ICI Applauds SEC Advertising Rules

Washington, DC, September 25, 2003 - The mutual fund industry supports the action taken by the SEC. Institute President Matthew P. Fink offered the following statement:

“We applaud the SEC for strengthening and improving the rules governing mutual fund ads. Overall, these changes will produce important and visible benefits for millions of individuals. In particular, we fully support the SEC’s goal of ensuring balance in advertisements that include information about a fund’s past performance. The Institute and its members again urge investors to remember that past performance does not assure future success. As virtually all financial experts agree, a mutual fund’s past performance is just one of several important factors in making an informed investment decision.”

For more information on fund performance and other factors investors should consider before investing, see Understanding Mutual Funds: Nine Key Questions to Ask Yourself and How to Read a Mutual Fund Performance Advertisement. Both are part of a series of online Investor Awareness resources offered by ICI.