4.8
| Feature | Fidelity |
| Minimum deposit: | $10 USD |
| Withdrawal fee amount: | |
| Inactivity fee charged (Y/N): | N |
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| Number of instruments: | |
| Year founded: | |
| Time to open account: | |
| Demo account provided (Y/N): | Y |
| Countries of regulation: | |
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Markets available include ETFs, bonds, options, mutual funds and precious metals but stock trading is the area where they are preeminent. Continuous investment in platform architecture, customer service and research facilities is combined with very competitive pricing which makes Fidelity a very comprehensive one-stop-shop.
Founded in 1946, Fidelity as grown to become one of the biggest broking platforms. The $2.5 trillion in assets under management is made up from traders in the US, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America.
Investors looking for a more hands-off approach are also catered for with Fidelity offering traders to proprietary programming software and Robo trading accounts.
The range and quality of the service offered make it a broker suitable for new and experienced traders alike and both will be attracted to the best in class grade regulatory structure.
Fidelity has a long established reputation for providing low cost trading. As well as demonstrating a long term commitment to competitive pricing the schedule is also reassuringly transparent in nature and there are also no fees relating to opening or holding an account.
The Fidelity Active Trader Pro platform is one of the best in the market. This proprietary piece of software has the feel of something specifically designed to help traders place winning trades and reflects Fidelity’s years of experience.
The Fidelity mobile app is a seamless extension of the web-based platform. Navigating using the app is a user friendly experience and allows access to the whole range of analysis tools needed to build a strategy but its not perfect. Account administration, watch lists, news feeds and analyst reports are easy to access and use but we did find some of the charting functionality, particularly the number of indicators available to be a bit lightweight.
The screen layout is crisp and attractive and there is room to build your own personalized mobile dashboard. Notes and ideas posted to your mobile profile sync back to the desktop version as well thus ensuring ideas and inspiration gained when out and about are not mislaid.
Research is an area where Fidelity stands out. In terms of quantity and quality its offering is at least a match, and often superior to, that of its peers.
One tool, Thomson Reuters StarMine, allows investors to analyze the analysts. Those with a fundamental approach to investing will enjoy this tool that builds a track record of the effectiveness (or not) of the individual stock pickers. Those looking for a less filtered data set will benefit from the daily upgrade/downgrade notices downloaded from over a hundred research firms and shared with Fidelity users.
In addition to the in-house research Fidelity traders also get access to stock reports and other research from twelve well respected third-party providers. Monitors can be set up to screen and group stocks using a range of parameters, including but not limited to: yield, earnings and short interest.
This might even start to look a bit overwhelming but Fidelity offer the ability for traders to filter the educational services according to preference. The literature, videos, webinars and courses can be thinned out to allow traders to quickly get to the topics they want to study. The material ranges from ‘how to use’ style features relating to the platform through to advanced option trading strategies.
Along with written materials, Fidelity has created a range of webinars and videos to assist account holders who have a specific plan in mind, be it investing for their children or planning for retirement. Some of the research is investor/wealth orientated rather than trading focused. This isn’t an issue as the trading research itself is not diminished in either quality or quantity. Whilst different in nature items such as a Financial Check-Up and Retirement Score is always worthy of attention; even if not necessarily for the individual involved but as a reminder of the considerations of the all-important long term investment market.
Fidelity offer one of the widest ranges of ways to contact customer support. The methods available range from: the tried and tested free-phone number, email, Live Chat messages, iMessage and Facebook Messenger and even on to Amazon Alexa. One stand out feature is that having close to 200 bricks and mortar offices across the US means traders can even speak with Fidelity staff face to face.
During our testing the staff in the Fidelity customer services departments were in our experience, knowledgeable, efficient and exceptionally client-focused. Having such high quality assistance available on a 24/7 basis is quite a large positive for Fidelity. Going to the other end of the spectrum in terms of human interaction, even the Chat Bot at Fidelity appears to be more on the ball than those at other brokers.
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