Vanguard Lowers fees..again

[Hariseldon58]

I noticed today that fees on many of Vanguard's UK products have dropped since yesterday.

VEVE Vanguard Developed World has dropped from .18% to .12%, VUTY US government bonds from .12% to .07%

The reductions are from 2 to 6 basis points on those ETFs that I hold, some remain at the same price, EG the S&P500 Index VUSA

On the funds side I am less aware of the old prices but I did see a reduction of 9 basis points on the Global Small Companies Index fund, so I am sure there are more, I note Life Strategy funds are unchanged.

It's all welcome and around £300 on my portfolio.

[dave559]

Ah, you beat me to it!

Full details of the new charges at: https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/arti ... commitment

[hiriskpaul]

Very welcome news. I would also say it is about time Vanguard cut their fees again. Their competitors have been undercutting Vanguard for some time. For example, OCFs for some developed world ETFs:

Amundi Prime Global 0.05%
L&G Global Equity 0.10%
Lyxor MSCI World 0.12%
SPDR MSCI World 0.12%

Amundi and L&G both follow an index provided by Solactive, which I assume is cheaper than MSCI or FTSE. Both ETFs are fairly new and small, but the Solactive index seems very similar to MSCI. The Vanguard developed world tracker follows the FTSE index, which is broader than MSCI and Solactive, holding more smaller companies. Hopefully we will see another round of cuts by Vanguard's competitors.

One other thing Vanguard have done recently is create accumulating versions of all their ETFs.

[hiriskpaul]

Vanguard's US listed FTSE Developed Markets ETF (which excludes US shares) has a TER of only 0.05% and the Total (US) Stock Market ETF has a TER of 0.03%, so there is still plenty of scope to cut the fees on Vanguard's LSE listed ETFs!

[Hariseldon58]

When we compare the cost of ETFs, it’s not just the headline expense ratio, scale and expertise matter a lot. Vanguard and Blackrock have that in abundance..

I recollect looking at a Canadian etf index and the most expensive was the iShares but over time, the smaller apparently cheaper alternatives had far more tracking error.

[hiriskpaul]

When we compare the cost of ETFs, it’s not just the headline expense ratio, scale and expertise matter a lot. Vanguard and Blackrock have that in abundance..

I recollect looking at a Canadian etf index and the most expensive was the iShares but over time, the smaller apparently cheaper alternatives had far more tracking error.

Yes I agree. I would still like to see fees come down though and iShares/Vanguard will only reduce fees if there is competition.

[torata]

One other thing Vanguard have done recently is create accumulating versions of all their ETFs.

That also is welcome news. Although I notice they aren't shown on the retail investor site for some reason.

torata

[GeoffF100]

I have had a look at the Vanguard website and noticed VAGP:

https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/inve ... _fund_link

It tracks the same index as the Global Bond Index Fund:

https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/inve ... _fund_link

VAGP has an OCF of 0.10%, whereas the older Global Bond Index Fund has an OCF of 0.15%. I have got a £100K+ holding of the more expensive fund in an iWeb ISA. There would be costs in switching, and the price difference may not persist. Hm...

[GeoffF100]

A general observation is that we seem to be going from a world in which Vanguard funds are either only available as OEICs or the OEICs are cheaper, to a world where everything is available as an ETF and the ETFs are cheaper. The days of being held to ransom for enormous platform fees seem to be over., or at least numbered. We may even get a world where it is free to transfer our account to another provider.

[Cookie]

A general observation is that we seem to be going from a world in which Vanguard funds are either only available as OEICs or the OEICs are cheaper, to a world where everything is available as an ETF and the ETFs are cheaper. The days of being held to ransom for enormous platform fees seem to be over., or at least numbered. We may even get a world where it is free to transfer our account to another provider.

H&L and IWEB have dropped transfer fees

[GeoffF100]

It is very encouraging that iWeb has dropped its transfer out charges. Here are iWeb's current charges:

https://www.iweb-sharedealing.co.uk/PDF ... harges.pdf

I do not have any immediate plans to move anything out, but it is good not to feel locked in.

[Hariseldon58]

The sceptic in new thinks that the ending of transfer fees is simply preempting the inevitable!

The regulator has been making noises about this for some time but kudos for not carrying on the charges until the last possible moment.