays abrokerage firm to be put on the broker'spreferred list, guess whichfund your account rep is going topush, even if it's not right for you?With 85% of all mutual funds beingsold through third parties, there'sample opportunity and incentive torip off physician-investors. SEC Chairman William Donaldsonwants financial advisors to tellinvestors how they get paid whenthey sell a mutual fund. Anothercommon broker error is failing topass on volume discounts whenclients buy big blocks of front-end–loaded funds. Fund companies usuallyoffer discounts when a buyerputs $50,000 or more into a fund,and may have even better breaks athigher investment levels. : Askyour broker if you're entitled to adiscount on large mutual fund buys.