BEACON HILL RESEARCH

Revenue Sharing Arrangements
(aka “Payment for Shelf Space”)

This is a common practice amongst brokerage firms where mutual fund companies that pay the brokerage firm get preference in their sales efforts.

Some brokerage firms will continue to offer the funds of non-paying mutual fund families- but will not allow the mutual fund wholesalers to interact with their staff. Some brokerage firms will simply not give non-paying mutual fund companies training materials to their brokers. In essence, this “payment for shelf space” is a payment that the funds must pay for the brokerage firms to push their product, which is eventually extracted from the assets of the mutual funds and the clients who own them.
(View Research)