Lipper report shows 10 years of rising TERs

Last year the average TER, a measure of the total costs of managing and operating a fund, was 1.65%, compared to 1.52% in 1998. The average management fee, which makes up a large part of the TER, is now at 1.48% from 1.33% in 1998. This total also includes the trail commission paid to advisers; typically around 0.5% per annum. Ed Moisson, author of the report and director of fiduciary operations at Lipper, says that, having stripped out multi-manager funds from the figures, the TER rise can be attributed to a number of factors although the main causes are fund closures and the launch of...