ETF Prime: Murphy on Vanguard Fee Cuts & More

To get things started, Geraci noted how Vanguard recently announced the largest fee cuts in the firm’s history. These fee cuts affected 87 different funds, which Vanguard noted could save investors over $350 million across the rest of 2025. Looking broadly, Geraci asked Murphy if she was expecting any counter moves from competing firms in response. 

Murphy began by noting that Vanguard has a historical precedent for being gung-ho on cutting fees for its funds. Going further, she added that Vanguard often seeks to position itself as a low cost provider for investors. 

“Is it surprising? Maybe not surprising,” Murphy assessed. “Is it aggressive? Definitely, it is aggressive. Now, you know, will others follow?” 

Looking at competitors that could potentially follow suit, Murphy pointed out that Blackrock is a possibility. However, she noted that unlike Vanguard, Blackrock is a publicly traded business, so the extent of the cuts could be vastly different. 

Moving on, Geraci then drifted the topic towards new fund launches. He highlighted how a number of old school asset managers, such as Cohen & Steers and Thornburg Investment Management, have recently begun launching new ETF products. Turning to Murphy, Geraci asked her if she had any thoughts on these old school asset managers taking the plunge into ETFs. 

First, Murphy preemptively addressed the concern some investors may have over these funds coming online “too late.” Even though ETFs have been around for well over 30 years, Murphy notes that U.S. ETFs saw a record $1.1 trillion in inflows from last year alone. 

Using these flows as an example, Murphy pointed out that the ETF industry is continuing to grow. This can create plenty of opportunities for old school fund managers to join the ETF space, alongside their distinctive strategies and client bases. 

“It took a while to get here, but they’re welcome to join the party,” Murphy added. “We’re excited they’re here.”

From there, Geraci pivoted to the news that Trump Media has announced that they are launching a Truth.Fi brand. Truth.Fi is slated to offer a number of financial services, including ETFs. Geraci then asked Murphy what her thoughts were on a sitting president being indirectly involved with ETFs. 

“When the story is about Trump, nothing is surprising anymore,” said Murphy. She added that the announced ETFs are currently just trademark registrations, and not filings yet.

Looking at the individual funds, Murphy noted that none of the ETFs are especially unique compared to other products on the market. Instead, she noted that these funds are likely to be more of a brand play, similar to when Nouriel Roubini and his company launched a fund last year. 

To close out this week’s podcast, Geraci was then joined by Brian Hartigan, global head of ETFs at Invesco. Looking at the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP B+), Geraci noted that investors seem to be showing more interest in equal weight strategies, due to the top-heavy nature of cap-weighted strategies at the time. 

Hartigan agreed that market concentration is a theme that has continued to resonate throughout the investment community. He noted that there are two sides to the concentration argument: either dial up concentration exposure or diversify through a more equally weighted approach. 

“Investors are looking to toggle up their exposure to the names like the Mag Seven,” Hartigan added. “There’s ebbs and flows that are driving some of those performance trends over the last couple years  But that’s where the market is allocating, right? Either away to these names or further into the concentration names.”  

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