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Why does Canada have high mutual fund fees?

I've been trying to find out why. I found some decent performing funds with

15 year+ histories that fit my risk aversion but all these funds around between 1.25% and 2.0 MER. Most balanced funds that fit my potential tastes are in the 2.3% to 2.6% range

Now in the USA they enjoy some pretty damn low fund management fees. The same sorts of fund down there are all under 1% so I would pay more than double in management fees alone. Why the great disparity? This is not including the loads or commission fees....

That said our economy up here has been more robust and the housing market hasn't tanked whatsoever and the country has been deficit free at the federal level for 9 years in a row. In fact the current government has stated goals to pay off nation debt completely within two decades. So after all that I'm pretty confident investing here in Canada but curious as to why the mutual fund and ETF fund industry charges way more in MER's.

And I'm looking at money market, balanced, income and some equity funds. Nothing international (unless it has 50% American). At least with international and sector focused I can explain why they have 3%+ MERs...

Reply to
Afterwards Hilarity Ensued
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"Afterwards Hilarity Ensued" wrote in message news:HJyeh.391229$ snipped-for-privacy@fe05.news.easynews.com...

I believe it has a lot to do with the lax regulatory environment in Canada. Investment scams run rampant, especially in the Vancouver, BC, area where I live, and the government does not seem to be capable of shutting them down. The lax regulation and lack of concern for small investors spills over into legitimate business, and nobody seems too much concerned that mutual funds have high fees compared to the USA. So the short answer is that companies charge high fees in Canada because they can get away with it.

Reply to
Don

I'm here in Ontario. Is it true we've got the toughest of the weak regulatory commissions then?

I also thought with the large public employee pension plans if that takes a greater share of Canadian investments leaving less for other firms to get..

Reply to
Afterwards Hilarity Ensued

"Afterwards Hilarity Ensued" wrote in message news:A5Ieh.377172$ snipped-for-privacy@fe10.news.easynews.com...

If I am not mistaken, Ontario and some other Canadian provinces do have tougher regulations than BC, but not as tough as the USA.

I suspect the best way to go in Canada is to own individual stocks. I have done well with DRIPs, both Canadian and US. Good mutual funds in Canada are few and far between. The main problem in buying US mutual funds is residency. The companies are hesitant to sell to Canadian residents, but if you have a US mailing address, or live part time in both countries, there is no problem

Reply to
Don

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