Clicky

Get VIP Trading Signals 1
8 /10
Overall Rating
Fidelity Review & Rating [yyyy]

Fidelity Review & Rating 2024

Visit Fidelity

Read this Fidelity review before opening your account. Is this a Scam or Reliable Forex Broker? Find out more with AtoZ Markets Forex broker review of Fidelity.

We have conducted a thorough review of this company and found it to be legit and trustworthy. This broker is renowned for its many types of trading accounts, which provide opportunities for traders in a variety of markets and products.

For this reason, AtoZ Markets research team makes an effort to research a broker's background and reputation as thoroughly as possible before providing a review.

The broker is one of the trusted and oldest investment companies in the world. It has been operating since 1946 and provides services to more than 13 million customers. Fidelity's headquarters are in Boston, Massachusetts with other offices throughout the United States including California, New York and Illinois. Fidelity has also expanded its operations globally including Canada, Asia, and Europe.

Fidelity Investments offers commission-free US stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In addition, it offers plenty of high-quality research tools, including trading ideas, detailed fundamental data and charting. The web trading platform is easy to use, and offers advanced order types. You can also trade with international stocks.

Pros

  • Commission-free US stocks and ETFs
  • Good trading platforms and research
  • US and international stocks
  • Low Costs
  • Great trading tools

Cons

  • High fees for mutual funds
  • Restricted to US Citizens only

Overview

Company
9/10
Trust
9/10
Trading Platform
8/10
Account Types
8/10
Costs
8/10
Customer Support
8/10
Regulation
8/10
Cryptocurrency
8/10

Company

9 /10

Fidelity is a large financial services company with over $2 trillion in assets under management (AUM). They offer a wide range of products, including mutual funds and ETFs, retirement accounts such as 401(k) plans and IRAs, brokerage services through Fidelity Investments' retail divisions (Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC and Abbot Downing Investment Company), banking services through Fidelity Bank & Trust Co., and advice through its affiliated advisers. The company has been around for decades—it was founded in 1946 by Edward C. Johnson II—and these days it's publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange; its ticker symbol is "FDIS".

Fidelity Financial Services' headquarters are located in Boston but the company has operations around the world with large offices in London and Hong Kong as well as smaller offices throughout Asia Pacific region like Singapore or Australia.

Trust

9 /10

Fidelity Investments is one of the largest brokerages in the world, making it a safe company to invest with. It's fully regulated in the U.S. by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), is trusted by over 32 million investors, and holds over $8.3 trillion in assets under administration.

Fidelity Investments is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects securities and cash up to $500,000. Funds held in Fidelity’s cash management account are swept to partner banks and protected by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance.

In addition, Fidelity provides coverage in excess of Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) limits, for up to $1 billion across all customer accounts, and with up to $1.9 million per customer for cash and no limit for securities

You can trust Fidelity. Fidelity has been around for a long time, and they're a big company. If you're looking to set up an account with an investment firm that you know is trustworthy, look no further than Fidelity.

A good reputation is important in the financial industry, but it's not everything, and here we think that the products and services are just as good as anyone else's out there.

Trading Platform

8 /10

Fidelity's trading platform is unique and has a lot of features. It's easy to use, and it’s fast too.

The Fidelity web-based trading platform is called TradeStation, which you can access through your computer or mobile device. The desktop version works well for serious traders who want a customizable interface with many charting tools and technical indicators. The mobile app allows you to monitor your accounts, place trades and track their performance in real time while away from home, all at no extra cost.

Fidelity offers a web-based trading platform in addition to its advanced platform. The advanced platform is available without cost and has no eligibility requirements.

The app's real-time streaming quotes and watch list feature are impressive, and its mobile apps (available on iOS, Android, and Windows) offer charting tools and the ability to trade stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and options right from your tablet or smartphone.

As long-term buy-and-hold investors, we don't demand much more of a platform than the ability to check prices and place a trade with a few clicks. Personal preference ultimately determines which platforms are better or worse for us.

Fidelity's mobile app lets you trade stocks (including fractional shares), ETFs, options and mutual funds, but not fixed income. The mobile offering is comprehensive and includes much of the same functionality as its desktop counterpart. However, fundamental analysis and charting are limited, and you can't place conditional orders.

Fidelity recently introduced an opt-in beta experience for mobile that delivers on many of the most requested features from new customers, including, a new, simplified home screen that provides a more modern view. A new quote experience delivers information more quickly and easily. And a new streamlined trade ticket makes trading easier than ever.

 

Account Types

8 /10

 Fidelity provides four different options for people who are looking for professional guidance and/or automated portfolio management: Fidelity Go, the Personalized Planning & Advice program, Fidelity Wealth Services, and Strategic Disciplines. Also, Fidelity offers a variety of account types, including traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs and SEP-IRAs. All of these accounts are self-directed and allow you to invest in a variety of stocks, bonds and mutual funds. You can create an account on Fidelity's website or through one of its mobile apps.

Fidelity's robo-advisor, Fidelity Go, allows clients to manage their investments for themselves. Setting up an account is free, but you'll have to pay a $3 monthly fee for balances between $10,000 and $49,999. You'll be responsible for a 0.35% annual fee if you've got more than $50,000 in your account; balances below $10,000 aren't assessed any fees.

