Fees: small numbers that decide the outcome

A fee looks negligible because it is shown at the moment of the trade and in fractions of a percent. It should be judged differently: not as a one-off payment but as an annual deduction from returns.

What you pay per trade

The broker's commission is its compensation. The exchange fee pays for the infrastructure. Both are charged on every trade, both scale with turnover, and both are imperceptible when you trade rarely.

They become perceptible with frequent trading. An investor making one trade a month and a trader making ten a day pay incomparable amounts on the same capital.

What you pay continuously

A fund's management fee is deducted from its assets every day, whether or not you traded. It never appears in a broker statement — it has already been taken out of the unit price.

The spread is a cost too

The gap between the best bid and the best offer is what you give up entering and exiting with market orders. In a liquid security it is small; in an illiquid one it can exceed every commission combined. See Liquidity: noticed only once it runs out.

Tax is the largest cost of all

On securities transactions a Russian tax resident pays 13% on gains within the annual threshold of RUB 2.4m, and 15% on the excess. That exceeds any commission, which is exactly why tax relief deserves study before the hunt for a cheaper broker: Long-term ownership relief: paying no tax without arranging anything in advance.

How to count

Add up everything that leaves over a year: trading commissions, the fund fee, the spread in and out, and tax. Subtract the total from the expected return — and only then compare your options.