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High Initial investments and maintaining the original investment amount
If a fund has a $100,000 minimum, is it OK if you invest with this amount and shortly afterwards, remove a large portion of the initial sum while maintaining the rest of the investment? Does each fund family have their rules, or is this a common practice?
I did that maybe 15-20 years ago with a Summit fund held directly at TRP when I believe the entry point was $25,000 - and it worked until I eventually sold the fund and moved on. Recall one of their (previously very capable) phone reps suggested the tactic to me. My guess would be that it would work until it doesn’t (ie for a number of months but not for years). If there are any “low balance” fees associated with fund, that should appear in the fund prospectus.
My experience is that Fido and Vanguard don't bother much with fund minimum so long as one has a large account. And they may first give a warning to bring up the amount to fund minimum.
Specifically, Vanguard won't allow new purchases of Admiral classes below minimum. But once purchased, if the balance goes below the minimum due to market fluctuations OR withdrawals/exchanges, nothing bad happens immediately.
Beware of funds that may auto-impose fees below minimum.
I agree with @yogibearbull. There must be a program that watches some of these transactions; and then makes an okay or not okay decision based upon the account holder history and likely total accounts values. Several years ago I typed the wrong ticker into a buy choice. The transaction was completed (pending market close). A few hours later, I realized my mistake. This was for a mutual fund that would't process until 4pm (market close). I spoke with a Fido rep. and he killed the transaction. Perhaps this would have been done for any Fido account holder, regardless of account value or longevity.....I'll never know. I would imagine, that fund houses have some amount of flex to keep their clients happy; aside what may be written in a prospectus.
If a fund has a $100,000 minimum, is it OK if you invest with this amount and shortly afterwards, remove a large portion of the initial sum while maintaining the rest of the investment?
Maybe, maybe not. It depends on what the fund requires for a maintenance balance, and then if you fail to maintain that balance, whether the fund company chooses to exercise its right to give you notice (if required) and close (or downgrade) your account.
For taxable accounts, FZDXX requires $100K to open, but only $10K to maintain. From its statutory prospectus:
If your fund balance falls below $10,000 worth of shares for any reason and you do not increase your balance, Fidelity may sell all of your shares and send the proceeds to you after providing you with at least 30 days' notice to reestablish the minimum balance.
So by prospectus, you're allowed to drop the balance by 90% with no consequences. And even if you drop the balance lower, it's up to the discretion of the fund company (here, Fidelity) to close out the account after appropriate notice.
The reality is that for this particular fund, Fidelity is pretty lax. But don't push things too far. I did. For RMD purposes, I sold $10K of a fund in a Roth IRA and moved it to FZDXX ($10K min in IRAs). I announced to the Fidelity rep that my intent was that some of that be used for the RMD and the rest stay there to maintain open position in FZDXX. Even though this would drop the balance below the min; I would rely upon Fidelity's discretion not to close the account.
While the rep acknowledged that Fidelity doesn't really close these accounts, my explicit acknowledgement was a bit too much for him. He (rightly) felt compelled to check with his back office whether this was okay before he put the trade through. The back office said what I was planning was fine and the rep placed the trade. But I did, inadvertently, put him in an awkward position.
A few years ago, two Vanguard funds we held in admiral shares dropped below the admiral class min. Vanguard converted one of the funds back to investor class shares. The other fund Vanguard left alone. FWIW, the funds were submanaged by different money management firms.
The bottom line is that it depends. If the rules allow a lower maintenance balance, all is well and good. If not, it's up to the fund company. In my experience, most times the fund company won't care. But sometimes it does act.
Comments
My experience is that Fido and Vanguard don't bother much with fund minimum so long as one has a large account. And they may first give a warning to bring up the amount to fund minimum.
Specifically, Vanguard won't allow new purchases of Admiral classes below minimum. But once purchased, if the balance goes below the minimum due to market fluctuations OR withdrawals/exchanges, nothing bad happens immediately.
Beware of funds that may auto-impose fees below minimum.
Maybe, maybe not. It depends on what the fund requires for a maintenance balance, and then if you fail to maintain that balance, whether the fund company chooses to exercise its right to give you notice (if required) and close (or downgrade) your account.
For taxable accounts, FZDXX requires $100K to open, but only $10K to maintain. From its statutory prospectus: So by prospectus, you're allowed to drop the balance by 90% with no consequences. And even if you drop the balance lower, it's up to the discretion of the fund company (here, Fidelity) to close out the account after appropriate notice.
The reality is that for this particular fund, Fidelity is pretty lax. But don't push things too far. I did. For RMD purposes, I sold $10K of a fund in a Roth IRA and moved it to FZDXX ($10K min in IRAs). I announced to the Fidelity rep that my intent was that some of that be used for the RMD and the rest stay there to maintain open position in FZDXX. Even though this would drop the balance below the min; I would rely upon Fidelity's discretion not to close the account.
While the rep acknowledged that Fidelity doesn't really close these accounts, my explicit acknowledgement was a bit too much for him. He (rightly) felt compelled to check with his back office whether this was okay before he put the trade through. The back office said what I was planning was fine and the rep placed the trade. But I did, inadvertently, put him in an awkward position.
A few years ago, two Vanguard funds we held in admiral shares dropped below the admiral class min. Vanguard converted one of the funds back to investor class shares. The other fund Vanguard left alone. FWIW, the funds were submanaged by different money management firms.
The bottom line is that it depends. If the rules allow a lower maintenance balance, all is well and good. If not, it's up to the fund company. In my experience, most times the fund company won't care. But sometimes it does act.