When T. Rowe Price [see profile] joined TD Ameritrade's no-transaction-fee platform last month [see article], the question that popped into some industry observers' minds was how much T. Rowe Price was paying TD. There was no way, their thinking went, that T. Rowe, with its brand clout, would agree to paying the standard rate of 40 basis points.

Pinning down the number has not been an easy endeavor, given the confidential nature of contracts. But an industry insider told The MFWire.com that T. Rowe is paying 10 bps.

That's 75 percent off the new rate that TD Ameritrade started charging other mutual fund firms this year. As reported by The MFWire.com in April, TD Ameritrade has raised the fee from 35 to 40 bps, putting it on the same page as its two bigger rivals, Schwab and Fidelity.

Asked about the 10 bps fee, a TD spokesperson said: "It's against our corporate policy to comment on any contracts or fees." A representative for T. Rowe said: "We don't disclose the specifics of a client relationship."

One can only speculate on why TD and T. Rowe arrived at that arrangement. TD execs probably wanted to be able to offer a marquee name that's missing from the NTF supermarket shelves at Schwab and Fidelity.

T. Rowe has long shied away from NTF marts and is currently available on just two other NTF platforms: E*Trade and Pershing. 

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