(MONEY Magazine) – In 1970, when Congress last overhauled the law that create the modern mutual fund industry 52 years ago, there were no Ginnie Mae or even money-market funds, let alone 12b-1 fees, back-end loads or variable annuities. After two years of study, however, the Securities and Exchange Commission is presenting 32 recommendations for bringing the old Investment Company Act into line with the fund industry, a $1.4 trillion business that has grown almost thirtyfold since 1970. Below are summaries -- and our assessments -- of the three proposals that will have the greatest effect on individual fund investors if Congress approves them, as expected, next year. -- An end to fixed sales loads. Currently a fund group selling through brokers sets a single schedule of sales charges that applies to all small investors. The SEC plan would eliminate that legalized form of price-fixing and let investors negotiate loads with their brokers. Possible results: Some discount brokers might sell load funds at reduced commissions. And others might set up secondary markets in which load fund shareholders would sell shares directly to other investors rather than back to the fund company. (Discounter Jack White & Co. already has such a trading network in place.) Independent load groups hate this proposal, fearing that major brokerages will use it as a further excuse to sell their own private-label funds exclusively. Investors should love it. MONEY gives this one a grade of A. -- Unified fees. Instead of the current tangle of management fees, operating costs, sales loads and 12b-1 charges, this proposal would let a new type of fund levy a single all-encompassing annual charge. Performance figures would reflect the impact of these unified fees. Therefore, you could make fund comparisons much more easily than today, when sales loads and redemption fees aren't often deducted from the numbers. One problem: Sponsors don't have to adopt the unified fees. Grade: B. -- A cap on sales fees. The SEC endorsed a 15-month-old proposal by the National Association of Securities Dealers that would limit your total sales charges, including both loads and so-called 12b-1 marketing and distribution fees, to 8.5% of your investment over the period that you own the fund. Unfortunately, the proposed rule is numbingly complex and a loophole lets funds sock long-term investors for more than the 8.5% limit. Grade: D. -- P.M.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: Source: Lipper Analytical Services CAPTION: CONSERVATIVE EQUITY FUNDS SHINE IN APRIL, FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT MONTH Riding a rebound in battered auto and energy stocks, more than half of our diversified stock funds posted gains in April. For the second month in a row, conservative total-return and value funds -- which tend to focus on stocks whose fortunes are tied to the economy -- scored the strongest gains. The one- month leader, Cowen Income & Growth, was up 6.6%, more than double the S&P 500's gain.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: Source: Lipper Analytical Services CAPTION: HURT BY BIO-FLOPS, SMALL STOCK FUNDS SUFFER AGAIN IN APRIL As reality caught up with high-flying health-care and biotech stocks, small- company growth funds tanked for the second consecutive month, losing 4.5% in April. The best-performing categories of the eight reviewed here were the conservative equity-income group, buoyed by gains in high-dividend cyclical stocks, and international funds, which benefited from rallies on several European exchanges.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: NO CREDIT CAPTION: AFTER 1992'S STUMBLING START, HIGH-GRADE BOND FUNDS CLIMB BACK IN APRIL Though long-term interest rates edged up by about a tenth of a percentage point in April, all eight of our fixed-income fund categories showed gains on average. Short/intermediate taxable funds and mortgage-backed securities rose 0.8% to tie for top honors. Junk bond funds extended their winning streak to 18 months with a 0.7% gain. Dean Witter High Yield remains the 12-month leader, up 42.1%.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: Source: Lipper Analytical Services CAPTION: THE MONEY 20: SUPERIOR FUNDS FOR THE LONG HAUL

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: Source: IBC/Donoghue's Money Fund Report CAPTION: THE MONTH'S BEST-PERFORMING MONEY-MARKET FUNDS