Lipper’s fall report, “The Halfway Point,” outlines changes to open-end fund expense ratios over the eight-month period from the end of October 2008 through June 2009, reflecting a “worst-case scenario.”
For many equity funds, it is likely that the 2009 annual report should reflect higher assets and corresponding lower expense ratios over the second half of the period. “The fund industry bottomed out, in terms of total assets under management, in February 2009; since then assets have increased tremendously due to both performance and flows,” Lipper notes.
The S&P 500 Index reached its closing low on March 9, 2009, at 1,095. From that date through September 30, 2009, it has returned over 58 percent. Funds have largely followed suit.