An avid personal investor said that the average commission, combining both those disclosed and buried of most if not all mutual funds, still works out to 6%. That's why he stays away from mutual funds or money managers, and does it himself.
I'm skeptical of this generalization.
Can anyone comment?
Pretty close if you invest in those loaded fund, particularly DSC/back-end funds that are common to mutual fund and insurance companies.
You may get 10% free switches to the front-end version annually without paying the "penalty" for redemption but the higher MER and trailer fees up to 1% to your advisor will definitely eat up the performance. And you are not necessarily get the service you need and deserve from the advisor.
Simply put, treat DSC & Trailer fees as saturated fats you consumed in McDonalds!
Another option could be you invest in front-end funds and the advisor will get the cut, usually 5% for 1st year and decrease to 0% say 3 years from now. But again you will pay the same trailer fee and high MER.
There're F units mutual funds available at those mutual funds companies that are less expensive but the fee-based,
not fee-only compensation billed by your advisor cancelled whatever the cost you save.
As far as the mutual funds sold at the banks, the bank manufactured funds are no load but beware of those wrap accounts. These are pretty expensive, "over the counter" financial "solutions" solicited by the in branch advisors
without providing much advice according to your specific needs.
BTW, they are inexpensive compared to the segregated funds/variable annuities solicited by your advisors.