The "price war" on tracker funds has been ramped up, an industry analyst says, after Vanguard has announced it will cut charges on its funds and ETFs next week.

From Monday 1 September fees will be lowered on 20 funds and 4 ETFs – including the £4.5Bn giant Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund.

The average drop, according to Hargreaves Lansdown calculations, is 0.06% and the biggest change is on Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-U.K. Equity Index Fund, whose charge will be halved to 0.15%.
The Investment Management Association reported this week that tracker funds net retail sales were the highest on record in July, coming in at £532 million.
The figure was the highest since IMA records began in January 1992.

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Adam Laird, head of passive investments at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The tracker fund price war continues. These reductions will not just help Vanguard investors, it puts further pressure on competitor tracker fund managers.
"This won't be the last price cut we see, charges are likely to drop further.
"This week, the IMA announced that July was the top month ever for tracker fund sales.
"There is more demand than ever before for tracker funds and the cheapest funds are attracting the lion's share of assets."
He added: "Investors need to make a thorough assessment before investing in a tracker fund.
"The TER (total expense ratio) is an important factor, but investors need to check any upfront costs of investing in a fund, such as Vanguard's dilution levy."
Tom Rampulla, managing director for Vanguard in Europe, said: "As a pioneer of high value, low-cost investing, Vanguard has a near 40-year history of reducing the fees investors pay for its mutual funds and ETFs.
"As we broaden our presence in Europe, we will leverage operating efficiencies and use our increasing global scale to keep costs to a minimum for investors.
"Importantly, existing investors will automatically benefit from the new charges, as they always do when we lower the cost of our funds.
"These fee reductions are business as usual for Vanguard."

Source: Hargreaves Lansdown

* The Dilution Levy is a charge taken by Vanguard and used to cover the costs of investing in a fund. Vanguard do not profit from this levy, it is used to protect long term investors from trading costs of new investors.