Importance

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Abstract

The invention provides a method of managing a mutual fund brokerage wherein subscribers, intending to purchase mutual fund portions in at least one mutual fund, enter into a service contract with the mutual fund brokerage. Each subscriber pays to the brokerage a subscription charge and the brokerage maintains a separate portfolio of mutual fund portions for each subscriber and a separate subscriber account balance including payments of subscription charges received from each subscriber. The brokerage executes a number of mutual fund portion purchase/sell transactions on behalf of a trading subscriber with a target mutual fund selected by the trading subscriber. The improvement relates to not charging front-end or back-end loaded commissions, together with the rebating of trailer fees from no-load funds where all service fees received by the brokerage from each paying mutual fund are apportioned pro rata for each portion of said paying mutual fund in each subscribers portfolio. The purchaser can also participate in deciding the manner in which savings in brokerage fees can be handled to their maximum benefit and/or convenience. In this way, the subscriber pays a predictable charge to the brokerage and receives a higher return on investment than under conventional methods where significant amounts of service fees are retained by the brokerage. In the past, where brokerage operations depended on personal service and advice to purchasers, high brokerage fees and commissions could be justified somewhat. However, many current mutual fund purchasers research mutual fund performance over the internet themselves and merely place orders by computer with discount brokerages. The service fees paid to brokerages result in a significant reduction in the purchaser's return from a mutual fund. investment which is unwarranted in many circumstances.

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First Claim