I am in the final stages of selecting a new custodian and I'm rethinking my long-time belief in diversification.
On the custodian front, I have spoken with six and have viewed a Web demo from four. There are pros and cons with each and a lot of different points to remember. To avoid confusion, I created a spreadsheet to keep track of their answers on various issues. These issues include the charge for buying and selling investments, reporting capabilities, the breadth of product offerings, etc. The charge for investing ranges from a low of $7 to a high of $35. Most of them, but surprisingly not all, include cost basis on their statements.
The extensiveness of products also differs. One firm has a total of 10,000 mutual funds, 2,200 with no transaction fees (NTF), while another has 16,000 with 10,000 NTF funds. Once I make my final selection, I'll let you know who I've chosen and why. If you'd like to know more, send me an email and I'll provide you with the details.
