Paperless Future for Mutual Fund Prospectuses

If you're a physician-investor with aretirement portfolio that houses mutualfunds, your mailbox and mail carrier maysoon catch a break from bulky fundprospectuses. In an attempt to make everyone'slife a little easier and less cluttered,the National Association of SecuritiesDealers (NASD) is recommending that thedocuments, which sometimes run as longas 75 pages, no longer reach their destinationsvia the US Postal Service. Instead, theNASD and several financial companies sayit's time for the mutual fund industry totake advantage of today's technology andoffer tech-savvy investors road maps online.A few firms have already parked theirprospectuses on the information highwayand offer investors the opportunity toreceive fund information via e-mail. Noteveryone is happy about the recommendation,though; those opposed to the end ofpaper prospectuses include the AARPlobby. For now, the future of the prospectuslies in the hands of the SEC, which ismulling over the idea.