iShares has trimmed expenses on seven exchange traded funds, including its $85.5bn Core US Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) and $73.2bn Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG), the manager said.
AGG’s fees fell from 4 basis points to 3bp, disclosures show, while IEMG’s slid 2bp to 9bp.
The cuts put AGG’s management fee below the 3.5bp fee for Vanguard‘s $83.3bn Total Bond Market ETF (BND), filings show. It also brings IEMG considerably closer to Vanguard’s $77.6bn FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO), which costs 8bp.
iShares has also sliced 2bp off the management fee of the $30.9bn Core MSCI Total International Stock (IXUS), putting the fee at 7bp. That is 1bp off the fees for the $7.1bn Core MSCI International Developed Markets (IDEV) and the $3.8bn Core International Aggregate Bond ETF (IAGG).
The MSCI fund now carries a management fee of 4bp, while the other fund charges 7bp.
The fee of the $1.2bn MSCI USA Multifactor dropped from 20bp to 8bp, and the $896.2mn MSCI International Multifactor now costs 15bp, down from 30bp.
An eighth ETF — the $636.3mn MSCI USA Climate Paris Aligned Index — will make permanent a previously temporary 5bp fee waiver, leaving its expense ratio at 10bp.
iShares on Thursday also disclosed that it had changed the names and indices of the two multifactor ETFs.
MSCI USA Multifactor will become US Equity Factor and track the Stoxx US Equity Factor index rather than the MSCI USA Diversified Multiple-Factor index. Meanwhile, MSCI International Multifactor will become International Equity Factor ETF and be measured against the Stoxx International Equity Factor index in place of MSCI’s World ex USA Diversified Multiple-Factor index.
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