# Low MER index funds available to CIBC Investor's Edge



## resmoreca (Mar 4, 2010)

Does anyone know what low cost index fund lines are available to CIBC Investor's Edge accounts? I don't think ETFs make sense for the size of the contributions I'll be making. I'll be contributing about $500 per month and the portfolio I'm transfering in is for about 40,000.

Can I only get the TD eSeries funds if I have a TD Waterhouse account? I've tried talking to TD but the reps I keep getting don't seem to have a clue about if I can buy them or not. Are there other options? I've heard Claymore and BMO, but are those available to CIBC?

I'm really just looking for a Canadian Index, US Index, World Index, and Bond Index. Lowest MER possible is what I'm after.


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## PMREdmonton (Apr 6, 2009)

You can buy TD index funds with lowish MERs through most discount brokerages. TD eseries is only available through the TD online investor's account and so is not typically offered through other means (branches, telephone, etc.).


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

What you can do is take the difference in fees over $40k. If it's, say, 0.3% difference in MER, then that adds up to $120 a year. That's equivalent to 24 trades per year on Questrade. Of course, rather than buying every fund every month, you could buy the most-underweight fund each month or two (leave the monthly contributions in cash until each purchase). This should not meaningfully affect long-term portfolio performance.


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

PMREdmonton said:


> You can buy TD index funds with lowish MERs through most discount brokerages. TD eseries is only available through the TD online investor's account and so is not typically offered through other means (branches, telephone, etc.).


E-series is offered to everyone, it's just a pain in the butt to apply and get processed. The low fee MER's are offered because it's supposed to be a "do it your self" thing with no support from the branches of telebanking. However there are several ways around it:

Go into TD branch and open a normal mutual funds account. Don't give them a penny. Go home, print this conversion form out, snail mail it and voila. 

Another method:
Open waterhouse account. Buy eseries funds from selection list. Also note that waterhouse will charge you a fee for RRSP under 25K. However with my TFSA, it's no fee; I just signed up for e-statements. (e series that is)


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## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

I believe that CIBC reduces their MER for their index funds once you reach $500k in assets. Otherwise, they are in the 1% range.


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## resmoreca (Mar 4, 2010)

Jungle said:


> E-series is offered to everyone, it's just a pain in the butt to apply and get processed. The low fee MER's are offered because it's supposed to be a "do it your self" thing with no support from the branches of telebanking. However there are several ways around it:
> 
> Go into TD branch and open a normal mutual funds account. Don't give them a penny. Go home, print this conversion form out, snail mail it and voila.
> 
> ...


But in the end, it's only available to TD clients, correct?


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## resmoreca (Mar 4, 2010)

FrugalTrader said:


> I believe that CIBC reduces their MER for their index funds once you reach $500k in assets. Otherwise, they are in the 1% range.


Do you know of fund families with low MER index funds that are available to discount brokerages? I ask because it is sounding like eSeries isn't.


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## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

From my experience, PH&N funds are fairly low cost, but may require a bit more initial investment. TD e-series have the lowest MER that I've found for index funds. Otherwise, I would accumulate cash and purchase index ETF's.


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

FrugalTrader said:


> PH&N funds are fairly low cost, but may require a bit more initial investment.


PH&N are certainly a good alternative. They often have several families (A,B,C,D) of funds with different minimum initial investments. The D-series is typically have the lowest fees, but often require $5000-$10000 initial investment. Subsequent investments can be small ($100).

Worthwhile to look at if you can get into the lower cost families.


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## goertzen (Nov 18, 2009)

Take a peek here...

http://canadiancouchpotato.com/canadian-index-funds/

Dan.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

Very informative site. So TD e-series funds are available through other brokerages, but in different series with higher MER's.

It's also nice to see RBC's MER's have gradually come down. They started at 1.00 when they first opened their index funds.


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## Canadian Couch Potato (Mar 6, 2010)

resmoreca: It's Dan from Canadian Couch Potato. I am working on an article for MoneySense about starting a Couch Potato portfolio with a small investment. We'll be answering the exact questions you're asking here. Would love to chat with you if you're interested. I'm at [email protected]

Many thanks!


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## resmoreca (Mar 4, 2010)

Will do, I look forward to your article.


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