UBS Asset Management (UBS AM) reduced the fees of three ETF share classes, including its $375m USD-hedged socially responsible ETF, following the merger of share classes after the original fell below a “commercially viable minimum”.
It comes as the asset manager made a broad sweep of fee cuts across its largest products in January, including its £952m MSCI World UCITS ETF, after UBS AM previously said the bank’s acquisition of Credit Suisse last March had enabled economies of scale.
The US dollar-hedged share class of the UBS ETF MSCI ACWI Socially Responsible UCITS ETF (AWSR) will see its flat fee reduced from 0.28% to 0.25%, with the Japanese yen-hedged share class being merged into it.
The US dollar hedged share class of the UBS ETF MSCI World Small Cap Socially Responsible UCITS ETF (WSCR) will see the fee cut from 0.26% to 0.23% after absorbing its Euro hedged share class into it.
In a shareholder notice, UBS AM said: “The rationale for the transfer of the original share classes is that the net asset value of each of the original share classes has fallen below a commercially viable minimum.”
Trading of the two ETF share classes will cease on 28 October.
Meanwhile, the UBS Bloomberg MSCI Global Liquid Corporates Sustainable UCITS ETF (hedged to GBP) will be merged into the non-hedged UBS Bloomberg MSCI Global Liquid Corporates Sustainable UCITS ETF, with the fee reduced from 0.25% to 0.20%.
The decision also comes after “low and further decreasing assets”, the asset manager said in a shareholder notice, with trading ceasing on 28 October.
Meanwhile, Amundi cut the fees across 33 ETFs in June including its $12.5bn S&P 500 ETF.
Elsewhere, UBS AM hired James Collyer as head of UK ETF and index fund sales from Vanguard.
