Ten Mutual funds and ETFs with the Highest Expense Ratios

There is a cost for an investment company to operate a mutual funds and ETFs. It includes the manager’s fees, administrative costs, compliance, trading costs, 12b-1 fees (sales fee for the company who sold you the fund) and advertising. The expense ratio is a percentage that directly lowers the return to a fund’s investors.

The expense ratio is a very critical number when comparing investments.  Some investments types will have a higher expense ratio others are just too expensive.  Here are the ETFs and Mutual Funds with the highest expense ratios.

ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds)

Name	Ticker	Annual Report Gross Expense Ratio
ProShares UltraShort Telecommunications	TLL	23.49
QuantShares US Market Neut Momentum	MOM	22.47
AdvisorShares Gartman Gold/Euro ETF	GEUR	10.72
ProShares UltraShort MSCI Mexico Cpd IMI	SMK	9.12
ProShares Short Basic Materials	SBM	8.08
Columbia Large Cap Growth ETF	RPX	7.27
ProShares UltraShort MSCI Pacific ex-Jpn	JPX	7.00
Direxion Daily Total Mkt Bear 1X ETF	TOTS	6.92
Teucrium Sugar ETF	CANE	6.26
ProShares Ultra High Yield	UJB	5.91
JPMorgan Diversified Return Glbl Eq ETF	JPGE	5.19
ProShares Merger	MRGR	4.94
United States Copper Index	CPER	4.76

Mutual Funds

Our search for mutual funds only included A shares.  There are different share classes, some depend on the type of compensation the person who sold you the fund is getting (this may not affect you if you use no load funds or have a fee only financial planner) and the amount you invest.  Some companies, like Vanguard, offer a lower expense if you invest a certain amount (for example $10,000).  We are just looking at A shares.

Name	Ticker	Morningstar Category	Annual Report Gross Expense Ratio
RBC BlueBay Emerging Market Corp Bd A	RECAX	US OE Emerging Markets Bond	53.53
AB Market Neutral Strategy US A	AMUAX	US OE Market Neutral	26.87
RBC BlueBay Global High Yield Bd A	RHYAX	US OE High Yield Bond	25.84
Morgan Stanley Inst Global Insight A	MBPHX	US OE Foreign Small/Mid Blend	12.14
Astor Active Income ETF A	AXAIX	US OE Intermediate-Term Bond	11.59
HSBC World Selection Income Strat A	HINAX	US OE Conservative Allocation	10.14
Monte Chesapeake Macro Strategies A	MHBAX	US OE Managed Futures	9.22
Morgan Stanley Inst Insight A	MFPHX	US OE Mid-Cap Blend	8.91
First Trust/Confluence Small Cap Val A	FOVAX	US OE Small Growth	8.65
State Street/Ramius Mgd Futs Strat A	RTSRX	US OE Managed Futures	8.58

I appreciate any feedback for our AIO Financial blog. Please contact me if you have any comments, questions, and suggestions. You can comment here or contact me through Facebook, Twitter, email (bill@aiofinancial.com), or call 520-325-0769.