1:05 p.m. CDT, Oct. 5, Joyce Hanson here:
Goodbye to Morningstar ETF Invest 2012 — see you next year.
Noon CDT, Oct. 5, Joyce Hanson here:
Price war in the ETF space?
"It's been happening since Day One," says Paul Justice, Morningstar's director of research for passive funds, at a "Meet the Pundits" panel with IndexUniverse.com editorial head Matt Hougan and ETFtrends.com publisher Tom Lydon. "It happens every year. It's not new, and it's not going to stop."
So that answers the price war question. Next question from panel moderator Jeff Benjamin, senior editor for InvestmentNews:
How low can fees go?
"At this point, it doesn't matter," says Hougan. "We're getting down to the area where the differences in fees are minimal, 4bp or 6bp."
Lydon notes that the game has extended from the ETF competitors into the index space. "The ETF providers are asking them to give a little bit," he says. "The gloves are off, and they're going to have to compete."
More fun stuff from the pundits:
Paul Justice: "Breaking news everybody. Not everybody buying an ETF is using it as a mutual fund replacement."
