The US Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously to formally propose that mutual fund investors get access to key information about fees, performance, and strategies through interactive data.

The SEC said that the use of interactive data would permit easier comparison shopping among thousands of funds. The proposal would require funds to label data in their public filings using computer tags that would allow investors to instantly access and compare investment objectives and strategies, risks, performance, and costs for more than 8,000 mutual funds at the click of a mouse.

“This exciting new technology will enable investors to instantly analyze and compare not just two or three mutual funds, but hundreds or even thousands, and to quickly focus on the particular funds that are right for them,” said SEC chairman Christopher Cox. “Investors will no longer need to wade through lengthy documents to find the relevant details needed to compare funds one at a time.”

Mutual funds already have been submitting information to the SEC in interactive data format on a voluntary basis. The SEC’s rule proposal would require all mutual funds to provide data-tagged information beginning with registration statement filings that become effective after Dec. 31, 2009. A mutual fund also would be required to post the interactive data on its Web site, if it maintains one.