A significant number of investors are in the dark about the fees they pay to brokers, according to a new survey by a state regulator association.

While most brokers charge annual fees to manage accounts, one-third of customers aren’t aware of the expenses, according to the survey by the North American Securities Administrators Association (Nasaa), an association of state securities regulators.

The vast majority of investors want their brokers to show service and maintenance fees in a chart, but less than 10 percent of customers said this easy-to-grasp display of expenses is available to them, according to the survey of 1,072 investors.

“Investors want to see improved disclosure,” said William Beatty, Nasaa president and director of securities regulation in Washington State.

To promote better fee transparency, NASAA said it has formed a group with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the Financial Services Institute and representatives of broker-dealer firms to develop standardized and uncomplicated disclosures.

The survey was conducted in January.