Vanguard

The firm plans a 0.2% to 0.5% allocation to the products in its global and international fixed-income index portfolios.

Despite the weakest one-year performance, these funds had double-digit annualized returns the past three years.

After expanding into a $7 trillion industry, index funds are facing slower asset growth and declining fee revenue.

The products have already attracted $1.3 billion in new assets this year, more than half what they took in during 2018.

Eleven of the 14 dividend-focused ETFs in existence 10 years ago beat a plain vanilla index fund.

The new product is expected to be the lowest-cost in the category.

The average expense ratio among the poorest performers was 11 basis points lower than the category’s leaders.

The development is part of an intensifying price war and focuses more attention on the specter of zero-fee funds.

The move is a bid to gain more say over what advisors recommend to clients.

Beacon Capital is shifting to the manager’s sector products after volatility late last year prompted it to sell stock funds and hole-up in debt.