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Vanguard changes expense ratios on equity fund, bond funds & ETFs
Most of these are pretty mundane: a basis point or two one way or the other (decrease or increase), but a few of the reductions are impressive, up to 6 basis points.
The very last fund on the list though is VASFX, where the ER jumped by 1/2%, from 0.78% to 1.28%!
A closer look reveals that the management fee dropped (from 0.25% to 0.22%) while other expenses rose (from 0.05% to 0.08%) - net zero. The big change comes from shorting expenses.
Dividend expenses on shorts dropped from 0.44% to 0.37%, while Borrowing expenses on shorts rose from 0.00% to 0.56%
That suggests that the fund may have moved to shorting less liquid (harder to borrow), non-dividend paying stocks. Small caps?
I haven't looked at changes in the fund's short positions over time, so this is just a guess.
Comments
The very last fund on the list though is VASFX, where the ER jumped by 1/2%, from 0.78% to 1.28%!
A closer look reveals that the management fee dropped (from 0.25% to 0.22%) while other expenses rose (from 0.05% to 0.08%) - net zero. The big change comes from shorting expenses.
Dividend expenses on shorts dropped from 0.44% to 0.37%, while
Borrowing expenses on shorts rose from 0.00% to 0.56%
That suggests that the fund may have moved to shorting less liquid (harder to borrow), non-dividend paying stocks. Small caps?
I haven't looked at changes in the fund's short positions over time, so this is just a guess.