Just how clean are clean share classes?

In the last year, fund managers have rushed to offer ‘clean’ share class funds to the market in response to changes being introduced following the Retail Distribution Review (RDR). ‘Clean’ funds separate the annual management charge (AMC) and annual expenses and, crucially, lack a platform rebate – but the move has had its complications. While most funds offered in a clean share class (typically named  ‘C’, ‘I’ or ‘Z’) come in cheaper than their bundled equivalents, a closer look suggests a number of funds are more expensive on certain platforms, due to a combination of increased AMCs...