This means that on a $10,000 fund purchase, $575 would be nicked off the top, and my actual investment would be only $9,425.

But so far this year, the rate of sales of individual stocks has fallen, while mutual fund purchases have grown at a faster pace.

They also say they have uncovered a large number of instances where major clients were not given required discounts on their mutual fund purchases.

For the third method investors need careful records of each fund purchase, including shares bought through reinvested dividends and capital gains.

Last year, mutual fund purchases were close to $200 billion.

But while pension funds have been active, mutual fund purchases are down about 50 percent from 1998.

And in recent days, it appears that investors have further stepped up their fund purchases.

But in the following quarter, they curbed their fund purchases drastically.

Yet in a footnote to his testimony, he noted that about 85 to 90 percent of fund purchases are made through an intermediary.

Thus, some shareholders wait until after a fund makes its annual distribution before making new fund purchases.