Q: Can ETFs be bought from any broker?
A: Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs for short, are one of the biggest innovations to benefit investors in decades. One of the big draws is that ETFs can be bought just about anywhere that you buy stock.
One of the easiest places to buy ETFs is from online brokerage firms. Like mutual funds, ETFs are investments that own a claim to a basket of assets. But unlike mutual funds, ETFs are traded like stocks and they trade on regulated exchanges.
Due to their unique structure, ETFs can be purchased at any online brokerage firm.
There's a catch though. Since ETFs are stocks, investors who buy them will often incur the same commissions charged to buy standard stocks. If your broker would charge you $10 to buy shares of General Electric, then that same commission might apply to your purchase, and sale, of an ETF. This is very different than mutual funds, which can often be bought with no trading commission from the fund family.
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Keep in mind
that most of the big online brokers, including TD Ameritrade, Fidelity and Charles Schwab, provide a array of ETFs that are exempt from
normal commission and can be bought and sold with no commission. If you plan to mostly invest in ETFs, look into these deals since they can save you quite a bit of money over time.
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