Increased fees can cost hundreds of thousands of crowns

According to the Association of Fund Companies, Swedes reached a record level last year with new savings of SEK 202 billion.

But now the financial regulator is warning that higher fees can erode profits.

– Many people find it difficult to know what they are paying for and what differences there are in fund fees, says consumer protection economist Moa Langemark.

FI has, with help The Morningstar service calculated that the average fee for global index funds was 0.4 percent last quarter. This is twice as much as Swedish index funds.

The difference to actively managed funds is large; the average fee here is 1.3 percent.

– Fees have a bigger impact on savings than many people think. In the long term, a difference of a few percentage points could lead to hundreds of thousands of crowns disappearing in fees, says Moa Langemark.

At the same time, it is difficult to predict how the stock market will perform, and if the return is higher, a higher fee may be worthwhile.

– Compare your fund fee with what is typical for this type of fund. It’s a simple control that makes a big difference, demands Moa Langemark.

She recommends several different indices to spread the risk.

– You must also be aware that when investing in a fund with exposure to other countries, you must consider currency risk. How the Swedish krona moves affects your chances of making returns.

Stefan Westerberg, Private economist at Länsförsäkringar found that people had more money to invest in the stock market.

But it is clear that many Swedes have turned their backs on the United States as savings in North American stocks fell by SEK 57 billion last year.

– It’s a very big deduction. We have never seen anything like this since the measurement period began in 2010, he says.

Stefan Westerberg believes that many acted out of affection against US President Donald Trump’s policies and that the result has increased uncertainty about the values ​​of many American companies.

However, the whole thing becomes somewhat contradictory because the inflow into the global funds, which are heavily focused on the USA, increased by over SEK 160 billion.

Stefan Westerberg believes that many Swedes have large savings in global funds, but at the same time have opened their eyes to exposure to the US. Something he suggested may have contributed to the outflows from U.S. funds to create better diversification of savings.

Much of the money flowed to Europe, which increased by almost 50 billion.

“It was better to have the money in Europe and Sweden because the strong krona caused the yield in the US to fall,” notes Stefan Westerberg.

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