TD Expands Commission-Free ETF Platform by 81%TD Expands Commission-Free ETF Platform by 81%

Starting June 3, the 7,000 registered investment advisors that custody with TD Ameritrade will be able to trade 569 exchange traded funds on a commission-free basis, up from 314 ETFs that were on the platform previously.

The company also added 12 new providers to the lineup, including Aberdeen Standard Investments, DWS, IndexIQ, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, FlexShares, Global X, John Hancock Investments, Nuveen, PIMCO, Principal, USCF Investments and VanEck. In total, RIAs will have access to 21 providers covering some 90 Morningstar categories to choose from on the platform.

TD Ameritrade launched its ETF Market Center in 2004 and offered commission-free trading in 2010.

The custodian caused a stir in October 2017 when it expanded the commission-free ETF lineup from 100 to 296. At that time, the firm also removed 84 funds from that lineup, including all of Vanguard’s products and many of the iShares style box funds. Many RIAs who used Vanguard products in their existing client portfolios were frustrated by the change. In response, the firm extended the transition period from 30 to 90 days for advisors to move over to the new platform.

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