ETF Watch: Hartford Cuts Fund Fees
Firm trims costs on four of its five exchange-traded funds.
Hartford Funds, which bought Lattice Strategies and its ETF operations earlier this year, has announced that it is decreasing the expense ratios on four of its smart-beta funds, effective Jan. 1. The ETFs will each see their expense ratios fall by 6-11 basis points, or an average reduction of 14%.
The cuts are as follows:
- The expense ratio on the Hartford Multifactor Developed Markets (ex-US) ETF (RODM) will fall to 0.39% from 0.50%.
- The expense ratio on the Hartford Multifactor Emerging Markets ETF (ROAM) will fall from 0.65% to 0.59%.
- The expense ratio on the Hartford Multifactor U.S. Equity ETF (ROUS) will fall from 0.35% to 0.29%.
- The expense ratio on the Hartford Multifactor Global Small Cap ETF (ROGS) will fall from 0.60% to 0.55%.
“With our recent acquisition of strategic beta ETF capabilities, our scale allows us to create additional cost-efficiencies and pass those savings along to our ETF investors,” said James Davey, president of Hartford Funds, in a press release.
The fee for the Hartford Multifactor REIT ETF (RORE), the only other fund in the Hartford family, will remain the same, at 0.45%. The five Hartford ETFs have total combined assets of about $100 million.
Fee compression has been one of the ETF industry’s most consistent trends, with expense ratios falling in almost every category.
Contact Heather Bell at [email protected].
