Finance & Money · 基金费率（Expense Ratio） · Updated 2026-10-25
What Is Expense Ratio?
Definition
The expense ratio = (management + custody + distribution fees) ÷ fund assets, accrued daily and already reflected in NAV — no separate bill, but it charges every day. Index funds run 0.15-0.5%, active funds 1.2-1.5%: at 7% annualized, a 1.5%-fee product ends 30 years roughly 25% below a 0.5% one. Fees are among the few knowable variables in fund selection — returns are unpredictable, fees are printed in black and white.
Formula
Terminal ratio = ((1+r−f1)/(1+r−f2))^n
Worked Example
100k principal, 7% gross, 30 years: at 0.5% fees → 574k; at 1.5% → 432k. The extra 1% in fees consumed 142k — more than the principal.
Common Misconception
"Fees don't matter if returns are good" — past returns don't persist (top funds mean-revert), but fees are 100% certain to be deducted. And don't read only the management fee: subscription/redemption fees and C-class daily distribution fees all belong in the total.
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