Charles Schwab’s asset-management unit said it will cut fees on four index exchange-traded funds and it announced another method to lower costs for investors—it is splitting shares (comparable to a stock split, so the funds will cost less per share) on six Schwab mutual funds. The moves may help Schwab attract more customer dollars as the cost-savings on ETFs will help it compete with other low-cost funds and the share split will make shares more affordable. The fee reductions, which will be effective June 10, are between 0.02 and 0.04 percentage points (or two and four basis points) for each fund. Schwab says the cuts will reduce the cost of all Schwab equity and fixed income market cap-weighted index ETFs to less than 10 basis points. A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point. The operating expense ratio for the Schwab 1000 Index ETF will fall to 0.03% from 0.05%; Schwab International Equity ETF’s expense ratio will decrease to 0.03% from 0.06%; Schwab International Small-Cap Equity ETF’s expense ratio will drop to 0.08% from 0.11%; and Schwab Emerging Markets Equity ETF’s expense ratio will be reduced to 0.07% from 0.11%. The company’s cost-cutting moves come amid ongoing pressure on asset managers to reduce fees to attract investors’ dollars. Earlier this year, Vanguard unveiled sweeping fee cuts on dozens of funds. In that set of cuts, Vanguard lowered the expense ratio for the Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF, an index fund that owns growth stocks, to 0.07% from 0.10%, comparable to some of the Schwab cuts. “Today, we’re taking another important step in advancing our commitment to providing investors with low-cost, high-quality building blocks for a well-diversified portfolio,” says John Sturiale, head of product management and innovation at Schwab Asset Management. Schwab’s forward share splits will increase the number of shares outstanding for certain mutual funds and decrease the net asset value per share, potentially making the funds more accessible to investors. For example, the planned 10-for-one share split for the Schwab 1000 Index Fund will return it to a NAV more closely aligned to its initial share price of $10, according to Schwab. Shares of the fund currently trade around $129. The fund has a total expense ratio of 0.05%. The splits are scheduled to occur Aug. 15 and, in addition to the Schwab 100 Index Fund, include the following funds: Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth Index Fund, Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund, Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund, Schwab U.S. Mid-Cap Index Fund, and Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Value Index Fund.