CIO reports: The big movement in corporate defined benefit plans has been de-risking, shifting into bonds from riskier equities. But that has brought an added benefit: Their investment fees have gone down.

Reason: That transition, under the auspices of liability-driven investing, is mainly into passive funds, which of course are cheaper than active stock strategies, according to a report from research firm Investment Metrics. These days, the corporate DB fixed-income portfolios are 55% passive, versus 20% three years ago, the study finds.