Bestinvest says
This was previously a recommended fund, but was downgraded by Bestinvest because the charging structure is no longer competitive. There remains a strong case for using passive funds for US equity exposure, but we suggest investors consider cheaper products such as the HSBC American Index fund.
Passive management (ie index tracking) is a core part of Legal & General's business and hence there is a well resourced and structured team in place. This fund tracks the FTSE World USA Index, which consists of over 600 large and mid sized US equities (minimum market cap around $1bn). L&G use a tracking method they call “pragmatic replication”, meaning they will typically hold all the shares in the index, but may sometimes omit companies on liquidity grounds. Where this happens they will buy a basket of similar shares as an interim measure, aiming to buy the stock itself when the market becomes more liquid.
Much share trading can be crossed within L&G, i.e. stocks are swapped between L&G’s funds without transaction costs. Other transactions are carried out via trading platforms. Where trades have to be carried out via external brokers, L&G believe their size gives them buying power and hence reduces costs.