The Case for Radical Fee Transparency
The $124 Billion Secret
Every year, American investors pay $124 billion in mutual fund fees. But here's the shocking part: 73% of investors don't know what they're paying. Not because they're not smart enough—because the industry designed it that way.
The Opacity Industrial Complex
Walk into any car dealership, and you'll see prices on windshields. Order food at any restaurant, and you'll see prices on the menu. But try to find out what you're really paying for investment management? Good luck.
The financial industry has perfected the art of fee obfuscation through:
- •Basis Points: Why say 1% when you can say "100 basis points" and confuse 90% of investors?
- •Expense Ratios: Buried in prospectuses that no one reads
- •Hidden Costs: Trading costs, cash drag, tax inefficiency—never disclosed
- •Performance Reporting: Always shown before fees, never after
The True Cost of Opacity
Research from the Journal of Finance shows that fee transparency alone could save investors 0.5-1.0% annually. On a $500,000 portfolio over 30 years, that's the difference between $1.7 million and $2.4 million.
Real Example: The 401(k) Scandal
A Fortune 500 company's 401(k) plan we analyzed:
- • Advertised fee: 0.5%
- • Actual all-in cost: 2.3%
- • Hidden fees: Revenue sharing, sub-TA fees, wrap fees
- • Employee awareness: 8% knew the true cost
Result: Employees lost 28% of their retirement savings to fees over their careers.
The Supreme Solution: Radical Transparency
At Supreme.PM, we believe in a different approach:
1. Dollar-Based Disclosure
Not percentages. Not basis points. Dollars. "This strategy will cost you $X per year."
2. All-In Cost Reporting
Every cost included: management, trading, taxes, opportunity cost of cash holdings. Nothing hidden.
3. Real-Time Fee Tracking
See exactly what you're paying, when you're paying it, and what you're getting for it.
4. Performance After All Costs
The only number that matters: what ends up in your account after everything.
Why This Matters Now
The investment industry is at an inflection point. Technology has made transparency possible, but incumbents resist because opacity protects margins. Consider:
- •Vanguard pioneered low-cost investing but still uses basis points
- •Robinhood claimed "commission-free" while making money on order flow
- •Robo-advisors advertise low fees but add underlying fund costs
The Path Forward
True fee transparency isn't just about disclosure—it's about design. When you build a platform from scratch with transparency as a core principle, everything changes:
The Supreme Standard
Traditional Industry
- • Complex fee structures
- • Hidden revenue streams
- • Conflicts of interest
- • Opaque reporting
Supreme.PM
- • Simple, flat pricing
- • No hidden fees ever
- • Aligned incentives
- • Real-time transparency
A Call to Action
The era of fee opacity is ending. Investors are waking up to the true cost of "free" and "low-cost" investing. The question isn't whether the industry will become transparent—it's whether incumbents will lead or be disrupted.
At Supreme.PM, we've made our choice. We believe investors deserve to know exactly what they're paying and exactly what they're getting. Not because regulations require it. Because it's right.
Join the transparency revolution. See every fee, understand every cost, maximize every return.
Start Your Transparent JourneyMichael Harrison is the Founder and CEO of Supreme.PM. Before starting Supreme, he spent 15 years in traditional asset management, where he witnessed firsthand how fee opacity transfers wealth from investors to managers. He holds an MBA from Wharton and a BS in Computer Science from MIT.