I was speaking to a Washington regulator the other day about how to best help retirement investors when the conversation eventually turned to the E*Trade ad campaign controversy. Don't get me wrong. We both loved the talking baby. Heck, it will forever be my daughter's favorite element in any Super Bowl commercial. No. This particular question dealt with the whole idea of whether E*Trade has crossed some Marquis of Queensberry line when it came to taking on the competition.
It's not like we're the only one talking about this. Financial professionals are livid (see "Finance Pros Sound Off on E*Trade Ad Controversy," FiduciaryNews.com, February 20, 2013) albeit for different reasons. Some feel E*Trade's claim that the discount broker charges lower fees is exaggerated. In fact, a look at E*Trade's fee schedule by Roger Wohlner in his blog ""E*Trade's Fee Commercials – Informative or Misleading?" (The Chicago Financial Planner, February 18, 2013) shows this quite clearly.
But the topic of my chat with the regulator focused on the "hidden fees" claim. While E*Trade appears to be indicting its competitors for charging "hidden fees," it does so in the face of collecting 12b-1 fees itself.
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Christopher Carosa
Chris Carosa has been writing a weekly article and monthly column for BenefitsPRO online and BenefitsPRO Magazine since 2011 and is a nationally recognized award-winning writer, researcher and speaker. He’s written seven books, including From Cradle to Retire: The Child IRA; Hey! What’s My Number? – How to Increase the Odds You Will Retire in Comfort; A Pizza The Action: Everything I Ever Learned About Business I Learned By Working in a Pizza Stand at the Erie County Fair; and the widely acclaimed 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions. Carosa is also Chief Contributing Editor of the authoritative trade journal FiduciaryNews.com and publisher of the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, a weekly community newspaper he founded in 1989. Currently serving as President of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and with more than 1,000 articles published in various publications, he appears regularly in the national media. A “parallel” entrepreneur, he actively runs a handful of businesses, including a small boutique investment adviser, providing hands-on experience for his writing. A trained astrophysicist, he also holds an MBA and has been designated a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor. Share your thoughts and story ideas with him through Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christophercarosa/)and Twitter (https://twitter.com/ChrisCarosa).
