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Launch HN: Double (YC W24) – Index Investing with 0% Expense Ratios

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121–130 of 434 posts

Re: Launch HN: Double (YC W24) – Index Investing with 0% Expense Ratios

#121
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. "sharks" in this case doesn't mean some guy trading out of his house with 6 monitors. They are institutional investors. They can't exactly open a robinhood account, which only serves actual people. Professional traders also value other niceties, like being able to trade on their desktops (rather than having to type in their orders on their phones), which is worth the 1-2 cents per share in potential savings. 2. It…

>Professional traders also value other niceties, like being able to trade on their desktops In fairness to Robinhood, they did just release a desktop version[0]. [0] https://robinhood.com/us/en/legend/

I stand corrected, thanks!

Re: Launch HN: Double (YC W24) – Index Investing with 0% Expense Ratios

#122
post #97

much hate here; but mostly it is transparent jealousy arising from frustration about the great global money game being unfair and many educated and deserving ppl having no hope of ever making it off the bottom rung. But jjmaxwell4 don't let any of that distract you 1. This problem (solid, simple, inexpensive) direct indexing is totally real 2. Congrats on identifying this and getting going on it 3. All your best cust…

Some might say this already exists with stuff like VOO. When you're averaging 10-15bp, that should be a good deal. Concerns like you raise about keeping the lights on, change of ownership, or other's concerns about sub optimal execution are real. I'd pay $1K on $1M for the piece of mind.

Re: Launch HN: Double (YC W24) – Index Investing with 0% Expense Ratios

#123
post #118

I do think this is a great model for someone who wants to hold the S&P 500 (which many people do). However, educated index investors typically hold a total market index fund. Double’s US small cap offering is severely under diversified and there is no international offering. 10 bps is absolutely worth it to get broader diversification and international exposure.

Complementing a Direct Index US 500 portfolio with Small Cap or International ETFs is very possible. You can exposure yourself to US Small Cap and International through ETFs - there is the related ETF expense ratio in that case.

Re: Launch HN: Double (YC W24) – Index Investing with 0% Expense Ratios

#124

I'm actually pretty interested in what you're building. Sure, Vanguard and Fidelity are well-established giants, but they've barely moved beyond standard ETFs for decades. Having the option to tweak weightings at a more granular level and do daily tax-loss harvesting at scale seems like a genuine step forward. I also like that you're transparent about how you might eventually introduce additional revenue streams like…

Fidelity has innovated a ton and they have this exact product, though I don’t know the fees.

Fidelity is very much into new fintech ideas and products.. they were mining crypto very early on.

Re: Launch HN: Double (YC W24) – Index Investing with 0% Expense Ratios

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, FWIW I think their disclosures look good, but I want some explicit reassurance. I want to ensure "in your name" is not the same thing as "for benefit of". The thing that actually gives me the most reassurance is that they say definitively that they are a Registered Investment Advisor. In the Synapse situation, all the regulatory agencies were essentially saying "not my problem" because Synapse itself wasn't cov…

The account is opened in your name and your securities are held in your name at Apex Clearing. Apex has more than 19M brokerage accounts opened. We are Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) regulated by the SEC.

If you want to hold people's serious money and not play money, understand that priority #1 is not growth or expense ratios - it's risk mitigation. Swiss banks are notoriously expensive and have terrible investment products that hold trillions because of their obsession with protecting capital.

As a startup, you must figure out how to convince ordinary people to change their family safety net. Full transparency, audits by a known firm, and an entire brochure/mini-site explaining every significant fintech failure, showing how my money would remain safe if that scenario happened again.

Re: Launch HN: Double (YC W24) – Index Investing with 0% Expense Ratios

#126
post #97

much hate here; but mostly it is transparent jealousy arising from frustration about the great global money game being unfair and many educated and deserving ppl having no hope of ever making it off the bottom rung. But jjmaxwell4 don't let any of that distract you 1. This problem (solid, simple, inexpensive) direct indexing is totally real 2. Congrats on identifying this and getting going on it 3. All your best cust…

same here, $1 makes me wonder how you'll stay alive. I don't want to wonder.

Makes me wonder how me as a customer will get fucked when things change in the future. Because you know the institutions they do business with won't accept getting fucked. It usually ends up on the customer. There is no end of financial providers with examples - start ups and established. The only real difference is the big guys get bailed out.

Re: Launch HN: Double (YC W24) – Index Investing with 0% Expense Ratios

#127
post #33

I wish you had been more clear this is US only. I had to sign up, verify my email, tried opening an investment account, had to untick I’m a US citizen/resident and only then did your platform let me know I’m not welcome as a client. Oh and PS there’s no way to delete an account is there?

Sorry about that - we will try and make this clearer. I am happy to delete your account for you. Please email us at support@double.finance.

Any plans to go beyond US? I am guessing it is a huge hassle though...

Re: Launch HN: Double (YC W24) – Index Investing with 0% Expense Ratios

#128
post #97

much hate here; but mostly it is transparent jealousy arising from frustration about the great global money game being unfair and many educated and deserving ppl having no hope of ever making it off the bottom rung. But jjmaxwell4 don't let any of that distract you 1. This problem (solid, simple, inexpensive) direct indexing is totally real 2. Congrats on identifying this and getting going on it 3. All your best cust…

I mean, $12/yr is not a lot, but if the platform is geared for long term investing and not trading, I'd imagine that in any given month 95%+ of accounts are doing nothing but sitting static and handing over $1.

Re: Launch HN: Double (YC W24) – Index Investing with 0% Expense Ratios

#129
Your site touts that you're "Technologists, not bankers". People entrusting you with thousands of dollars of their savings might want some actual bankers involved in the operation. Something like "Security first" might get the point across without raising as many red flags.

Re: Launch HN: Double (YC W24) – Index Investing with 0% Expense Ratios

#130
post #97

much hate here; but mostly it is transparent jealousy arising from frustration about the great global money game being unfair and many educated and deserving ppl having no hope of ever making it off the bottom rung. But jjmaxwell4 don't let any of that distract you 1. This problem (solid, simple, inexpensive) direct indexing is totally real 2. Congrats on identifying this and getting going on it 3. All your best cust…

I mean, $12/yr is not a lot, but if the platform is geared for long term investing and not trading, I'd imagine that in any given month 95%+ of accounts are doing nothing but sitting static and handing over $1.

Even if there are no trading costs, 12/y gets you one modest developer salary for every 10,000 customers.

How big is the addressable market here?

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