Closing my account at a big broker

Why go with a big broker?

They don't go broke. No, not true; just look at what happened during the GFC.

They are involved with IPOs and capital raising so as a sophisticated investor, you get privileges. No, not true; I am too small and not worth the trouble most of the time. The only time I get an offer is when the big boys do not want the shares.

They shift a lot of volume. Sometimes, they could even encourage you to sell when a bigger client wants to buy. So they are not looking after the interest of the piddly guys like me.

They do a lot of detail research. True but they do nothing about those below the top ASX 200. When you look at performance, small cap is where you get spectacular returns... with higher risk of course. But if you have done your homework, then this is 'calculated' risk and not a gamble. While my self-managed portfolio plunged more than the portfolios with the big brokers, the recovery has spectacular too after GFC. Yes, far beyond the recovery of the blue chips.

A lot of people have been burnt after GFC and are reluctant to go back to the ASX. I have been burnt during 1987 Wall Street Crash, 1997 (I think) Asian Crisis and 2008 GFC. The lesson I learnt the most? Buy when the market is in the doldrums especially those stocks that have plunged but have not changed in character or are still profitable. Yes, that is my father's gene in me :-)

Makes me wonder why a small investor like me would want to deal with the big end of the town. I like Paterson as it seems to give some IPOs and placements to people like me. But the form to sign in as a client is hell! That is why I am still with CommSec. Soon, all my blue chips with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney will be under my management :-) I just have to arrange for them to be transferred from Issuer sponsored to CommSec.