Collective Investment Trusts

[stuper1]

I need to make a decision for my 401k plan.  There is an S&P500 index fund available called the Vanguard Employee Benefit Index Fund, and it has a super low expense ratio of 0.01%.  Unfortunately, it is actually a collective investment trust.  I've read some disparaging comments about such trusts on this forum.  Apparently, they are less transparent than a mutual fund or ETF, and potentially could be involved in some financial shenanigans that could hurt performance.

Alternatively, I could transfer this money to my self-directed account and invest it in a S&P500 index fund ETF like VOO with an expense ratio of 0.05%.  The only other fee involved would be a $9.95 fee per trade, but I only trade about once a year, so that's not really an issue.

Does anyone on this forum have any advice for me on whether it's better to pay the higher expense ratio to avoid the possible shenanigans with the collective investment trust.

[Libertarian666]

I need to make a decision for my 401k plan.  There is an S&P500 index fund available called the Vanguard Employee Benefit Index Fund, and it has a super low expense ratio of 0.01%.  Unfortunately, it is actually a collective investment trust.  I've read some disparaging comments about such trusts on this forum.  Apparently, they are less transparent than a mutual fund or ETF, and potentially could be involved in some financial shenanigans that could hurt performance.

Alternatively, I could transfer this money to my self-directed account and invest it in a S&P500 index fund ETF like VOO with an expense ratio of 0.05%.  The only other fee involved would be a $9.95 fee per trade, but I only trade about once a year, so that's not really an issue.

Does anyone on this forum have any advice for me on whether it's better to pay the higher expense ratio to avoid the possible shenanigans with the collective investment trust.

I would say that the difference between 0.01% and 0.05% is significant only if you are a Boglehead. 

So I would go with the simpler fund.