Van Eck has lowered the expense ratio for an exchange traded fund that invests in the commodity sector.
The fees for Market Vectors RVE Hard Assets Producers ETF (NYSEArca: HAP) have been lowered from 0.59% to 0.49%. Investors will benefit from this move by by paying lower annual expenses.
“HAP is a broad-based ETF that can serve as the core of any natural resources investment allocation,” Jan van Eck, President of Market Vectors ETF Trust, said. “We expect the reduced pricing will make HAP a more attractive option for long-term investors seeking comprehensive exposure to the world’s largest and most prominent hard assets producers and distributors.” [Hard Assets ETF: Alternative to Commodities]
HAP is just one of twelve hard asset ETFs in the Market Vectors lineup. The concept was developed with Jim Rogers, with a rules-based index that gives investors a means of tracking the performance of a global universe of listed companies engaged in the production and distribution of hard assets and related products and services, according to the press release. [Van Eck Lowers Costs on 5 ETFs]
The lower expense ratio is effective immediately, and will be valid until May 1, 2013. There are other expenses that are not included in the 0.49% such as interest expense, among others, rounding out the gross expense ratio to 0.63%. [ETFs to Hedge a Falling Dollar]
This fee reduction comes at a time when providers are wrestling for market share by lowering fees, or possibly waiving them completely. Investors can benefit from these “fee wars” by getting a quality product for the lowest prices possible, or by taking advantage of free trades at certain brokerages offering in-house trading deals. However, investors should not let reduced fees influence their decisions for which funds to invest in.
Market Vectors RVE Hard Assets Producers ETF
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.