Dimensional cuts fees on 50 funds

Dimensional Fund Advisors appears determined to build on its recent new-asset momentum: The pioneering quant firm just announced fee cuts across a swath of mutual funds and ETFs.

The $653 billion asset manager is lowering fees across 47 mutual funds and three exchange-traded funds in what amounts to a 13% reduction on asset-weighted basis, according to a press release. The cuts span equity and fixed-income funds and will take effect on Feb. 22.

It’s the latest bold move by David Booth’s Dimensional, on the cusp of becoming one of the top 10 largest ETF U.S. issuers after only launching its first fund in November 2020.

The firm has converted nearly $40 billion of mutual fund assets into ETFs this year, becoming one of the first managers to do so. The fee cuts further Dimensional’s push into the $7 trillion ETF arena, while attempting to stem outflows from the firm’s mutual fund lineup — Bloomberg Intelligence estimates roughly $12 billion has exited so far in 2021.

“Flows are showing money pouring out of mutual funds and into ETFs, and they are being aggressive to do everything to stem outflows and attract new capital,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart said. “Other legacy managers with no strategy for the ETF ecosystem and who aren’t cutting fees are basically sticking their head in the sand, as far as I’m concerned.”

Dimensional’s ETF stable currently includes 13 ETFs with roughly $44 billion in assets, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data. That lineup is expected to nearly double — Dimensional filed for an additional 10 equity ETFs last month. 

[More: Franklin Templeton joins shift to low-cost ETFs]