Key insights
- An investor is considering moving their portfolio from RBC Wealth Management to a zero-fee brokerage like Fidelity or Schwab due to high transaction fees and a desire for more control over investment decisions. The investor values the personal service at RBC but questions whether it justifies the cost. The potential impact on U.S. equities is slightly negative, reflecting a potential shift away from traditional wealth management towards self-directed investing, which could reduce trading volumes at full-service firms.
My family has dealt with our local RBC Wealth Management (USA) office for decades (going back through other pre merger companies). I like the office and my broker, but I feel like I make a lot of my investment decisions myself and I feel like I do a decent, thoughtful job of it. Also, my long term brokerjust passed away. He was somewhat of an icon in our mid size town. Note that I have a smaller fidelity account that I also use to invest in stocks. Of course it is no fee, vs. the 2% or so I pay my broker for each transaction. Since I am comfortable making my own investment decisions (for better or worse, but most work out for the better), I am thinking about moving the portfolio over the a 0% fee company like Fidelity etc.BTW, I have my retirement savings (rollover IRA) at Vanguard an I am happy with them for that, but I don't think they are really setup for regular investment transactions (I do some investments in stock there using my retirement funds, but I find it kind of slow and kludgy). I am a longer term investor not a flipper/day trader type. How much hassle would it be for me to move my investments? What is the process (yes I could call Fidelity and ask, but I want real world info). Is it worth it even though I won't have someone to bounce my ideas off of-although that is not a major consideration for me (or should I give that more consideration). Like I say, I get really good service from the office/staff, but I don't know if it is worth the thousands of dollars I wind up paying over time. Thanks