I’m currently looking for a first broker account somewhere. From what I can see online and here, the consensus seems to be that IB is the best and among the cheapest once you reach a certain threshold, which I won’t reach for some times.
Until then, I am looking at DeGiro, which is nice and glossy on paper, thanks to their low fees and simple UI. However, I’m worried about their securities lending practice (article 9, page 18, “Lending Securities”). I understand that if you opt out of this scheme (with a Custody account), they “recover” their gains on you with fees on dividends distribution and other points (Basic vs Custody, look for “Dividend processing” in “Extra Services”), but that otherwise the ETFs fees remain the same.
Their explanation document (page 7, “Securities Lending”) makes it sound like what they are doing is perfectly safe for the client, and I have no point of reference to know if their practice is common or, indeed, safe.
What is your take on this? Would the 1€+3% dividends fee of the Custody account (where they don’t lend your shares) be an “acceptable price” to avoid this, or to just live with it? Or just avoid them altogether? If so, to which alternative? CT?