If this requirement is so important to you (it's not to me), sounds like you should switch platforms and/or funds.Yes it is an invasion of privacy. You should only have to disclose info relevant to your job. Mutual funds are deemed NOT relevant to insider trading but by forcing them to be held in a brokerage acct makes them reported. Besides, most other fund managers still offer this service. In fact the legacy platform of mutual funds is the ONLY way one can buy directly from BlackRock. Fidelity still has fund-only accts. Vanguard cost cutting is ridiculous when it results in loss of what is really industry standard service capability.
Invasion of privacy? People who feel that way can quit their generally high paying financial services industry jobs if they want. Sheesh. Many of us have invasive requirements to obtain and keep our jobs: drug tests, background investigations, non-disclosure and non-compete agreements, conflict of interest disclosures, personal relationships with other employee disclosures. US Government still does polygraphs for their most sensitive positions and the people in those jobs are definitely not compensated fully for their patriotic duty and sacrifice.
I think Vanguard is on the right track to eliminate expensive services that are used by a small percentage of their customers, that's how they make investing accessible and affordable to most people. We still have people who feel they should be entitled to free paper statements sent to them by US mail and are unwilling to print and hole punch their own paperwork.
In the mean time, I'm all for lower costs.
Statistics: Posted by watchnerd — Wed Oct 30, 2024 2:22 am — Replies 41 — Views 3325