Comments on: What is a Management Expense Ratio (MER)?

By: Marina

Marina — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 10:07:29 +0000

Thanks so much for this post! So helpful. The charts really put things into perspective for me.

By: Barry Choi

Barry Choi — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 11:10:25 +0000

Hi Michaela,

There will always be an MER for the funds that you have in your portfolio. The advisor fee is separate from your MER. You need to check with your current financial institution to find out what the advisor fee is.

For example, robo-advisors charge a advisor fee of around .5% + the MER of the ETFs they use, that’s usually about 1% TOTAL.

If you’re using a human wealth advisor, the fee they charge is usually 1%-2% or a percentage of your total assets.

By: Michaela Douglas

Michaela Douglas — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 23:48:15 +0000

I am a university student whose parents died and I invested with one institution because they told me that they would just charge me 0.5% instead of the 0.7% MER because I invested all of my parents pension with them. I later decided to talk to my grandparents adviser because it looked like they were getting better returns and their advisor said MER doesn’t decrease with the amount invested just the advisory fee and that the 0.5% would be advisory fees and they would also be charging me the 0.7% MER that would come off before I even saw any deductions in my account. At this point I don’t know who is lying to me. Does anyone have any idea?

By: Dom

Dom — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 23:12:18 +0000

Is there another credible site besides SEDAR to find out the MER and TER? Whenever I have tried SEDAR it leaves me frustrated.

By: Stop Screwing Your Retirement! - Money We Have

Stop Screwing Your Retirement! - Money We Have — Mon, 13 Apr 2020 14:18:12 +0000

[…] also want to pay attention to the fees you’re paying. A 2.5% management expense ratio (MER) for mutual funds may sound reasonable at first until you realize you could be saving hundreds […]

By: Barry Choi

Barry Choi — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 05:07:16 +0000

In reply to Mike. Mike, You're indeed correct, but there are two problems with your suggested strategy. #1) Past returns are not indicative of future performance #2) The odds of you picking a mutual fund every year that consistently beats the index is unlikely to happen (statistically wise at least).

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 19:23:07 +0000

Hi Barry. Correct me if I’m wrong but my understanding is that published mutual fund and ETF performance figures are net of (I.e. after subtracting) MERs. That being the case, I understand I’m better off buying a higher-MER, actively-managed mutual fund if it has consistently outperformed a lower-MER passively-managed index ETF over the long term. That of course assumes I expect that outperformance to continue. Do you agree with that approach?

By: Barry Choi

Barry Choi — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 14:11:08 +0000

In reply to kathywaitesaskatchewan. Kathy, Yes hopefully CRM2 will really open the eyes of investors. Many advisors have done great job about being open about their fees and there are more and more options these days for investors to reduce their fees.

By: kathywaitesaskatchewan

kathywaitesaskatchewan — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 14:07:54 +0000

Hello Barry, Great article, from July some fees will be discussed on statements and I hope that will encourage people to be proactive. It is possible to use a flat fee investment advisor for about 1% and many now have no minimum account size . Kathy Your Net Worth Manager http://www.yournwm.ca