MER stands for “Management Expense Ratio”, and it’s the percentage charged to the fund’s value for managing and operating the fund. So, if your best friend George invested in a fund with a 6% return before fees over the last year, and his fund had an MER of 1%, then George’s money will have earned approximately 5%. MERs can vary widely, from less than 1% to more than 3% Typically, a fund that requires a lot of complex management will have a higher MER, compared to a fund that is less complex.

You don’t pay the management fee directly. This is charged to the mutual fund and reduces the returns you receive. Each of our mutual fund’s expenses are made up of the management fee, underlying fund fees and expenses, and operating expenses, including trading costs. The annual management fee is 1.3% (plus applicable taxes) of the mutual fund’s value. The average weighted cost of the underlying fund fees and expenses is up to  0.20% (including applicable taxes) of the mutual fund’s value. The underlying funds’ fees are calculated using the mutual fund’s target asset mix and the underlying exchange traded funds’ management expense ratios.  As these are new mutual funds, the operating expenses and trading cost are not yet available.