Mackenzie Financial Corp. unveiled Friday a proposal to change its method of charging operating expenses to each of the Mackenzie funds, resulting in lower expenses for investors and greater fee predictability and increased transparency once implemented.

Beginning August 1, assuming the proposal is approved by fund investors, Mackenzie Investments will bear all of the operating expenses of the Mackenzie funds other than GST and certain specified fund costs in return for fixed rate administration fee established for each fund.

“We are pleased to continue to provide a quality service to the Mackenzie funds and their investors at competitive and predictable fees,” says Charles Sims, president and CEO of Mackenzie Financial Corp. “The management expense ratios of all the Mackenzie retail funds will be lower than current published management expense ratios once this proposal is effective,” says Sims.

Each fund’s management expense ratio will consist of the fund management fee, the proposed fixed rate administration fee, GST and other fund costs, expressed as a percentage of the fund’s average net assets for the year.

The fixed administration fee will replace the current method under which expenses are charged or allocated to the Mackenzie funds.

Under the proposal, the fixed rate administration fee will range from 0.14% to 0.31% of the respective funds assets under management, depending on the fund and its investment objectives. The fee will be 0.14% to 0.20% for money market and fixed income funds, 0.21% to 0.24% for balanced and domestic equity funds, and 0.24% to 0.31% for U.S., global and specialty equity funds.

Mackenzie Investments referred the proposal to the Mackenzie Funds’ Independent Review Committee and to its Board of Directors. On Friday, the IRC made a recommendation to the board of directors of Mackenzie Investments that, in its view, the result of the proposal is fair and reasonable to all funds and their investors. The board subsequently approved the proposal to be mailed to fund investors.

Investors of all Mackenzie funds will receive an information circular with full details of the proposal and a proxy in early July as required by securities regulators. A special meeting of fund investors will be held on August 7 to vote on the proposal. If the proposal is approved, the fixed administration fee will become effective on August 1.

Detailed information about the impact of the fixed rate administration fee by fund can be found at www.mackenziefinancial.com/mer.