In today's (Saturday, November 13, 2010) WSJ is an article 401(k) fees:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704756804575608431830147998.html

(If you can't see the whole article, contact us and we'll e-mail you a PDF.)

Highlights

•  After a yearlong effort, new rules are in place as of last month to expose the fees are good for consumers but we're not there yet.
•  "fund firms and retirement plan providers are still fighting hard to fend off new restrictions on the murkiest mutual fund expenses: so called 12b-1 fees"   (They are using your money to do so.)

Missing in the Article

•  The best independent advisors have already eliminated 12b-1 and all other "murky" fees from their plans.    Plan Sponsors can easily disengage from the entire controversy and all the problems if they so choose.
  
•  Fiduciary responsibility and relationship to 12b-1 fees.   Since fiduciaries have a responsibility to completely understand fees including what service they receive for each penny of fees - "murky" is not a word allowed in our vocabulary! 
•  Relationship of fees to fund performance:  A recent exhaustive Morningstar study showed there is a direct correlation of fees and fund performance.  The smaller the fees, the better performing the fund.   in other words, there is not a performance justification to warrant paying higher fees.

Summarizing

•  Let's get real:  12b-1 fees are kickbacks.   The retail mutual fund industry uses your money to reward financial salespeople for choosing their fund.    Can you "overhaul" a kickback payment?   It's a conflict-of-interest.
  
•  Isn't it ironic that your retirement plan provider (most likely) is using your fee money to lobby in Congress to fight regulations designed to make them be transparent? 
  
• Lower fees mean higher returns.  The most well-respected mutual fund performance analysis firm Morningstar confirmed this with an exhaustive study released in early August of this year.
• It's because of all these problems that Department of Labor and other groups are constantly trying to assist Plan Sponsors with tools and advice to navigate through all this "murkiness".   
• Knowing  these basic facts, it seems the best way forward is to simply avoid the murkiness and work with an independent registered investment advisor that uses lower expense ratio higher performing funds with no 12b-1 fees - and because of that can offer taking on fiduciary responsibility.
• Maybe it's finally time for you and your employees to get a major overhaul.   Unlike an overhaul of 12b-1 fees, this overhaul makes common sense!   You sacrifice to put a portion of your pay into the 401(k).  You and your hard-earned dollars deserve so much better.