DWS trims fees on EM bond and European equity ETFs

Oct 2nd, 2018 | By | Category: Alternatives / Multi-Asset

DWS has reduced the total expense ratio (TER) on two of its European listed Xtrackers ETFs.

Simon Klein, DWS’s Head of Passive Sales for Europe and Asia Pacific

Simon Klein, DWS’s Head of Passive Sales for Europe and Asia Pacific.

The funds benefiting from fee reductions are the Xtrackers II USD Emerging Markets Bond UCITS ETF (XEMB GY), which has had its TER trimmed from 0.35% to 0.25%, and the Xtrackers MSCI Europe UCITS ETF (XMEU GY), which has had its TER more than halved from 0.25% to 0.12%.

Simon Klein, DWS’s Head of Passive Sales for Europe and Asia Pacific, commented, “We are happy to pass on the benefits of economies of scale to our investors as our ETF volumes increase, and as always our aim is to make Xtrackers some of the most competitive ETFs on the market.”

The EM bond ETF, XEMB, tracks the FTSE Emerging Markets USD Government and Government- Related Bond Select Index. This index consists of US dollar-denominated debt from governments, regional governments and government related entities within emerging market countries.

The index comprises both investment grade and high-yield issues although bonds rated below ‘B2’ are not eligible for inclusion. The fund has approximately $340 million in assets under management.

The European equity ETF, XMEU, tracks the MSCI Europe Index, which represents the performance of large and mid-cap equities across 15 developed countries in Europe including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country.

The fund houses some $3.3 billion in AUM.

The latest fee reductions follow a similar exercise in September affecting share classes of the Xtrackers MSCI EMU UCITS ETF, with currency-hedged share classes falling from 0.25% per annum to 0.17%, and the unhedged share classed falling from 0.15% to 0.12%.

This fund provides exposure to the MSCI EMU Index which captures large and mid-cap representation across the ten Developed Markets countries in the European Economic and Monetary Union.

Also in September, the TER on the GBP-hedged share class of Xtrackers S&P 500 UCITS ETF was lowered to 0.09%, having previously been 0.20%. The fund, which tracks the bellwether S&P 500 Index, contains over $1.1bn in AUM.

Since the start of 2018, fees have been reduced on 17 Xtrackers ETFs, which collectively have accumulated €970 million in net new assets in the last 12 months.

The full list of DWS TER reductions in 2018 is as follows:

Equities

Xtrackers MSCI EMU UCITS ETF; from 0.15% to 0.12%
Xtrackers S&P 500 UCITS ETF – GBP Hedged; from 0.20% to 0.09%
Xtrackers MSCI EMU UCITS ETF – USD Hedged; from 0.25% to 0.17%
Xtrackers MSCI EMU UCITS ETF – GBP Hedged; from 0.25% to 0.17%
Xtrackers MSCI EMU UCITS ETF – CHF Hedged; from 0.25% to 0.17%
Xtrackers MSCI Europe UCITS ETF; from 0.25% to 0.12%
Xtrackers II USD Emerging Markets Bond UCITS ETF; from 0.35% to 0.25%

Fixed income

Xtrackers II Global Aggregate Bond Swap UCITS ETF – USD Hedged; from 0.30% to 0.20%
Xtrackers II Global Aggregate Bond Swap UCITS ETF; from 0.30% to 0.15%
Xtrackers II Global Aggregate Bond Swap UCITS ETF – GBP Hedged; from 0.30% to 0.20%
Xtrackers II Global Aggregate Bond Swap UCITS ETF – CHF Hedged; from 0.30% to 0.20%
Xtrackers II Global Aggregate Bond Swap UCITS ETF – EUR Hedged; from 0.30% to 0.20%
Xtrackers II US Treasuries UCITS ETF; from 0.15% to 0.12%
Xtrackers II US Treasuries 1-3 UCITS ETF; from 0.15% to 0.12%
Xtrackers II US Treasuries Inflation-Linked UCITS ETF; from 0.20% to 0.12%
Xtrackers II US Treasuries UCITS ETF – EUR Hedged; from 0.20% to 0.17%
Xtrackers II ESG EUR Corporate Bond UCITS ETF; from 0.25% to 0.16%

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Leave a Comment