The fund fee war ignited by Vanguard [profile] seems to be spreading throughout the industry now.

ProShares [profile] has now joined the battle by cutting the expense ratio for its CSM ETF, by 50 basis points, down to 45 bps.

The firm is also changing the name of the fund to ProShares Large Cap Core Plus.

ProShares markets this fund as a product which "provides an alternative approach for investors who want to outperform large cap indexes, but don’t have faith in actively managed mutual funds."

Last month, Cook & Bynum slashed fees on one of its mutual funds.

Here is the press release:

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Company Press Release

ProShares Lowers Net Expense Ratio for CSM, a Morningstar Rated 5-Star ETF

Bethesda, MD – February 7, 2013 – ProShares, a leading provider of alternative ETFs, announced that effective today, it is lowering the net expense ratio for CSM, a Morningstar rated 5-star ETF, from 95 to 45 basis points. CSM provides an alternative approach for investors who want to outperform large cap indexes, but don’t have faith in actively managed mutual funds.

"CSM combines the discipline and transparency of indexing with an opportunity to beat traditional index returns," said Michael Sapir, Chairman and CEO of ProShare Advisors LLC, ProShares' investment advisor. "We’re pleased that now CSM will be even more competitive with other large cap options."

CSM seeks investment results, before fees and expenses, that track the Credit Suisse 130/30 Large Cap index, a rules-based benchmark designed to outperform an index of the 500 largest capitalization U.S. stocks. It was created in 2007 by recognized experts in quantitative finance—MIT Professor Andrew W. Lo, PhD, and Pankaj N. Patel, CFA, of Credit Suisse. The index has 100% equity exposure and can be expected to move in the same direction as large cap stocks. However, its methodology provides more sources of potential return than a typical large cap index. The index overweights positions in stocks expected to rise and, rather than just underweighting those expected to fall, seeks profit from short exposure.

New Name

ProShares also announced that it is changing the ETF’s name to ProShares Large Cap Core Plus from ProShares Credit Suisse 130/30 to better reflect its role in the large cap portion of a portfolio. The name change will not affect the fund’s holdings or its strategy.

CSM earned a 5-star rating from Morningstar in the U.S. Long/Short Equity ETFs Category Overall for the three-year period ending December 31, 2012.

About ProShares

Offering the nation's largest lineup of alternative ETFs, ProShares helps investors to go beyond the limitations of conventional investing and face today’s market challenges. Each ProShares ETF provides access to an alternative investment strategy delivered with the liquidity, transparency and cost effectiveness of an ETF. ProShares' lineup of 139 ETFs includes Global Fixed Income, Hedge Strategies, Geared (leveraged and inverse), and Inflation and Volatility ETFs.

 

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