From: BreadWithSpam@fractious.net
Newsgroups: misc.invest.financial-plan
Subject: Re: Brokers - What's the Attraction?
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 13:44:08 CST
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"Elizabeth Richardson"  writes:

> In several threads recently, people have said they have mutual funds in
> brokerage accounts. Except for 401k accounts, I deal with the mutual fund
> company directly. Why would I want, instead, to deal with a broker?

Consolidation - all in one place.
Liquidity - easy transfer to/from cash, access through brokerage.
Rebalancing - adjusting allocation amongst several funds
     is a lot easier if they're all in one place.
Recordkeeping - one statement.
Tax reporting - one set of tax documents.
Access - not all mutual fund companies even *have* useful
     online presences.

Downside: nothing's free.  funds in NTF programs do pay
     the brokerages for their inclusion.  Funds accessible
     through brokers which may be no-load if dealing with
     the fund company directly may charge transaction fees
     with the brokerage (particularly low-cost funds which
     refuse to pay brokerages large percentages of their
     management fees).


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