The table below presents The Skilled Investor’s Fund Authority Score and other information for the DWS S&P 500 Index Fund (SXPAX).
The Scudder Equity 500 Index Fund (BTIEX) and the DWS S&P 500 Index Fund (SXPAX)
The Skilled Investor has published an article about lower cost S&P 500 index mutual funds that you can read, which is entitled: Low Cost S&P 500 Index Mutual Funds. Based on a research article by John A. Haslem, H. Kent Baker, and David M. Smith published in the March/April 2007 Journal of Indexes (pages 34-38), this article listed lower cost S & P 500 index funds. The Scudder Equity 500 Index Fund (BTIEX) was on that list of lower cost funds.
While at one time, the Scudder Equity 500 Index Fund (BTIEX), may have been a low cost fund, currently it does not seem to be available for investments by smaller investors. Putting together information from reports on the SEC Edgar system, it seems that when Scudder owned this index mutual fund, investors could purchase S Class shares for an initial investment of $10,000 or perhaps less.
In early 2005, Scudder became part of DWS Scudder, which is a part of the Deutsche Bank Group international financial conglomerate. The Scudder Equity 500 Index Fund (BTIEX) now is known as the DWS Equity 500 Index Fund (BTIEX). While S Class shares continue to exist with a .3% annual expense ratio, they are not available to new investors. Instead, one can purchase Institutional Class Shares that have a .21% annual fee, however you need a cool $1,000,000 to deposit with DWS.
What are small investors to do, if they want to buy a Standard and Poors 500 index fund from DWS Scudder?
Well, an investor could buy shares in the DWS S&P 500 Index Fund (SXPAX), if they have at least $2,500 for a taxable account. S Class shares also exist in this SXPAX index fund, and they carry a .45% annual expense ratio. However, again they are no longer available to new investors. Instead, through an advisor, investors could purchase Class A, Class B, and Class C shares in the DWS S&P 500 Index Fund (SXPAX). A Class shares have a maximum front-end load of 4.5% and a .64% annual fee.
The June 30, 2007 DWS S&P 500 Index Fund (SXPAX) semiannual report states that: “For Class B shares, the maximum contingent deferred sales charge [...]