Fidelity offers core BlackRock ETFs commission-free
Last week Fidelity scraped commission charges on “all of the newly price-reduced US iShares Core ETFs”, the latest move in the battle for market share in the growing sector. Fidelity claims the funds have a lower expense ratio than comparable funds offered by Vanguard and State Street, and that it is the only provider to offer the funds commission-free. The news follows BlackRock’s announcement earlier this month that it was cutting fees on 15 of its iShares ETFs and Charles Schwab planning on cutting fees on five of its ETFs.

Fidelity Investments on Wednesday made the latest move in the exchange-traded fund fee war by removing commissions on “all the newly price-reduced U.S. iShares Core ETFs.”

The announcement is promoted as building on Fidelity’s alliance with BlackRock Inc., the leading ETF provider with $939 billion in ETF assets under management.

According to Fidelity, all 18 iShares Core ETFs in the commission-free offering have a “lower expense ratio than Vanguard and State Street counterparts, and Fidelity is the only provider that offers all 18 ETFs commission-free” to financial advisers and investors.

The announcement follows an Oct. 7 move by Charles Schwab & Co. to cut fees on five of its ETFs.

BlackRock announced fee cuts to 15 of its iShares ETFs on Oct. 5, and Fidelity cut fees on 27 index funds and ETFs in June.

“We want customers to receive the best value possible, whether that means offering a Fidelity solution or one from a third-party leader,” said Ram Subramaniam, president of Fidelity Brokerage Services.

“At Fidelity, investors can now build an even lower-cost, diversified equity and bond portfolio in the industry using both index mutual funds and ETFs,” he added.