Fund managers face shrinking fees as ETFs spur price war

London

A DECADE ago, running an emerging market fund meant travelling to faraway lands, taking big risks on high-yielding assets - and being rewarded with some of the highest fees in the industry.

These days the risks, and rewards, have shrunk. Competition is rising from passive funds able to generate similar returns at a fraction of the cost, and money managers are finding it increasingly difficult to justify charges 50 per cent higher than those of their developed world peers.

"When we started out, we were the only game in town - we could revel in being exclusive and have clients come to us and pay the fees we were asking for," Mark Mobius, …