Investment group Vanguard slashes fees for Hong Kong-listed ETFs
The world’s second-largest asset manager cuts the total expense ratio for all its exchange traded funds listed in Hong Kong, citing trends in US markets
Investment group Vanguard on Monday slashed fees for its five exchange traded funds (ETFs) listed in Hong Kong, making them the lowest in the region, despite tepid asset growth.
The world’s second-largest asset manager said the total expense ratio (TER) would be reduced by 22 to 47 per cent, depending on the fund.
The expense ratio for Vanguard FTSE Asia ex-Japan Index ETF fell to 0.2 per cent from 0.38 per cent, while its S&P 500 Index ETF and FTSE Developed Europe Index ETF dropped to 0.18 per cent from 0.25 per cent.
The reduction made the five ETFs the cheapest in each category in the city, Vanguard said in a statement.
The move came after BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, lowered prices of two Hong Kong ETFs in July. Management fees for the iShares MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Index ETF were reset at 0.28 per cent from 0.59 per cent.
Fee reductions have been increasingly frequent among fund managers globally. BlackRock reduced fees for 15 ETFs in US earlier this month, while Vanguard also cut prices of five funds in Australia in the same month.
“In the US there has been a downside trend of fund fees and it will gradually come to Hong Kong.... I expect it [fee reduction] is a trend not only in ETFs but the whole fund industry,” James Martielli, head of Asia portfolio review said at a media briefing.