The world’s second largest investment manager has lowered charges on 36 funds available to UK retail investors as part of its “commitment to give investors the value for money they deserve”.
But media reports suggest the move is aimed more at undercutting rivals across Europe.
The £4.7trn ($6.1trn, €5.5trn) investment manager cut fees on 13 ETFs, 22 index funds and the Vanguard sterling short-term money market fund.
All of the ETFs and 16 of the index funds are domiciled in Ireland, with the rest based in the UK.
The move follows the firm cutting the fees on its UK domiciled actively managed fund range in June.
Lower cost
Vanguard’s full line-up in the UK, including ETFs, index funds and its actively managed fund range, now has an average ongoing charges figure (OCF) of 0.20%.
Its index mutual fund line-up in the UK now carries an average OCF of 0.15%, and the ETF index line-up has an average OCF of 0.10%.
All about control
Sean Hagerty, head of Vanguard for Europe, said, “For too long, investors have been poorly served with high-cost, complex investments.
“Since 1975, Vanguard has led the way in giving investors a fair deal through good-value, straight-forward and high-quality investments. However, more work needs to be done to ensure investors understand the impact of costs on investment returns.”
He continued: “There is still a misconception that the more you pay for an investment, the better it performs.
“In reality, costs really impact the returns investor make – every pound paid in fees is a pound off investors’ returns. Investors cannot control the markets, but they can control the fees they pay.”
