Vanguard Announces Fee Reductions Across 87 Funds

The Vanguard Group Inc. announced Monday that it has reduced fees on 168 share classes across 87 investment funds in what the firm called its largest fee cut to date. Vanguard offered 428 funds worldwide—212 in the U.S.—as of the end of 2023, according to its website.

The firm projects that the fee reductions will save investors of all kinds more than $350 million this year alone. Of the funds with reduced fees, 48 include institutional or institutional plus share classes. The fee reductions for these share classes ranged from one to five basis points. 

Target-date funds for retirement plan participants were not included in the fee reductions. 

“Lower fees mean fund investors can keep more of their returns and a competitive edge for our funds,” said Greg Davis, Vanguard’s president and chief investment officer, in a press release. “When you think about our actively managed funds, our managers don’t have to take unnecessary risk to earn back our fees. Our financial model and structure [create] a virtuous cycle of economies of scale, where we can continue to reduce fees and invest in things like technology and talent.” 

The prospectuses of all affected funds were updated Monday in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the announcement. 

Expense ratios may cover investment advisory fees, marketing and distribution expenses, brokerage fees and custodial, transfer agency, legal and accounting fees, according to Vanguard. The full list of funds with reduced fees can be found here. 

The company has about $10.4 trillion in assets under management, as of November 30, 2024. At the end of 2023, it had approximately $8.6 trillion in assets under management worldwide. 

The move to lower fees come less than one year after Vanguard announced that Salim Ramji, the former head of BlackRock Inc. iShares, would take over as the firm’s CEO, succeeding Tim Buckley, who retired at the end of 2024.