Charles Schwab and Fidelity got themselves into a price war. Then TD Ameritrade Institutional decided to join.
We the customers are the winner.
Bull in a China Shop
Fiduciary Rule or not, the commission-based business model of broker-dealers is under pressure. Today the Wall Street Journal reports that Merrill Lynch is moving away from commissions and lowering its maximum advisory fee by 18.5% for the 20% of its advisory clients which have sub-$1 million accounts. But at 2.2% of assets, Merrill Lynch's maximum advisory fee is still extremely high.
