The Hartford pares fees on fixed-income funds

The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is reducing the expenses on six of its fixed-income funds, but the funds are still far from being low for their categories, according to Morningstar Inc. The firm is reducing the expense on its High Yield Fund Ticker:(HAHAX); The Hartford High Yield Municipal Bond Fund Ticker:(HHMAX); The Hartford Income Fund Ticker:(HTIAX); the Hartford Inflation Plus Fund Ticker:(HPAX); the Hartford Short Duration Fund Ticker:(HSDAX) and the Hartford Total Return Bond Fund Ticker:(ITBAX). The fee reductions range from 0.01% to 0.15% and apply to all share classes. While the fee reductions are a move in the right direction, the firm is far from being “a low-cost leader,” said Katie Ruskewicz, a fund analyst at Morningstar. “The fee reductions put the funds either closer to the category norm or slightly below, but the fact remains they are not thought of as low cost.” For example, the new net-expense ratio for the Hartford Income Fund is 0.93%; slightly above the median for the category which is 0.9%. The new net-expense ratio for the Short Duration Fund is 0.85%, slightly below the median of 0.87%. The new net expenses for the Total Return Bond Fund are 0.95%, slightly above the category median which is 0.90%, according to Morningstar. Julia Zweig, a spokeswoman at The Hartford, was not immediately available for comment. The fee reductions take effect Nov. 1. The Hartford in July reduced the fees on 36 of its funds, most of which were equity funds. The most recent fee reductions come just weeks after The Hartford reorganized its distribution arm, Hartford Life Distributors, and decentralized its wholesalers to four recently established business uits. As part of the reorganization, Jim Davey, who was head of the company’s retirement division, was named head of the mutual fund business.