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As retail investors pile into the investing arena, Interactive Brokers says it has launched a mutual fund marketplace with more than 25,000 global funds, including about 21,000 with no loads and 8,300 with no transaction fees.
The funds come from nearly 300 fund families and can be traded by residents of 200-plus countries. Interactive Brokers says it will continue its policy of not charging custody fees.
Interactive Brokers' new fund lineup gives U.S. clients access to some 6,400 funds with no loads or loads waived and 4,300 funds with no transaction fees; other funds are available at $14.95 per trade. It works with 290 fund families worldwide.
Larger rival Charles Schwab, for instance, has about 7,350 no-load funds, and about 4,300 funds with no transaction fees; it works with over 710 fund families in the U.S.
The news comes amid a flurry of activity by DIY investors. In April, Interactive Brokers added 46,000 new accounts, while in March it had a record number of cleared trades.
"The Interactive Brokers Mutual Fund Marketplace is now the largest, single source of no-load mutual funds," according to Steve Sanders, executive vice president of marketing and product development. "Our marketplace also has lower costs, if not the lowest, on our massive inventory of mutual funds."
