Fidelity sparks tracker price war

Fidelity has announced that it is lowering the cost of index tracker investing by cutting charges across its equity index range.

Throwing down the gauntlet to other fund managers, Fidelity claims it has become the price leader in the UK retail market across the seven most popular indices, undercutting the likes of BlackRock and Legal & General.

The new pricing, available directly through Fidelity Personal Investing, via advisers using FundsNetwork and to selected wealth managers, is based on a fixed total ongoing charge at 0.07 per cent a year for the Fidelity Index UK fund and 0.08 per cent a year for the Fidelity Index US fund.

More than £76bn is now invested in tracker funds in the UK. The average ongoing charge for a UK tracker from one of the four leading providers currently stands at 0.16 per cent.

John Clougherty, head of UK retail at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, said: "Index trackers sit at the core of many investment portfolios and while charges have come down over time, there are still many that are poor value for investors – in fact there is £7bn of investors' money still sitting in funds that charge 1 per cent or more.

"We know that investors want choice and value when it comes to investing, whether that's through an active fund, a tracker or both. With these price cuts, Fidelity is offering the best value index trackers available to UK retail investors today."

Fidelity launched its UK, US, Japan, Europe ex UK, Pacific ex Japan, Emerging Markets and World trackers earlier this year, challenging established giants including BlackRock and Vanguard on price.