RETAIL REPORT: Vanguard Drops Prices Via Fee Cuts for Select ETFs

Traders Magazine Online News, May 6, 2019

John D'Antona Jr.

Investing via exchange-traded fund has just gotten cheaper at one asset manager.

In a bid to bring more investors to the ETF space, Vanguard has announced that it has cut prices on 21 of its ultra-low-cost funds, including eight of its ten largest ETFs.

As first reported in ETF.com, the ETFs getting price cuts include some of the largest ETFs on the market today, including the $114 billion Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) and the $112 billion Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), the third and fourth largest funds, respectively. VTI and VOO now each cost 0.03%, down from 0.04% apiece.

Other notable price drops include the $72 billion Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA), whose expense ratio went from 0.07% to 0.05%; and the $66 billion Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO), whose expenses dropped from 0.14% to 0.12%.

The move is designed to make the issuer more competitive with others such as Schwab, State Street and J.P. Morgan.

The $48 billion Vanguard Value ETF (VTV), $40 billion Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG), and $38 billion Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) also saw price drops, from 0.05% to 0.04%.

Please see the following table for complete details, courtesy of ETF.com 

Vanguard ETFs Getting Fee Cuts
Ticker	Fund	Old Expense Ratio	New Expense Ratio
BND	Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF	0.05%	0.04%
BNDX	Vanguard Total International Bond ETF	0.11%	0.09%
VEA	Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF	0.07%	0.05%
VEU	Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF	0.11%	0.09%
VGK	Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF	0.10%	0.09%
VNQI	Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real Estate ETF	0.14%	0.12%
VO	Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF	0.05%	0.04%
VOO	Vanguard S&P 500 ETF	0.04%	0.03%
VPL	Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF	0.10%	0.09%
VSS	Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap ETF	0.13%	0.12%
VT	Vanguard Total World Stock ETF	0.10%	0.09%
VTEB	Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF	0.09%	0.08%
VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF	0.04%	0.03%
VTV	Vanguard Value ETF	0.05%	0.04%
VUG	Vanguard Growth ETF	0.05%	0.04%
VV	Vanguard Large-Cap ETF	0.05%	0.04%
VWO	Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF	0.14%	0.12%
VWOB	Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond ETF	0.32%	0.30%
VXF	Vanguard Extended Market ETF	0.08%	0.07%
VXUS	Vanguard Total International Stock ETF	0.11%	0.09%
VYM	Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF	0.08%	0.06%

Source: FactSet; data as of 4/29/2019

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