That is why I have chosen etrade. Since I joined them I was able to take control of my investment and I get more value for my money. I also got to join a trading network where I gained useful unbiased market insights and analysis from the pros for free!

The staggering cost of conflict of interest

is based on a true story.

As for the objection overcoming training haha, there have been many session spend on that maybe i’ll have a post on this topic.

I think a 2% or 2.5% for a 2 yr deferred sales charge is ridiculously high. For example, holding a 2.5% MER fund for 2 years would give the fund company a 5% of invested assets assuming there is very little fluctuation in the fund price. The two yr deferred sales charge with .5% annual trailing commission means that a total of 3% to 3.5% of invested assets is paid to the brokerage, translating to 1.5% to 1.75% annually of invested assets. while the fund company only get 1.5% to 2% of invested assets, translating to .75% to 1% annually. I always thought that the Canadian mutual fund industry is greedy, but by this analysis, it is the brokerage firms who are greedy.

The way I see it, there are very few good commission based investment solutions in Canada. The ones that I think off my head is Philip Hager & North C series, Claymore Advisor Series, some of the big bank’s funds like RBC Monthly Income A series, and CIBC Index Funds (for those who has 150,000 to invest in them). Do you have any other good ones to add?

I think a good fee based approach is to charge .5% asset management fee and using the F series fund or ETF for the clients. Philip Hager & North has a very good F series from my own analysis. On top of .5% asset management fee, the broker should be able to make money off insurance commissions. As a result, this scenario still allows the broker to make decent money.

I am interesting in hearing what they taught you at “objection overcoming” courses to deal with those who question the system.

Fee-based advisors can be very expensive for those with small portfolios and not complex needs.

for a 2 yr DSC fund generally it is between 2 and 2.5%, the trailer fees will increase after the 2 year period for equity funds trailer fees are generally about 1%. but there arent many 2 yr low load funds, most are usually 3 yrs.