Vanguard Slashes Expenses on 15 Index ETFs

How Low Can You Go? Vanguard Slashes Expenses on 15 Index ETFsA type of security which allows investors to indirectly invest in an underlying basket of financial instruments (these may include stocks, bonds, commodities or other types of instruments). Shares in an ETF are publicly traded on an exchange, and the price of an ETF’s shares will fluctuate throughout the trading day (traditional mutual funds trade only once a day). For example, one popular ETF tracks the companies in the S&P 500, so buying a share of the ETF gets an investor exposure to all 500 companies in the index.

The limbo bar keeps getting lower in Malvern, Pa. This month, Vanguard announced that it had cut fees by 25% to 33% on 15 of its S&P 500 and Russell index-based exchange-traded fundsA type of security which allows investors to indirectly invest in an underlying basket of financial instruments (these may include stocks, bonds, commodities or other types of instruments). Shares in an ETF are publicly traded on an exchange, and the price of an ETF’s shares will fluctuate throughout the trading day (traditional mutual funds trade only once a day). For example, one popular ETF tracks the companies in the S&P 500, so buying a share of the ETF gets an investor exposure to all 500 companies in the index. (ETFs)A type of security which allows investors to indirectly invest in an underlying basket of financial instruments (these may include stocks, bonds, commodities or other types of instruments). Shares in an ETF are publicly traded on an exchange, and the price of an ETF’s shares will fluctuate throughout the trading day (traditional mutual funds trade only once a day). For example, one popular ETF tracks the companies in the S&P 500, so buying a share of the ETF gets an investor exposure to all 500 companies in the index.. The move marked the latest fee-friendly initiative for the fund giant after it significantly expanded its list of transaction-free ETFs earlier this year. And there may be more where that’s coming from.

For regular readers, you know that the ongoing fee wars waged between fund companies has been great news for investors, with zero-commission trades and fee-free funds becoming increasingly common as competitors fight to lift the low-cost crown off Vanguard’s head.

As we learned from Vanguard’s annual reports for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2019 (which are filed several months after the fact), assets in the 15 funds grew by 8% during the prior 12 months, while expenses over the same span came way, way down. Vanguard is typically able to snip expenses by 0.01%, 0.02% or sometimes even 0.03% over the course of a year. Cuts of the magnitude of 0.04% or 0.05% like those detailed in the table below are extremely rare.

So how could they make these fee cuts given the relatively paltry asset growth in the underlying portfolios? Our best guess is that Vanguard was able to renegotiate its licensing agreements with S&P and Russell, enabling the dramatic cost reductions.

Digging deeper into the numbers, we think it’s possible that Vanguard is preparing to drop expense ratios on these 15 funds from a range of 0.12% to 0.20% to as little as 0.04% to 0.11%. That’s an even larger percentage drop than those for fiscal 2019.

What’s the basis for that assumption? Reading over publicly released audited financial statements, “management and administrative” costs for the ETFs in the table above fell over the second half of their fiscal years by between 43% to 71%. We didn’t see any other ETF-specific costs with consistent drops anywhere approaching this scope among Vanguard’s offerings. In fact, costs have risen for certain funds, such as the more than doubling of the S&P MidCap 400 ETF’s “marketing and distribution” expenses, from $26,000 in the six months ended Feb. 28, 2019 to $56,000 over the six months following.

Turning back to the fee cuts on the horizon, it’s worth noting that these numbers are estimates, not guarantees. Because Vanguard (or any other fund company) can’t know exactly how much it will cost to run a fund until after the fact (trading, market moves, asset flows and other factors all have an effect on the actual operating costs over time), they always give themselves some wiggle room. Hence, in every Vanguard prospectus, you’ll find language that reads: “The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.” For the same reason, Vanguard used to write that prospectus expense ratios were “estimated” in its reports.

In short, circumstances can change, and forward-looking expense ratios are not set in stone; they could go up or down.

We’ll be looking out for the new prospectuses for these 15 Vanguard index ETFs in late December—and we’re anticipating big expense ratio cuts.

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Fourth-Quarter Outlook: Impeachment and Trade War

As 2019 comes to a close, tariff actions and trade-war rhetoric, an impeachment inquiry, Brexit uncertainties, a potential global economic slowdown and the clamor raised by 2020 electioneering could all prove to be disruptive. But, so long as the fundamentals—earnings, interest rates, economic data—remain strong, it seems just as possible that markets could also continue to climb.

This webinar is a valuable opportunity to hear from our investment strategists—Chairman Dan Wiener, Chief Investment Officer Jim Lowell, Director of Research Jeff DeMaso, Vice President Charlie Toole and EquityThe amount of money that would be returned to shareholders if a company’s assets were sold off and all its debt repaid. Research Analyst Kate Austin—as they discuss critical subjects for investors like you and how known and unknown factors at home and abroad may continue to cause turbulence and provide opportunities.

Topics include:

• How long will this bull marketA period during which stock prices rise significantly from recent lows for weeks, months or years. continue to run?
• The importance (or lack thereof) of exports for the U.S. economy
• What do you need to know about impeachment and the markets?
• Is the riskThe probability that an investment will decline in value in the short term, along with the magnitude of that decline. Stocks are often considered riskier than bonds because they have a higher probability of losing money, and they tend to lose more than bonds when they do decline. of recession increasing?

It’s never too soon to become a more informed investor. Click here to watch it now!

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New Podcast: All About Roth IRAs

In the latest episode of The Adviser You Can Talk To Podcast, Senior Financial Planner Andrew Busa and Vice President Rick Winters provide an in-depth explanation of the potential benefits of Roth IRAs, including building tax diversity, an IRA’s role in your legacy plans and the so-called “backdoor” Roth conversion.

Don’t let an important tool in your financial planning arsenal go to waste—to learn how you can deploy Roth IRAs for maximum benefit, click here to listen.

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Checklist: Managing Responsibilities Upon the Loss of a Loved One

A loved one’s passing can be emotionally overwhelming—even before it comes to the responsibilities you may inherit at that time. We know well from our personal and professional experience that grief can make even the simplest tasks difficult. That’s why we’ve created a new checklist, Managing Responsibilities Upon the Loss of a Loved One, now available by clicking here.

We are always available to help our clients—especially in times of need. In the meantime, we hope you will find this resource valuable if you (or anyone you know) should ever find yourself facing this unfortunate scenario.

About Adviser Investments

Adviser Investments is a full service wealth management firm, offering investment management, financial and tax planning, managed individual bond portfolios, and 401(k) advisory services. We’ve been helping individuals, trustsA legal document that functions as an instruction manual to how you want your money managed and spent in your later years as well as how your assets should be distributed after your death. Assets placed in a trust are generally safe from creditors and can be sold by the trustee in short order, avoiding the lengthy and costly probate process., institutions and foundations since 1994, and have more than 3,500 clients across the country and over $6 billion in assets under management. Our portfolios encompass actively managed funds, ETFs, socially responsible investments and tactical asset allocation strategies, with particular expertise in Fidelity and Vanguard mutual funds. We take pride in being The Adviser You Can Talk To.

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