The world’s second-largest asset manager has slashed the cost of fund investing, in a record move that is expected to save investors more than $350 million this year alone.

Vanguard Group (VOO), one of the world's largest ETF issuers, announced it is reducing fees on 168 mutual funds and ETF-related share classes, potentially saving investors over $350 million this year.

Malvern-based Vanguard is pricing active funds cheaper as it competes with Schwab, Fidelity, and other mass-market money managers.

The Pennsylvania-based fund giant stands to gain ground against rivals such as BlackRock while earning more goodwill from retail investors.

Vanguard is already a dominant player in equity investing, thanks to its enormous index-tracking funds and relatively low-cost active funds. It runs the world’s largest investment fund, a $1.78tn behemoth that tracks the entire US market, and its S&P 500 ETF is the world’s second-largest and closing in on the market leader.

Vanguard Group Inc.’s biggest salvo yet in its campaign to cut fees for the investing masses presents industry rivals with a painful choice. Follow suit and lose potentially hundreds of millions in revenue — or hold the line and risk losing badly needed market share.

Vanguard made headlines by touting what it called “our largest-ever reduction in expense ratios.” The asset manager known for rock-bottom costs, said it was reducin