Fuse Blog

C-Share Conversion Policies

In response to regulators’ efforts regarding mutual fund share class practices and in anticipation of the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest going into effect, several large broker/dealers, including Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, updated their C-share conversion policies by shortening the length of time C-share mutual funds could be held by investors prior to being automatically converted to A-shares. Merrill Lynch cut its allowable holding period from 10 years to 5 years, effective June 30, 2020, and Morgan Stanley shortened its holding period from 10 years to 6 years in 2019.

Asset managers have historically automated the conversion of C-shares to A-shares after funds have been held for 7 to 10 years, depending on the firm. But on the heels of changes made by broker/dealers, many of the largest fund companies updated their own policies in 2020 to 8 years. FUSE has been tracking these policy changes, and the following summarizes the most notable changes. We expect to see this trend continue through 2021.

Firm

Effective Date of Change

American Funds

June 30, 2020

Lord Abbett

June 30, 2020

Cohen & Steers

September 15, 2020

JP Morgan

October 1, 2020

MFS

October 2, 2020

John Hancock

November 1, 2020

Eaton Vance

November 5, 2020

BlackRock

November 23, 2020

Invesco

November 30, 2020

Amundi Pioneer

December 1, 2020

Janus Henderson

December 31, 2020

Goldman Sachs

January 2, 2021

PIMCO

January 18, 2021