Free is the lowliest number: fund fees at the zero bound

Even boutique classes of managed funds are cutting fees hard. (Image: Depositphotos)

Wed, 01 Sep 2021

If price is the measure, new figures from global research house Morningstar confirm investment management has evolved from cottage industry to commodified production-line status over the first 20 years of this century.The regular annual Morningstar study found the average fee paid by US fund investors more than halved since 2000, falling from 0.93% to 0.41% at the end of last year.Cheap pays, too. Most US fund assets now pool in passive index strategies managed by a handful of firms, with Vanguard and BlackRock the notable beneficiari...

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