TheStreet.Com Ratings: Beware High-Fee ETFs

Be careful the next time you buy an exchange-traded fund. One of the major reasons these funds that trade throughout the day like stocks have been so popular is that their expenses are generally lower than open-end mutual funds.

But that's not always the case, and investors expecting razor-thin expenses should check before executing a trade.

With an average ratio of 0.41%, ETF expenses are almost a full percentage point below the comparable figure of 1.38% for traditional open-end mutual funds. But some ETFs are hitting their investors with annual fees that have wandered well into the range of actively managed open-end funds.

TheStreet.com Ratings database identified the ETFs with the highest and lowest expense ratios. The table below includes those with annual fees and expenses greater than 0.70% and those with fees and expenses less than 0.15%. It includes nine ETFs with expense ratios at the high end of the spectrum and 12 with margins at the bargain basement level -- some are as low as seven cents per year for every $100 managed.

Index fund pioneer Vanguard dominates the bargains with 10 low-expense ETFs, while the PowerShares brand, which is best known for specialty ETFs, has seven of the high-margin funds carry the brand. With some exceptions, larger funds seem able to offer lower expenses, although an argument could be made that the larger funds attracted more investors because they kept fees and expenses under tight control.

Because the high-expense ETFs on the top list generally have lower market capitalizations, their expenses are spread over smaller bases and tend to be relatively high. Investors who wish to participate in areas such as nanotech and micro-cap should be aware that they are handing over expense payments as much as 10 times higher than other ETFs.

The average expense ratio of the funds in the lower list stands at 0.10% compared with 0.73% for the high-margin group at the top. It's worth noting that even the ETFs with the highest fees are still significantly less expensive than the average mutual fund.

Growing at a rate of 10% per year before expenses, a $10,000 investment will compound to $66,062 in 20 years with an expense ratio of 0.10%. However, that same investment would only grow to $58,887 when saddled by fees and expenses of 0.73%. In that case, the reward for checking the data before buying is an extra $7,175 on an initial investment of $10,000.

ETFs With Biggest, Smallest Expense Ratios Even the most expense ETFs are still bargains compared with the average mutual fund.
Name	Ticker	Market Cap ($Mil)	Total Expense Ratio (%)
HIGHS (GREATER THAN 0.70%)...
PowerShares FTSE RAFI US 1000	PRF	114.3	0.76
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets	EEM	13,391.9	0.75
PowerShares Zacks Small Cap	PZJ	58.9	0.75
iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25	FXI	3,658.1	0.74
PowerShares Lux Nanotech	PXN	107.7	0.73
PowerShares Zacks Micro Cap	PZI	160.6	0.72
PowerShares Gldn Drgn Hltr USX Chn	PGJ	265.8	0.71
PowerShares Val Line Timeliness Sel	PIV	167.9	0.71
PowerShares Wilder Clean Energy	PBW	584.0	0.71
...AND LOWS (LESS THAN 0.15%)
Vanguard Mid Cap ETF	VO	1,488.9	0.13
Vanguard REIT ETF	VNQ	1,587.0	0.12
Vanguard Small Cap Growth ETF	VBK	418.2	0.12
Vanguard Small Cap Value ETF	VBR	329.0	0.12
Vanguard Growth ETF	VUG	732.8	0.11
Vanguard Value ETF	VTV	942.4	0.11
iShares S&P 500	IVV	18,074.7	0.10
SPDR 500	SPY	57,572.5	0.10
Vanguard Small Cap ETF	VB	559.6	0.10
Vanguard Extended Market ETF	VXF	496.7	0.08
Vanguard Large Cap ETF	VV	376.8	0.07
Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF	VTI	6,236.9	0.07