Morningstar urges investors to look beyond TER when weighing ETF costs

Trading and holding costs

Tom Eckett
clock • 2 min read

Investors must look beyond the headline total expense ratio (TER) when investing in ETFs and "take a more holistic approach" to assessing the total cost of owning an ETF, according to a research note by Morningstar.

The note, entitled Calculating the Total Cost of ETF Ownership, said the total cost of owning an ETF is split between two parts; the holding costs and the transaction costs. The relative importance of these two depend on the investor's time horizon and the total amount they are investing, it added. IA launches consultation on ETF inclusion in sectors Ben Johnson (pictured), director of global ETF research at Morningstar, explained: "Holding costs will represent the largest component of the total cost of ownership for long-term investors in an ETF, as they are by definition incurred...

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