5 Mutual Fund Firms Censured

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday that five mutual fund managers would return a total of $7 million plus interest to investors who were overcharged for performance-based fees between April 1997 and December 2004.

The commission censured and presented cease-and-desist orders to mutual funds operated by Dreyfus Corp., Gartmore Mutual Fund Capital Trust, Kensington Investment Group Inc., Numeric Investors and Putnam Investment Management.

There is no fine in the settlement.

According to the SEC, Kensington charged investors in its associated fund $617,000 more in performance fees than it should have under federal code.

Dreyfus overcharged investors in two of its funds by about $3 million. Numeric Investors overcharged by $919,000, Putnam overcharged by $1.3 million, and Gartmore overcharged by $632,000.