Nonetheless it's generally agreed that the fee disclosure laws are a step in the right direction, it just doesn't go far enough.

"Everyone is wanting more disclosure and transparency, so this was a first clumsy step and I think it will be clearer in the future," says Jennifer Flodin, managing partner at consultant Planned Sponsor Advisor.

What makes this version the "fee disclosure 1.0? "

There's a big hole in the rules, says Anthony Scialabba, an ERISA attorney at Sills Cummis & Gross in Newark, N.J.

"With TPAs, generally fees are charged similarly, so they're easy to compare," he says. "But the way investment institutions charge fees based on assets varies widely."

In many cases it's impossible for plan sponsors to compare apples to apples. As a result, Scialabba sees a rise in the level of consultants who will fill this void by comparing investment provider fees for plans sponsors and fiduciaries.

One example is Bridgehaven Financial Advisors in Basking Ridge, N.J.

"On the plan sponsor side, the requirements are to make sure service the provider discloses the fee being charged against the plan and determine the adequacy of the services and whether the fee are reasonable," says Gregory Marsh, senior vice president and corporate retirement plan consultant at Bridgehaven. "We go through a stringent benchmarking plan, comparing the firm to at least 25 similar size plans as well as the industry, if possible."

The next step is to go out to other venders with an RFI and RFP asking for competitive bids. This process takes about a month. Not only does this allow plan sponsors to provide participants with a better plan, but should the DOL's law-enforcement arm, the Employee Benefits Securities Administration or EBSA, come calling, the plan has proof that it's fulfilling its fee disclosure duty or "demonstrated prudence under the new regs," says Marsh.

More importantly, he points out that the plan sponsor can use this process to negotiate with providers for a better deal.

The business for such consultants is heating up since the DOL disclosure rules went into place, according to Marsh, "Every day, we're getting more businesses. In the past 12-18 months, we benchmarked probably 50 plans of all different sizes."

Participants, on the other hand, have shown little or no interest in the new fee disclosure regs.

"We got very few phone calls from participants," says Krista D'Aloia, a vice president and associate general counsel at Fidelity. More clients called to question why they were getting a letter announcing the changes than to question their plan fees.

That might be partly, because from the participant standpoint, the new regs could be confusing.

"There's a lot of legalese and lawyers won't let it be simpler," says PSA's Flodin. "But in my opinion the simpler the better."

Fidelity, for example, combined two charts from the DOL's template for participants.

"The DOL template had two charts, with fees on one chart and investment options and performance on the other," says D'Aloia. Fidelity also changed some of the DOL's language to be consistent with those of the firm, for example, plans may refer to their investments as investment options versus funds.

Ryan Keklar, senior manager of advisory services at Truepoint Inc. in Cincinnati, distilled the DOL regs into a  one-page document showing what's covered by the employer and what isn't for record keeping, advisory, administration and investments, which he explains at semi-annual meetings.

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"I tell them that this is along with culture of our firm want to be clear and transparent," he says. True Point went a step further by comparing fees as a whole to the industry averages.

"Disclosing fees doesn't give them any benchmark," he says.

Larry Luxenberg at Lexington Avenue Capital Management in New York, sees the disclosure rules as an opportunity to pursue small business owners in his practice.

"I have a number of clients who have their own firms," he says. "I can make them aware of the options they have under the new disclosure."

For example, working with a TPA, he could show them how they to lower their costs and provide better or more diversified investment options.

"The current plans are all over the map," he says. "It's a very inefficient marketplace.

While participants usually don't have any choice when it comes to which plan they can join, they can use fee information to pressure sponsors into negotiating for a better deal.