The view of investor as customer also receives some weight from the fact that investors can redeem their mutual fund shares at net asset value at any time. This feature makes investing in a mutual fund unlike owning stock in a traditional company or a closed-end investment company, where the price at which an investor can liquidate reflects the market’s perception of the firm’s management. In that case, when management is revealed to have taken a “bad” action, current investors are damaged because they can resell their shares only at a much lower price. In contrast, when open-end mutual fund advisers are found, or even perceived, to be “in the wrong,” each investor.
