State Street’s (NYSE: STT) State Street Global Advisors unit, the third-largest U.S. issuer of exchange traded funds, fired the first shot in the 2015 ETF fee wars Tuesday when it announced it has trimmed fees on 41 of its ETFs.
In some cases, the fee reductions are dramatic. For example, the SPDR S&P 1500 Value Tilt ETF (NYSEArca: VLU) and the SPDR S&P 1500 Momentum Tilt (NYSEArca: MMTM) now have expense ratios of 0.12%, down from 0.35%, while the SPDR Russell 2000 Low Volatility ETF (NYSEArca: SMLV) saw its expense ratio cut in half to 0.12% from 0.25%.
“Competitive pricing is a core benefit to the SPDR ETF value proposition that dates back to the launch of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF in 1993,” said James Ross, executive vice president and global head of SPDR Exchange Traded Funds at State Street Global Advisors, in a statement. “Affordable ratios are key components of our commitment to providing cost- effective investment solutions that are backed by SSGA’s expertise, services and support.” https://www.spdrs.com/
The SPDR Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond ETF (NYSEArca: LAG) now charges 0.1% per year, down from 0.21%, making the $895.3 million ETF more competitive with rivals such as the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (NYSEArca: AGG) and the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (NYSEArca: BND).
SSgA’s lineup of 10 international sector ETFs now have annual fees of 0.4%, down from 0.5%. That group includes the SPDR S&P International Consumer Discretionary Sector ETF (NYSEArca: IPD), SPDR S&P International Energy Sector ETF (NYSEArca: IPW) and the SPDR S&P International Technology (NYSEArca: IPK).
Seven SSgA emerging markets ETFs now have expense ratios of 0.49%, down from fees of 0.5% to 0.59%. That group includes the SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: EDIV) and the SPDR S&P Emerging Latin America ETF (NYSEArca: GML), among others.