We have chosen Muriel Siebert as the broker for our new club
-- any chance this broker will be added to the bivio family
so that we can use the Account Sync option?

Jan Dickson

Jan Dickson writes:
> We have chosen Muriel Siebert as the broker for our new club
> -- any chance this broker will be added to the bivio family
> so that we can use the Account Sync option?

We have no plans to support Muriel Siebert at this time. We add
brokers when enough clubs express interest. So please feel free to
post your requests here or by sending them directly to
support@bivio.com.

Rob

I had previously inquired about Muriel Siebert & Co some
time ago as well. Business Week ran a small story a few
months back regarding the major discount brokerages and the
insurance coverage that they carry.

Contrary to popular opinion/belief, if any of the majors
discount brokerages ran into financial trouble, they do not
have enough insurance to make their clients whole, and you
could receive pennies on the dollar. The article showed the
amount of assets and the corresponding insurance coverage
that each brokerage carried. Pretty eye opening.

However, there was one discount brokerage that was the
exception to this story... Muriel Siebert & Co.


Rob Nagler wrote:
> Jan Dickson writes:
> > We have chosen Muriel Siebert as the broker for our new club
> > -- any chance this broker will be added to the bivio family
> > so that we can use the Account Sync option?
>
> We have no plans to support Muriel Siebert at this time. We add
> brokers when enough clubs express interest. So please feel free to
> post your requests here or by sending them directly to
> support@bivio.com.
>
> Rob

Steven Cook writes:
> Contrary to popular opinion/belief, if any of the majors
> discount brokerages ran into financial trouble, they do not
> have enough insurance to make their clients whole, and you
> could receive pennies on the dollar.

What type of insurance does Muriel Siebert have that the other brokers
don't?

FYI, SIPC will recover my stocks if a broker goes bankrupt. All
majors have SIPC insurance. Here's an excerpt from the SIPC site:


    Terms of SIPC help. Customers of a failed brokerage firm get back
    all securities (such as stocks and bonds) that already are
    registered in their name or are in the process of being
    registered. After this first step, the firm¢s remaining customer
    assets are then divided on a pro rata basis with funds shared in
    proportion to the size of claims. If sufficient funds are not
    available in the firm¢s customer accounts to satisfy claims within
    these limits, the reserve funds of SIPC are used to supplement the
    distribution, up to a ceiling of $500,000 per customer, including
    a maximum of $100,000 for cash claims. Additional funds may be
    available to satisfy the remainder of customer claims after the
    cost of liquidating the brokerage firm is taken into account.
    Source: http://www.sipc.org/how/brochure.cfm

SIPC won't and can't protect investors against fraud afaik.

Rob

From the Siebert website: 3. Siebert accounts are protected
to the total net equity including 100% of your money market
funds at no cost to you. Securities in your account are
protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation
("SIPC") up to $500,000 (including cash claims limited to
$100,000). Our clearing firm National Financial Services
LLC, a Fidelity Investments company, has arranged for
additional insurance protection for cash and securities to
supplement its SIPC coverage. This additional protection
covers total account net equity.

As I mentioned previously, the Business Week discount
brokerage comparision brought this to my attention. I don't
recall which issue but it was within the last several months
and I am sure that other Bivio members read it too.
  This comparision pointed out that other well known
  discount brokerages, e.g. Ameritrade and TD Waterhouse,
  among many others, lacked sufficient coverage for the
  assets maintained.

Steve


Rob Nagler wrote:
> Steven Cook writes:
> > Contrary to popular opinion/belief, if any of the majors
> > discount brokerages ran into financial trouble, they do not
> > have enough insurance to make their clients whole, and you
> > could receive pennies on the dollar.
>
> What type of insurance does Muriel Siebert have that the other brokers
> don't?
>
> FYI, SIPC will recover my stocks if a broker goes bankrupt. All
> majors have SIPC insurance. Here's an excerpt from the SIPC site:
>
>
> Terms of SIPC help. Customers of a failed brokerage firm get back
> all securities (such as stocks and bonds) that already are
> registered in their name or are in the process of being
> registered. After this first step, the firm¢s remaining customer
> assets are then divided on a pro rata basis with funds shared in
> proportion to the size of claims. If sufficient funds are not
> available in the firm¢s customer accounts to satisfy claims within
> these limits, the reserve funds of SIPC are used to supplement the
> distribution, up to a ceiling of $500,000 per customer, including
> a maximum of $100,000 for cash claims. Additional funds may be
> available to satisfy the remainder of customer claims after the
> cost of liquidating the brokerage firm is taken into account.
> Source: http://www.sipc.org/how/brochure.cfm
>
> SIPC won't and can't protect investors against fraud afaik.
>
> Rob