Lowest Cost Mutual Funds MER Fees in Canada



TD E-series Low-MER (Management Expense Ratio) Mutual Fund Fees

Are you unhapy with mutual funds that are charging Management Expense Ratios (MERs) of 1% or more, sometimes upwards of 2.5%?

There's no good evidence to prove that higher MERs result in greater returns.

TD has a relatively unadvertised line of mutual funds with exceptionally low MERs. Perhaps the lowest in Canada. 

You can sign up for (or use) a TD Waterhouse account and buy the mutual funds for zero commission. You can also set up a TD Waterhouse mutual fund account, but for TFSAs you'd have to first sign up for the mutual fund account, and then convert it to an E-Series account, which is a pain.

The TD E-Series mutual funds can be purchased for cash accounts, TFSAs, RRSPs, and probably RESPs. 

Compared to ETF MERs, they can be quite competitive, especially when you consider the commission costs of ETFs, and the loss of having dividend payments lying around until you have enough to make a purchase with your dividends. Some people set up a portfolio of ETFs, and then stock the dividend payments into TD E-Series mutual funds until they've acccumulated enough to make a commission worthwhile. 

The TD E-Series mutual funds don't have a very eclectic line of funds, just the basics, but your chances of doing better by picking and choosing a particular sector's mutual fund and doing better than a basic fund are low. 

Be wary of early redemption penalties, and all other policies for TD e-series mutual funds. 

TD E-Series Mutual Funds MER fees:

Look here for Canadian traded ETF MERs

TD e-Series Mutual Funds

e-Series MER

Canadian Index Fund

0.31%

U.S. Index Fund

0.33%

Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Fund

0.31%

U.S. Index Currency Neutral Fund

0.48%

International Index Currency Neutral Fund

0.50%

European Index Fund

0.48%

Japanese Index Fund

0.48%

Nasdaq Index Fund

0.48%

Canadian Bond Index Fund

0.48%

International Index Fund

0.48%

TD e-series mutual funds

Appear to be a great alternative to ETFs for many investors. However, the MER on the one and only fixed income offering in the e-series lineup appears very high cmpared to the equity lineup. what is happening here?

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