DWS Slashes Fee on Synthetic Latin America ESG ETF

The German asset manager reduced the expense ratio on the $254 million Xtrackers MSCI EM Latin America ESG Swap UCITS ETF (XMLD) to 0.40% from 0.65%.

DWS has cut the fee on its synthetic emerging markets Latin America ESG ETF.

On Oct. 1, the German asset manager will reduce the expense ratio for the $254 million Xtrackers MSCI EM Latin America ESG Swap UCITS ETF (XMLD) to 0.40% from 0.65%.

The decision follows a board meeting on Sept. 20, where DWS decided to more than halve the management fee portion of XMLD’s total expense ratio from 0.45% to 0.20%.

The fee cut signals DWS is looking to make its ETF range more cost competitive after CEO Stefan Hoops said his firm would leapfrog Amundi to become Europe’s second-largest ETF issuer by 2025.

It also coincides with Amundi announcing a series of fee hikes across its range as it overhauls several exchange-traded funds and integrates Lyxor ETFs it has acquired with its own.

Within the past month, the Amundi U.S. Treasury Bond 0-1Y UCITS ETF (PR1T) has seen its fee hiked from 0.05% to 0.07%, the Amundi MSCI USA ESG Leaders UCITS ETF (CU2) fee increased from 0.28% to 0.35%, and the Amundi Leveraged MSCI USA Daily UCITS ETF (CL2) fee was upped from 0.35% to 0.50%.