As with the other two firms, Fidelity charges a short-term redemption fee. Roughly 3,700 of these come with no transaction fee, and about half of these products are also no-load funds. The broker’s short-term redemption charge is $49.95 for funds on the second list.Īt Fidelity, we found nearly 10,800 funds using the broker’s screener. Schwab has far fewer funds (less than 5,800) but still manages to offer 3,500 no-load, no-transaction-fee funds. Selling an NTF fund in less than 6 months carries a $49.99 charge. TD Ameritrade provides over 13,000, with 4,200 that carry zero
Now we come to mutual funds, and here too, these three broker-dealers are hard to beat. Overall, the three brokers seem pretty even here. For a $200,000 deposit, you can get stocks in addition to ETF’s and mutual funds and for higher balances, the broker’s fee is only 20 basis points. The charge drops to 50 basis points with more assets.
#SCOTTRADE TRADING PLATFORM AND TD MERGER PLUS#
Although it’s the most costly, Fidelity imposes no minimum balance requirement, a big plus obviously for small investors.įidelity’s old school advisory services start at 1.50% with a $50,000 deposit. The broker’s robot is called Go and costs 0.35%, the most expensive program in our survey. The higher minimum includes a one-on-one partnership with a financial advisor.įinally it’s time to look at Fidelity. TD Ameritrade’s human advisors cost between 60 and 90 basis points with either a $250,000 minimum or a $25,000 option. The percentage goes down with larger balances, reaching just 20 basis points at $1,000,000. Traditional management at Schwab starts at 0.90% with a balance of $25,000. Both of these issues are problematic, so it may be best to try its other account management services.
#SCOTTRADE TRADING PLATFORM AND TD MERGER SOFTWARE#
It also receives income from the ETF’s the software trades. How in the world does Schwab manage to offer it for free? According to our research, the brokerage firm makes money off of free cash balances. The broker’s robo-advisory service is called Intelligent Portfolios,Īnd there is no charge for using it. All three of these big players offer portfolio management services for customers who would rather let the professionals do the groundwork.