Among this year’s top 10 asset-gathering ETFs, only the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (NYSEArca: EFA), which tracks the developed EAFE or European, Australasia and Far East countries, has an expense ratio north of 0.2%. Just three others, including the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: IEMG), have annual fees of over 0.1%.
“Expense ratio ranked as the top selection criteria for ETF investors for the first time in our survey’s 5-year history, this year coming in ahead of index methodology, historic performance, tax efficiency and other factors. Expense ratio also ranked above all other criteria in selecting actively-managed ETFs. This reflects a continuation of the trend toward low-cost investing that has been underway for some time, and it will be interesting to see how this evolves in 2018 and beyond,” said Shawn McNinch, Global Head of ETF Services at BBH.
At the end of November, year-to-date inflows for US-listed ETFs topped $423 billion, smashing previous annual records and underscoring the point that investors are increasingly flocking to lower-cost, index-based investment products.
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