TD Ameritrade AUM: Total Assets Under Management
TD Ameritrade is one of the largest and best-known brokerage firms in the United States. You may be interested
to know just how big the company is. The answer, as it turns out, is pretty enormous.
More specifically, the broker-dealer has the following numbers:
At last count, TD Ameritrade was estimated to have more than $1,300,000,000,000 in client assets. That’s a
trillion dollars (one thousand billion dollars) in case you’re seeing too many zeroes to count. This makes
TD Ameritrade one of the largest brokerage houses in the world. According to its most recent annual report
filed with the SEC, the exact figure is $1,327,700,000,000. This represents a steady growth from $774 billion
in 2017. The broker has received billions of dollars every year in new client assets for several years in a
row, a sign that the company is doing a good job of building its brand.
Because TD Ameritrade doesn’t manage its own selection of mutual funds and ETFs, the trillion-dollar figure represents assets from across a variety of TD Ameritrade accounts invested in securities, funds, as well as forex and futures. Accounts include taxable and retirement accounts plus more esoteric varieties like trusts and estates. A thousand dollars invested in Facebook stock in a TD Ameritrade IRA would count towards the trillion-dollar figure.
The phrase “assets under management” usually refers to assets actively managed in funds. Since TD Ameritrade doesn’t manage any funds, we’re really talking about client assets here.
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Number of Customers at TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade currently has over 11.5 million funded accounts. The broker-dealer also provides custodial services
for more than 6,000 registered investment advisors who operate independently of TD Ameritrade.
TD Ameritrade Overview
TD Ameritrade is geared more towards long term investors than short term or day traders even though
their commission prices, $0 a trade, are hard to beat. For research and trading tools TD Ameritrade is
second to none. Barron’s magazine rated them 1st for long term investing and for beginners.
TD Ameritrade offers all the main investment products (stocks, ETF’s, bonds, commodities, annuities) but a long term investors especially like their mutual fund selection.
TD Ameritrade offers a premier list of mutual funds that offer no loads, no transaction fees and are selected by Morningstar to be ranked near the top in each category, (for instance, large cap value,
mid cap blend, international growth, global bond, real estate investment trusts...). Using these funds alone you can construct a solid, top performing portfolio of funds that are in the top
25% of their category. You will have to decide on the proper asset allocation based on your age, cash-flow needs, investment horizon etc… all with no loads, transaction fees or inactivity
fees-basically no costs. Funds on this list include T. Rowe Price, Oakmark, SSga, PIMCO (bond funds only), USAA and American Century, currently there about 190 funds on the list of no fee/load.
However, if you want to trade a no-load mutual fund not on the premier list such as Dodge & Cox or Vanguard you will have to pay $49.99 each buy or sell, so try to stick to the premier list if
possible.
TD has two main platforms. Trade Architect is pretty basic, for occasional traders, the charts and news info is
simple. It offers real-time quotes and has a snap ticket on each page to place quick trades. The other platform is Thinkorswim for sophisticated or heavy traders. Thinkorswim offers technical analysis that recognizes trading patterns, has real time info and over 300 technical indicators and studies. It also has whole market heat maps and graphs. Thinkorswim gives beta weighting which converts your individual positions changes to your total portfolio changes-before you place the trade, showing your new overall risk. It also lets you share charts, watch lists and info with other Thinkorswim users via social media.
Another tool is Mobile Trader with excellent capabilities for phone trading including charts and videos from CNBC and Reuters that give breaking news instantly.
About 1/3 of customers log on using a mobile device (tablets or phones) so TD Ameritrade is focusing more there. You may chat with a rep right from your mobile
device and use a privacy function so that others around you can’t see your business.
Amerivest is a tool that helps clients to manage their portfolio. It is a team of professional money managers that makes portfolio allocation and diversifying
strategies based on your goals and risk tolerance. They also rebalance as necessary. The fees are about 1% per year, but no
commission charges. If you have 2 consecutive quarters of negative performance your 1% fee is refunded. For those who may want to try an automated service like
Betterment, think again. There are so many personal variables and investment products that individual attention is needed to get the best portfolio for your individual
goals. Robo-advisors can’t do this.
All broker reviews websites place TD Ameritrade near or at the top of their rankings. From research to trading tools, from education to no transaction fee ETF’s and
mutual funds, TD Ameritrade has a lot to offer to its clients.
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Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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