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Splitting Accounts Over Several Brokerage Firms

Posted on 1/22/19 at 6:51 pm
Posted by OleWarSkuleAlum
Huntsville, AL
Member since Dec 2013
10293 posts
Posted on 1/22/19 at 6:51 pm
Say you hold the vast majority of your investments in a single company i.e. Vanguard. You come into a lot of money via a windfall. At what $ value do you begin to spread out your investments across several brokerage firms (a portion in Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab as an example)?
Posted by lynxcat
Member since Jan 2008
24204 posts
Posted on 1/22/19 at 6:59 pm to
There is technically some brokerage firm risk but if a firm like Vanguard goes under then the world is ending. It would be chaos at a level never seen before.

I am “diversified” across a number of brokerages but that was not really intentional...different retirements accounts in different brokerages across the years.
Posted by Shepherd88
Member since Dec 2013
4595 posts
Posted on 1/22/19 at 7:02 pm to
There is no such thing as being “diversified” across multiple brokerage firms. Especially if you’re seeking advice from each. You wouldn’t want to go see several different doctors for the same medical issue?

My motto is, have all your chickens on the same farm so you make sure all your eggs aren’t in the same basket.
Posted by OleWarSkuleAlum
Huntsville, AL
Member since Dec 2013
10293 posts
Posted on 1/22/19 at 7:09 pm to
quote:

There is no such thing as being “diversified” across multiple brokerage firms. Especially if you’re seeking advice from each. You wouldn’t want to go see several different doctors for the same medical issue?


I’m not talking about AA. I’m talking about brokerage risk spread across different companies. As an example say someone has ~750k in VG and 30+ years to retirement (so account will grow) and they are receiving a windfall of 1.5M. Would it be wise to park that 1.5M in Fidelity to offset some of that risk?
Posted by Mingo Was His NameO
Brooklyn
Member since Mar 2016
25455 posts
Posted on 1/22/19 at 7:13 pm to
quote:

I’m talking about brokerage risk spread across different companies. As an example say someone has ~750k in VG and 30+ years to retirement (so account will grow) and they are receiving a windfall of 1.5M. Would it be wise to park that 1.5M in Fidelity to offset some of that risk?


He just answered that, it seems you just didn't like it
Posted by OleWarSkuleAlum
Huntsville, AL
Member since Dec 2013
10293 posts
Posted on 1/22/19 at 7:18 pm to
quote:

He just answered that, it seems you just didn't like it


No he didn’t frickhead. He’s talking about AA across several companies which I’m not asking about. I’m asking about avoiding brokerage risk. Not market risk. You’re such a ducking idiot you wouldn’t understand that though. Continue to follow me around everywhere and slurp up my leftovers.
Posted by foshizzle
Washington DC metro
Member since Mar 2008
40599 posts
Posted on 1/22/19 at 7:20 pm to
When you say you have money with a particular firm, what do you mean exactly?

If you have all your money in Schwab accounts, but invested in non-Schwab funds, then do you really have any "brokerage risk"?

All Schwab is doing in this scenario is being a middleman. If you own a Vanguard fund, a PIMCO fund, and a Schwab fund, all within your Schwab account, then you're already diversified with respect to firm.
Posted by OleWarSkuleAlum
Huntsville, AL
Member since Dec 2013
10293 posts
Posted on 1/22/19 at 7:22 pm to
quote:

There is technically some brokerage firm risk but if a firm like Vanguard goes under then the world is ending. It would be chaos at a level never seen before


Yeah that’s what I figured. I guess it would be useful in case VG gets hacked and you lose account access for awhile you still have access to the 2nd companies account.
Posted by OleWarSkuleAlum
Huntsville, AL
Member since Dec 2013
10293 posts
Posted on 1/22/19 at 7:23 pm to
quote:

When you say you have money with a particular firm, what do you mean exactly? If you have all your money in Schwab accounts, but invested in non-Schwab funds, then do you really have any "brokerage risk"?


In this case the 700k is in VG and 100% in VG MF’s.
Posted by Mingo Was His NameO
Brooklyn
Member since Mar 2016
25455 posts
Posted on 1/22/19 at 7:31 pm to
quote:

You’re such a ducking idiot you wouldn’t understand that though. Continue to follow me around everywhere and slurp up my leftovers.


Are you upset because you were wrong or because you ate some bread tonight? Or both?
Posted by Jag_Warrior
Virginia
Member since May 2015
4135 posts
Posted on 1/22/19 at 7:55 pm to
If you're a very active or pro day trader, you might do this to avoid/alleviate margin call risk. But outside of special situations (mainly involving heavy traders), there's no real advantage that I can think of. But even in that case, unless you have adequate funds to spread your accounts between firms and still be able to position size, you're probably hurting yourself more than you're helping.

I mean, as long as you're talking about majors which have trillions under management, and you're primarily talking about retirement or investment accounts (not active traders employing options, futures, etc.), the risk is minimal.
Posted by athenslife101
Member since Feb 2013
18613 posts
Posted on 1/22/19 at 8:04 pm to
From an institutional investing side, you will still see only 1/2 brokerages. If it’s a specialty basket, you might choose a 3rd.

If I had money, I might split it up, but more as a management principle than anything else.
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