What will 12b-1 reform mean for investors? Fundsters interested in the implications of the SEC's proposal to restrict such fees and dump the 12b-1 name may want to take a look at Rob Silverblatt's article yesterday in U.S. News & World Report. And fundsters may want to brace for more shareholder questions on 12b-1 reform given the reach of this mass-market magazine.

Silverblatt wonders how much 12b-1 reform will really change things. He worries that long-term restrictions on 12b-1s, on which C shares are dependent, may encourage some brokers to churn funds to keep the 12b-1s flowing, while the creation of new share classes with broker-set trails may encourage competition.

"Smart investors know how much they're paying and where the money is going," Silverblatt writes. "Under the new rules, they'll be allowed to shop around for the cheapest loads and, if they put money in C shares, insist on keeping it there after the conversions kick in."

Russell Kinnel, Morningstar's director of mutual fund research, and Susan Ferris Wyderko, executive director of the Mutual Fund Directors Forum, both weigh in for the article. 

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