Any comments/ advice on using e-trade or a simular company for mutual funds or stock trading. I currenty hold with TD, I dont hold any ETF's, Ive wanted to because of the lower MER cost, but am nervous about not dealing with a person directly, I worry that my info could be stolen or loose my investments from some kind of online vulnerability. I would like any info anyone has on the service that companies like etrade provide as well, with TD everything is easy, but I like diversity and a good bang for my buck.
E trade or similar companies
- Thread starter sexy girl
- Start date
You need to understand (if you do not understand already) what investments you want to hold, which will then dictate which type of institution you deal with.
If ETFs are the way to go, then you need to go through a broker. Generally, all brokerages (especially those belonging to a Big 5 Bank) are reputable and trustworthy. You can set up an account that does not have online access, but you will pay commissions of around 3 times of what you would pay if you did everything online.
If ETFs are the way to go, then you need to go through a broker. Generally, all brokerages (especially those belonging to a Big 5 Bank) are reputable and trustworthy. You can set up an account that does not have online access, but you will pay commissions of around 3 times of what you would pay if you did everything online.
I would avoid etrade, they appear to be having some finacial difficulties and may be bought by TD/Ameritrade...
Right now I Have 3 or 4 index funds, which could be e funds as they are available through the bank, I am a little secptical because TDs disclaimer says there site is safe ect but may not necessarly provide coverage of any fraudulent activity, I imagine there should be no real worry. I have a number of other funds which do have high MERs, and peoples suggestions that you can purches other funds from different companies and do just as well, ..I dont know, alot of these funds do well (TD) and if I pay attention and purchase wisely I'm thinking it should most often be worth the higher fees. I would like to open a brokerage account soon, TD Waterhouse seems to provide excellent service but at a relativley high cost. I would like to invest through another company as well, but Im not sure of anyother.scrooge said:
online discount brokers
Hello,
Basically, if you are a do-it-yourselfer and you want to avoid the MER, then owning the common shares of publicly traded companies yourself is the way to go.
Some public companies offer a Shareholder Purchasing Plan (SPP) where you can made additional purchases of common shares without paying any commission charges. Some public companies also offer a Dividend Re-investment Plan (DRIP) which allows you to re-invest the dividends to buy more shares each quarters. The only catch is that you must register the shares in your name (for a small fee). When you buy from an online discount broker the shares are registered under a "street name." The "street name" allows the broker to quickly buy and sell your shares under your instructions.
Here are the following prime online discount brokers in Canada:
1)InvestorLine (part of Bank of Montreal)
2)Invesor's Edge (part of CIBC)
3)TD Waterhouse (part of TD Canada Trust)
4)RBC Direct Investing (part of RBC bank)
Below are the lessor competitors (meaning not as well known to the general public):
5)Trade Freedom
6)Questrade
7)Etrade
M91US
Hello,
Basically, if you are a do-it-yourselfer and you want to avoid the MER, then owning the common shares of publicly traded companies yourself is the way to go.
Some public companies offer a Shareholder Purchasing Plan (SPP) where you can made additional purchases of common shares without paying any commission charges. Some public companies also offer a Dividend Re-investment Plan (DRIP) which allows you to re-invest the dividends to buy more shares each quarters. The only catch is that you must register the shares in your name (for a small fee). When you buy from an online discount broker the shares are registered under a "street name." The "street name" allows the broker to quickly buy and sell your shares under your instructions.
Here are the following prime online discount brokers in Canada:
1)InvestorLine (part of Bank of Montreal)
2)Invesor's Edge (part of CIBC)
3)TD Waterhouse (part of TD Canada Trust)
4)RBC Direct Investing (part of RBC bank)
Below are the lessor competitors (meaning not as well known to the general public):
5)Trade Freedom
6)Questrade
7)Etrade
M91US
You will be far better off buying ETFs (MER=0.25% to 0.5%)
or even better if you are willing to do a little homework try
http://www.shareowner.com/index.html
or even better if you are willing to do a little homework try
http://www.shareowner.com/index.html
True but there is no way that you will get the same level of diversification as with an ETF.m91us said:
OP, I used to be with TDWaterhouse and I switched over to E*Trade earlier this summer primarily because I wanted to convert all of my RRSP's mutual fund holdings over to ETFs. I'm not concerned about the safety of my funds since I've never heard of E*Trade accounts being compromised or any other financial services company as far as I can recall.
As for whether or not E*Trade goes bankrupt or is bought out...meh, who cares? It's not as if your funds are going to be snapped up by the buyer or creditors.
I ment with etrade, its hard to get info about pricing and the peformance of there funds without registering, maybe you can but I havent found much info. Im thinking if you average everything out there problably isnt a huge difference in the fees of any e funds because they need to be competitive.danmand said:
Yes Ive been meaning to try them since somebody first suggested them to me,JohnLarue said:
I'll just have to cut that check and lick that stamp. Now that I think of it, I was concerned I might not be investing enough to start with a $240. fee right off the bat. There website has changed alot since a few months ago, Its not as clear as it was before.I went with E*Trade primarily because their fees (at that time) was much better than what TDWaterhouse was giving me. I don't know anything about their ETF or index fund selection.sexy girl said:
Regarding your concern about the performance of the ETFs or index funds that E*Trade carries, you'd be very surprised that the information you get as a non-customer is about the same as a customer! LOL!
The best that you can do is to note the ETFs/index funds that E*Trade lists and then go to the various companies such as Barclays that are the sponsors/owners of the funds. There, you can check on the performance but it should mirror almost exactly that of the indexes that they are based upon.
Have you seen this commission comparison website? http://www.ndir.com/cgi-bin/tally2.cgi?Shares=1&Price=50sexy girl said:
I think you are onto something. The first thing I would decide on is whether you own the underlying stocks directly vs. ETFs/mutual funds. If your portfolio is sizeable enough, you can diversify your portfolio directly and avoid the MER's altogether. (Another poster has mentioned something along the same lines.)
It has been shown in research that almost all mutual fund portfolio managers cannot outperform the market in the long run. If that is true, it would make sense to invest in an index-tracking ETF like the ones offered by Barclays Canada: www.ishares.ca. To trade these, you need a brokerage account.
I am also not sure if your worry about security is warranted. The disclaimer you cited from TD is pretty standard amongst all brokerages. Even if you had an account with no online access, someone can also place trades on your account with your account number and password (of course these conversations are taped, etc.). Assuming the technology holds up at these brokerages, trading online will be a much cheaper option and, more importantly, online orders are often filled even before you can get through to a live broker.
