Merrill Lynch Cuts ETF Management Fees

Merrill Lynch International today announced that the management fees for its Euro STOXX 50 and STOXX 50 LDRS will be cut from 0.50% to 0.35% with immediate effect. The fee cut aims to affirm Merrill Lynch as a market leader

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Merrill Lynch International today announced that the management fees for its Euro STOXX 50 and STOXX 50 LDRS will be cut from 0.50% to 0.35% with immediate effect. The fee cut aims to affirm Merrill Lynch as a market leader in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), with LDRS having the lowest fees on the Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 and Dow Jones STOXX 50 indices.

Despite challenging equity market conditions, assets and trading volumes have risen, making LDRS some of the most actively traded and the largest ETFs available on a pan-European basis. The shares in issue have increased by over 60% since the start of the year. LDRS are the most widely offered ETFs in Europe, listed on seven European exchanges with the most recent listing in September on the Italian Stock Exchange.

LDRS are exchange traded funds or index shares. They combine the advantages of index-tracking funds and exchange traded shares and enable investors to diversify their investment across a wide range of stocks in one simple transaction. LDRS are structured so that their price throughout the day closely follows the movements of the index being tracked. LDRS can be bought or sold at any time during normal trading hours, at the prevailing market price, through a broker.

Commenting on the announcement of the fee reduction, Manooj Mistry, ETF Product Manager at Merrill Lynch said:”It is now two and half years since Merrill Lynch launched the first ETFs in Europe. The STOXX 50 and Euro STOXX 50 LDRS are recognised as amongst the largest and most actively traded ETFs in Europe.” He added, “LDRS are gaining awareness amongst both institutional and individual investors as they offer an easy and low cost route to obtaining diversified equity exposure. By reducing fees, LDRS will offer even more value for investors.”

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