Since 1986 When the Department of Labor began to allow Investment Officers' fees to be based on How the Funds they manage Perform, Several Corporations began Paying their Investment Advisors a Small basic Fee, With a Contract Promising Higher fees if the Managers Perform Well.

Question: Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment officers' fees to be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations began paying their investment advisors a small basic fee, with a contract promising higher fees if the managers perform well.

(A) investment officers' fees to be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations began
(B) investment officers' fees to be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations began
(C) that fees of investment officers be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations have begun
(D) fees of investment officers to be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations have begun
(E) that investment officers' fees be based on the performance of the funds they manage, several corporations began

“Since 1986 when the Department of Labor began to allow investment officers' fees to be based on how the funds they manage perform, several corporations began paying their investment advisors a small basic fee, with a contract promising higher fees if the managers perform well.”- is a GMAT sentence correction question. This particular GMAT sentence correction topic has been taken from the book ‘The Official Guide of GMAT Verbal Review, 2nd Edition, 2009’. This question checks tenses, idioms, and awkwardness. GMAT Sentence Correction questions comprise 11-16 questions to be completed within 65 minutes. Each Sentence Correction question contains a sentence with an underlined portion that includes 0-2 errors.

Answer: D
Explanation: The following concepts are tested here:

1. Tenses
2. Idioms
3. Awkwardness

Option A: Incorrect

This option is incorrect because we know that the subject pronoun “they” can not refer back to possessive nouns. In this statement, “they” must refer to “fees” since it can not refer to the possessive noun “investment officers”. But “fees” in this case make no sense. Also, “since 1986” should use present perfect tense and not past tense. So, Option A is incorrect.

Option B: Incorrect

This option is incorrect because it has the same errors as option A. The use of “they” for fees is illogical and seems awkward. Since it can not be used for “investment officers”, we consider “they” for “fees” which makes no sense. So, Option B is incorrect.

Option C: Incorrect

This option is incorrect because the usage of “that” in this option is wrong. Also, “to allow that fees of investment officers” is not idiomatically correct. It should be “to allow fees of investment officers” instead. Since the sentence uses the wrong idioms, Option C is incorrect.

Option D: Correct

This option is correct because it correctly uses the present perfect tense “have begun” and not simple past tense. Also, it avoids the subjunctive form. The subjunctive mood is appropriate when the mentioned action is being requested or demanded and not when it is being allowed. So, Option D is correct.

Option E: Incorrect

This option is incorrect because it has the same errors as in the cases of options A, B, and C. The word “they” used here has no referent and referring to “fees” with “they” makes no sense at all. Also, it should have used present perfect tense rather than past tense. So, Option E is incorrect.

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