The best brokers are well-rounded, offering high-quality, responsive customer service, fast trade execution, comprehensive yet user-friendly stock trading platforms, free investment research, and a large selection of investments. Investopedia collected 89 criteria that are critical to investors, from 26 online brokerage companies. We used this data to review each brokerage platform for fees, usability, research amenities, and other key features to provide unbiased, full service stockbroker comprehensive reviews to ensure our readers make the right decision for their investing needs. Investopedia launched in 1999, and has been helping readers find the best online brokerage accounts since 2019. Vanguard is one of the best brokerages for passive investors who want to buy low-cost index fund ETFs. It also offers thousands of no-transaction-fee mutual funds, and excellent zero-commission options for buying stocks online, with no account minimums for brokerage accounts.

Buying your first stocks: Do it the smart way

Stockbrokers are licensed professionals who manage client investments https://www.xcritical.com/ and administer financial advice to clients, and they are required to pass the Series 7, Series 63, and Series 65 exams to attain licensing. Brokers working at financial firms also need to be registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Licensed stockbrokers are expected to be fluent in stocks, bonds, and options. With the full-service type of relationship, a broker also has more products at their disposal that may directly benefit their brokerage. For example, a discount broker may not make any different amount of commission if they sell ETFA vs. ETFB.

How to start trading stocks quickly and easily

With $5.5 trillion in discretionary assets as of June 30, 2024, the company ranks among the top brokerage firms in terms of assets under management. J.P. Morgan Investing is one of those rare brokers that charges zero transaction fees to buy and sell mutual funds. It’s easy to use, even though it combines self-directed investing and an optional robo-advisory platform in one app. It’s no-frills compared to other brokers, and it’s most convenient for Chase customers. Pick this platform for low mutual fund fees and a no-nonsense interface. What kind of online brokerage account you should open depends on your financial goals.

Is a Full Service Broker Right For You? (Full Service vs Discount Brokers)

You’ll also find more than 3,000 no-transaction-fee mutual funds available. But its mobile app is basic and doesn’t match the performance of industry leaders. You’re also only able to reach customer service Monday through Friday over the phone. Providing readers with unbiased, comprehensive reviews of online brokers and trading platforms is a top priority for Investopedia.

TD Ameritrade’s well-designed app makes it easy to find your way around the numerous features. Plus, TD Ameritrade users now also get access to new parent Charles Schwab’s thinkorswim trading platform. Interactive Brokers offers $0 commission trades on U.S. listed stocks and ETFs to U.S. traders, like almost all rivals.

Webull is less well known than its rival Robinhood, but the trading app also allows customers to trade everything from stocks and ETFs to options and cryptocurrencies commission-free. While you’ll be able to reach customer service through the phone 24/7, the educational resources are severely lacking for an app that targets new investors. On top of all of this, the broker offers great customer support, educating you on how to invest and giving you a fast response. Buy-and-hold investors may be especially interested in Schwab for its low trading costs, low-fee funds and a wide offering of retirement accounts. Schwab has been well-known for decades for its customer-first approach. Charles Schwab does it all well, from low fees to solid research to no account minimum – all at a reasonable trading commission.

Once funds are added to your brokerage account, you can put the money to work using the brokerage’s trading platform to invest those funds in the market. The assets you buy with your cash can be anything offered by that brokerage, including stocks, bonds, ETFs, and even cryptocurrency. & Co. in 1978 by its current chairman, Thomas Peterffy, the company pioneered the use of computers in trading. Eventually, Interactive Brokers Inc. was incorporated as a U.S. broker-dealer in 1993, and the company has since developed into one of the industry’s most complete online brokerage platforms. Interactive Brokers (IBKR) offers astonishing access to 150 markets in 34 countries and support for its services in 200 countries and territories, all with funding and trading capabilities in up to 27 currencies. Simply put, this is the broadest global coverage in the industry.As of September 2024, IBKR held just over $515B in client assets.

But while full service brokerage firms play an important role for such individuals, their high minimums and high fees rule them out for most average retail investors. On the one hand, a full service brokerage firm charges more fees. But it also offers a difficult-to-measure sense of ease and comfort that their services can provide.

A full-service broker, however, could make significantly more commission by getting you to invest in ETFB due to their firm’s relationship with the company that manages that ETF, subsequently steering you into that specific investment. Stock brokers buy and sell stocks, bonds, and other securities on your behalf. Your stockbroker acts as an intermediary between you and the stock exchange, executing trades based on your instructions. EToro’s CopyTrader offers a unique way to learn about the market by letting you follow and copy the trades of more established traders.

• Webull is less well known than its rival Robinhood, but the trading app also allows customers to trade everything from stocks and ETFs to options and cryptocurrencies commission-free.
• It also offers thousands of no-transaction-fee mutual funds, and excellent zero-commission options for buying stocks online, with no account minimums for brokerage accounts.
• We believe it’s one of the best stock brokers because it’s one of the only brokers that offers $0 commissions on all mutual funds, not just a subset of no-transaction-fee funds.
• Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services.
• If your brokerage firm is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), then cash and securities in your account are protected from loss due to broker failure, up to $500,000 ($250,000 for cash).

Full-service brokers often have their own in-house line of products like mutual funds, portfolio management, insurance, loan services, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). All full-service brokerages provide physical office locations for clients to visit. America’s stock markets are lousy with full-service brokerage firms, but a few stand out as better than the rest. Power’s latest (2016) Full Service Investor Satisfaction Study, Charles Schwab (SCHW 0.15%) — which also offers discount brokerage services — stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Their primary responsibility is to help clients like you buy and sell securities. Like Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab, JP Morgan is a well-established and trusted financial institution. This premier division offers clients a “hands-on tailored approach” to asset management. But do you really need all of that, or should you skip the fees and stick with a discount broker?

In fact, many investors would be hard pressed to explain why some online brokers–especially the larger ones–should not be thought of as full-service firms. Public was developed to help lower the barrier to entry for those who shy away from investing due to a lack of financial literacy, as well as those who lack the means to acquire positions in many expensive financial products. The company has certainly succeeded on this front with its clean and simple user experience; commission trading of stocks, ETFs, and options; $0 account minimum; fractional investing; and social networking element.

Our aim is to provide an independent assessment of providers to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which one will best meet your needs. Arielle O’Shea leads the investing and taxes team at NerdWallet. She has covered personal finance and investing for over 15 years, and was a senior writer and spokesperson at NerdWallet before becoming an assigning editor. Arielle has appeared on the “Today” show, NBC News and ABC’s “World News Tonight,” and has been quoted in national publications including The New York Times, MarketWatch and Bloomberg News. For beginners and experienced investors alike, educational resources are a way to continue improving their knowledge and strategies. A broker offering tutorials, webinars, and in-depth guides can help users stay informed and grow their trading expertise.