In the so-called exchange traded fund fee war, traders are voting with their feet, turning to low-cost investment options and commission-free trading platforms.
ETF Trends’ Tom Lydon sat down with, Beth Flynn, Vice President of ETF platform management, Charles Schwab, at the Morningstar ETF Invest Conference in Chicago earlier this month to discuss investor habits and trends the brokerage firm is seeing. [Schwab Sees Significant Third-Quarter ETF Growth]
“There are a lot of inherent benefits to the ETF vehicle,” Flynn said. “But when we asked investors, ‘what are the most important factors in making a decision around which ETFs to invest in?’ Cost comes out as number one.”
Keeping in line with the low-cost theme, Schwab launched the OneSource ETF platform earlier this year and allowed investors to execute commission-free trades on a number of ETFs from a range of providers. [Schwab Adds Commission-Free ETFs to OneSource Lineup]
“Commissions are definitely a barrier to purchasing,” Flynn added. “That was one of the things that prompted the launch of ETF OneSource.”
Watch the video below to see the full interview with Beth Flynn.
To view past video interviews, visit our videos section.