My company 401k plan offers three "commingled funds" (low expenses), each of which seeks to match an index (S&P 500, Wilshire 4500, EAFE index, respectively). I've read that these are non-publicly traded, passively managed institutional funds typically offered in company 401k plans for their extremely low fees. Here's my question: are dividend and capital appreciation reinvestments that are "reflected in the NAV" as stated in the funds informational sheet the same as receiving a dividend and/or capital appreciation disbursement and reinvesting those dollars into more fund shares? In other words, do either approaches accomplish compounding growth over time?

If so, how can one validate that the NAV actually reflects divident/appreciation reinvestments since you don't actually see the dividend/appreciation disbursement being reinvested in a transaction history statement?

Thanks in advance for your reply!