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Investment Research Since 1978

Is Your Money with the #1 Online Broker?

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fidelity-investments“No surprises here as Kiplinger’s names Fidelity as the top online broker thanks to its mix of services, investing products, and retirement-planning tools. If you don’t have an account with Fidelity then you’re missing the boat,” I wrote to you in September.

Choosing the right custodian could be one of the easiest, yet most important moves you make as an investor. Choose the right one. As Dick Young wrote in the February 2013 issue of Intelligence Report, it’s very important to choose the best custodian.

Choose the Right Custodian

If you have not switched custody of your assets to either Fidelity or Vanguard, you, unfortunately, are one step behind the curve. With either company, you can buy stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds without the high-pressure sales tactics and bloated commission rates of full-service brokers. If you still have an account open with a full-service broker, now is the time to consolidate.

I have done business with Vanguard since the company’s founding and with the excellent Boston-based Wellington Management since the early seventies. Wellington today manages Wellesley Income and the Wellington Fund for Vanguard. Wellington was Jack Bogle’s home base prior to his founding Vanguard.

As for Fidelity, I have done business with the Boston-based Fidelity Funds since the early seventies, when the iconoclastic J. Stewart Harvey was director of research. And I first did business with Fidelity back in 1971. I have studied the custody market for decades and not once have felt it useful to broaden my acceptable custodian list.

I do not make one move that does not involve either Fidelity or Vanguard. Today, Fidelity is our family investment company’s custodian, since Vanguard exited the custody business for investment management firms such as Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. If you are already at Vanguard and are happy with your service, stay there. If you are unhappy at Vanguard or you are looking for more bells and whistles, such as international trading, give Fidelity a try.

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E.J. Smith

Editor-in-Chief
E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com.