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VFINX or pretty much any other S&P 500 index fund, no load, 0.14% ER, 1.69% yield. I just don't see any reason for me to own this fund. There are many other dividend-centric funds out there that give you better bang for your buck with the same degree of risk.
For those that currently own Franklin A share funds that they might not be completely satisified with (in most cases) they can do what is called a nav exchange into other Franklin A share funds without paying another sales charge.
The four Franklin funds that I have owned (or currently own) and favor are Franklin Income Fund (FKINX) ... Franklin Strategic Income Fund (FRSTX) ... Franklin Rising Dividends (FRDPX) and Franklin Convertable Securities (FISCX). I have done nav exchanges among all of these from time to time plus there were a few others as well with Franklin Mutual Global Discovery (TEDIX) is another that comes to mind.
Check out the Advisor class shares at Firstrade. Will include a T/F.
Shhh. That's the only way I know to get cheaper FT Advisor class shares - they used to be available through other second tier brokerages. I've been wondering for years when FT would shut down this channel too. More so now that A shares of most funds are being sold NTF through lots of brokerages.
Thanks. Funds that I'd looked at in the past for friends and relatives included Bernstein Short Duration funds (Calif., NY), which were also marketed under Alliance Bernstein (now AB). The AB Advisor shares had similar costs to the Bernstein offerings, while the AB load classes had higher ERs.
My experience with all second (or third) tier brokerages is that their service isn't the greatest. When I use any of them, it's for a limited purpose (such as access to lower cost shares).
Firstrade has an interesting background starting out as a neighborhood brokerage in Flushing, Queens, NYC - with a large Chinese community (somewhat analogous to the Richmond district in San Francisco). 2007 Press Release Invetopedia review/background
I was able to purchase many unusual funds at Think or Swim for less than the required minimum, not sure if they followed the mutual funds requirement as strictly as some other brokerages. I bought positions in FEMDX and SCMVX in my retirement account for less than the required minimum.
Wells Fargo (Traders) used to allow for purchases of some of the FT Advisor shares, but I have not traded there for some time so not sure if they have become more strict on screening purchases.
I used WellsTrade a long time ago to buy FT Advisor shares. Then years ago they severely limited the funds you could buy, going from one of the most open platforms to one of the more limited ones. They also overhauled their website, making it difficult if not impossible to even figure out what was available. And they imposed the highest exit fee I've seen (I think it was $95). Nevertheless I left.
The only off brand brokerage that I think I was happy with was Scudder. For a brief time, 1998-1999 (and with a sufficiently high balance) they provided free trades on all the funds they sold, and as I only vaguely recall, fine service. "Preferred Investment Plus" for taxable accounts, "Retirement Plus" for retirement accounts. Then Zurich/Kemper/Scudder moved the whole operation to DLJDirect, effectively closing it down.
Comments
http://financials.morningstar.com/fund/purchase-info.html?t=FRDPX&Country=usa
For those that currently own Franklin A share funds that they might not be completely satisified with (in most cases) they can do what is called a nav exchange into other Franklin A share funds without paying another sales charge.
The four Franklin funds that I have owned (or currently own) and favor are Franklin Income Fund (FKINX) ... Franklin Strategic Income Fund (FRSTX) ... Franklin Rising Dividends (FRDPX) and Franklin Convertable Securities (FISCX). I have done nav exchanges among all of these from time to time plus there were a few others as well with Franklin Mutual Global Discovery (TEDIX) is another that comes to mind.
You can also get AB shares just like FT. Service though leaves something to be desired.
I must not have checked these out for awhile, as they were liquidated about nine months ago. (You probably posted this and I missed it.)
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/832808/000119312517021341/d331564d497.htm
My experience with all second (or third) tier brokerages is that their service isn't the greatest. When I use any of them, it's for a limited purpose (such as access to lower cost shares).
Firstrade has an interesting background starting out as a neighborhood brokerage in Flushing, Queens, NYC - with a large Chinese community (somewhat analogous to the Richmond district in San Francisco).
2007 Press Release
Invetopedia review/background
I was able to purchase many unusual funds at Think or Swim for less than the required minimum, not sure if they followed the mutual funds requirement as strictly as some other brokerages. I bought positions in FEMDX and SCMVX in my retirement account for less than the required minimum.
Wells Fargo (Traders) used to allow for purchases of some of the FT Advisor shares, but I have not traded there for some time so not sure if they have become more strict on screening purchases.
The only off brand brokerage that I think I was happy with was Scudder. For a brief time, 1998-1999 (and with a sufficiently high balance) they provided free trades on all the funds they sold, and as I only vaguely recall, fine service. "Preferred Investment Plus" for taxable accounts, "Retirement Plus" for retirement accounts. Then Zurich/Kemper/Scudder moved the whole operation to DLJDirect, effectively closing it down.