To access one-on-one personalized advice and automated investment management, you can do so with a minimum investment of $25,000. Fidelity Personalized Planning & Advice matches you with a CFP who guides you through the investment process. The annual fee is 0.50 percent per year.

Fidelity Wealth Services, unlike Fidelity Go and Fidelity Personalized Planning & Advice, provides automatic access to a financial advisor who solely provides personalized investment management (there's no automated management involved). It requires a minimum of $250,000 to set up an account.

Fidelity Strategic Disciplines includes access to human advisors, but it's a one-asset-class portfolio of individual securities. The account requires a minimum investment of $2 million.

Cryptocurrency

8 /10

Fidelity Digital Asset Services is the leader in custody solutions for institutional investors. It offers a wide range of cryptocurrency trading and storage services.

You can trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash with Fidelity's TradeStation or one of their other platforms. As of 2019 Fidelity offers a variety of cryptocurrencies for both individual and institutional clients.

Costs

8 /10

While Coinbase does charge a fee of 1.5% for every trade, Fidelity offers no-fee trading of bitcoin. Moreover, unlike Coinbase which only lets you buy and sell bitcoin on their platform, Fidelity allows its users to invest in a wide range of cryptocurrencies through their crypto exchange called Fidelity Digital Asset Services LLC (FDAS).

Fidelity doesn't charge any trade commissions on stocks, ETFs, options, or mutual funds. The company also offers a few NTF mutual funds with expense ratios of zero. U.S. Treasury trades are free when made online. Though it charges a per-contract fee for options of $0.65, there is also a $1 fee for bond and CD trades.

Fidelity doesn't charge any account opening, transfer, or closure fees for its basic accounts. It charges the following fees for its Fidelity Go robo-advisor service:

  • Under $10k: $0
  • $10k–$50k: $3 per month
  • $50k and above: 0.35% per year

As per the data from their website, interest rates for margin rates were 4.00% to 8.325%. While these are some of the highest in the industry, they are negotiable if you have a large portfolio.

Customer Support

8 /10

Fidelity offers 24/7 customer support. You can reach their team by phone, email, and live chat. Fidelity's customer service is available in English and Spanish.

Despite the fact that discount brokers lack the marketing budgets of full-service firms, most offer a variety of tools to assist with customer service and account management. Fidelity's telephone support line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Online chat service is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET.

Fidelity Investments' 197 branch offices offer face-to-face assistance and extended hours of operation. Fidelity's size allows them to provide phone support around the clock and branch offices in virtually every metropolitan area.

Research and Educational Tools

Fidelity offers a variety of resources for investors, including information on news, market trends, and investment options. You can see what they offer for free if you are not yet a customer.

The Fidelity site offers a wealth of valuable information. On the page for an individual stock, you can receive financial data, competitor analysis, news and reports on individual stocks from a variety of third-party research companies including Thomson Reuters, Ned Davis, Zacks, and many others.

The site also offers access to SEC filings and a variety of sources of market commentary. In addition, you’ll find further reports on ETFs. The resources really go on and on, and the clean layout makes it easy to find what you’re looking for.

In Fidelity's learning center, you can attend webinars and view recorded ones that detail almost any aspect of trading, options, funds, and how to use the many tools Fidelity offers, such as Active Trader Pro. You'll find the short courses ranked according to skill level, helping you progress as you gain mastery.

In addition to Active Trader Pro, Fidelity provides a number of other tools that can help improve your trading or provide an avenue for getting better trade ideas.

Real-time Analytics: This tool provides real-time trading alerts based on a stock’s historical price movements. You will be notified when a stock hits a new high or low, crosses a key technical level, or shows other unusual activity.

Trade Armor: Trade Armor is a charting and trading tool that helps you visualize your trades. You can set alerts to track price movements and determine the best prices at which to enter and exit positions. You can also place orders directly from the tool, among many other things.

Daily Dashboard: When you launch Active Trader Pro, a tool called Real-Time News provides real-time news, earnings and economic news. This way, you’ll be kept abreast of what’s impacting your portfolio.

Regulation

8 /10

Fidelity is a fully regulated broker-dealer and is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). This means that your assets are protected up to $500,000 in case something were to happen to Fidelity. Fidelity is also a member of FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Conclusion

Fidelity is one of the best options for trading cryptocurrency. It has a lot to offer, including low fees and high security. The only drawback is its lack of regulation in some countries. Fidelity has earned a spot on our list of the best brokers for three years in a row, and it's easy to see why. The firm offers more than 200 commission-free ETFs, robust portfolio analysis tools, and unparalleled educational resources (including free access to several dozen investment books). It doesn't have the most advanced trading platform out there, but its user-friendly interface makes up for the shortcomings. Fidelity is also one of the cheapest brokers around: It charges $4.95 per trade, which trumps almost all of its competitors' fees.

Fidelity, though it has more advanced options trading tools than most other online brokers, may not be the best choice for everyone. Futures, commodities and crypto traders will want to look elsewhere for tools that allow them to trade those asset classes. But for the average investor, Fidelity makes a strong case for being the online brokerage of choice given its deep feature set and commitment to making you money.

Reviewed By

Our Broker Review methodology

Our mission is to provide online investors with the most unbiased, comprehensive reviews and ratings of self-directed brokers. Vetted by multiple industry experts - including a financial research firm with more than 20 years of experience in broker ratings - Our Broker Ratings and Reviews embody industry best practices for research design.

See how we conduct broker reviews

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *