Fidelity is one of the largest investment companies in the world. The brokerage provides managed accounts, brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, cash management accounts, health savings plans, and much more. In addition, it provides access to financial advisors. Also, it has over 38 million investors already.

Having said that, it has achieved extreme popularity, and there are different types of investments that you can make with Fidelity.

Self-Directed Brokerage Accounts

Fidelity is a reliable choice for hands-off and hands-on investors. If you trade actively and frequently, you can place commission-free trades on ETF, stocks, and other trades. In addition, there are over 3400 mutual funds with zero transaction fees. The users can set up the account without additional fees or account minimums.

There are multiple investment options available, including CDs, bonds, IPOs, money market funds, precious metals, fixed income productions, and deferred fixed annuities. There are fractional share investing options for over 7000 ETFs and stocks. These allow the users to purchase smaller investment portions at reasonable prices.

Moreover, it offers international stock trading in over 25 countries, helping you diversify the portfolio. The mutual funds are available with a zero expense ratio, so there is no account minimum or expense ratio (these are the fixed annual charges that cover the funds’ operating costs).

Managed Accounts

If you need automated portfolio management and professional guidance, there are four options available with Fidelity, including Fidelity Personalized Planning & Advice, Fidelity Go, Fidelity Strategic Disciplines, and Fidelity Wealth Services. Moreover, they have a robo-advisor available for automating the investing services.

The robo-advisors are designed as automated investing or trading platforms for improving financial portfolios. If you want to have access to one-on-one personalized advice, you only need to start with $25,000, but the investment changes with which program you choose.

Retirement Accounts

There are multiple retirement accounts available for users, including rollover IRAs, traditional IRAs, small business retirement plans, and Roth IRAs for adults and kids.

While you can get a Fidelity address for rollover, any adult can open the Roth IRAs for kids and manage it as long as they are above 18 years old and have employment compensation. Also, there is no account minimum for these accounts.

Education Savings Accounts

There are 529 college savings plans available that can save for education expenses. These accounts offer other perks, including no account charges, no minimum, and provide tax-free withdrawals. The age-based strategies depend on the portfolio. Portfolios and asset allocations are designed according to the beneficiary’s current age.

To illustrate, asset allocation is defined to improve the returns by balancing different investment types within the portfolio. As the beneficiary starts approaching college age, the asset allocations will be safer.

Market Research, Trading Platforms, and Educational Resources

There is an extensive range of trading platforms available and educational content and research materials. Fidelity also has a learning center for you to access blogs and understand financial topics with the help of live webinars. Moreover, it has a news and research tab so that users can be aware of real-time investment prices and stock market trends.

It has a mobile app and online platform available for users’ convenience. It also has a trading platform available for active traders, known as Active Trader Pro. This downloadable platform offers investing insights, trading signals, multiple yet customizable dashboard layouts, portfolio monitoring, and trading assistance. This platform is a reliable way of keeping an eye on market movements.

With the trading platform, you can place around fifty orders at once. In addition, Fidelity uses stock research and investment analysis from over twenty independent providers. There are a lot of benefits to opting for Fidelity investments.

Customer Service

Fidelity has an online chat available with a live agent for your assistance, and they have 24*7 phone lines available.

In addition, it allows the users to talk to live brokers, and there is hardly any hold time when you dial customer service’s number.

Reliability and Security

To begin with, Fidelity has its focus on security and it’s up to the industry-level security standards. For instance, it has two-factor authentication available on every platform. The higher-risk transactions cannot be processed without two-factor authentication for security reasons. The mobile app can work with biometric recognition, including face and fingerprint locks.

If you try to log in from a new or unknown browser, you will have to answer the security questions. It includes SIPC (securities investor protection corporation) insurance and has over a $1.9 million limit for non-invested money. It is the perfect option for the brokerage industry. It has a customer protection guarantee to protect users against loss.

On top of everything, Fidelity hasn’t had any platform outages and widespread errors since 2020. Also, there are no data breaches reported.

Transparency

Fidelity has one of the best pricing schedules, and they are fully transparent. There are no minimums associated with opening the account. The profit margins are most competitive in the current brokerage industry. Fidelity states fees, margin rates, and commission clearly. Hence, there is no confusion for consumers.

There are zero commissions on broker fees associated with account transactions and stocks. There was a transaction fee before, but Fidelity has eliminated it now. However, forex involves some costs because Fidelity doesn’t post data about the forex class on the website. Hence, it’s suggested to call in order to get the required details.

Charting

The charting feature is a good choice for technical and active traders. For this purpose, the traders can opt for the Active Trader Pro. It has advanced TA capacities, tabbed charting, and drawing tools. Moreover, there are no additional fees associated with these features.

Also, the chart features are customizable, and you can have access to historical trades and chart indicators.

Is This a Trustworthy Platform?

It has been considered suspicious ever since Fidelity came out, but the BBB has given it an A+ rating. The Better Business Bureau grades the company on a scale of A+ to F. Fidelity has earned a top rating.

On top of everything, Fidelity is extremely quick with complaint resolution. They have resolved over 300 complaints in a matter of a few months, as stated by the BBB.

The Bottom Line

Fidelity has become a good choice and has become a well-rounded brokerage firm. It’s a practical choice for retail traders and investors, irrespective of their experience level. Also, there are tools available for buy-and-hold investors on this web-based platform.

To summarize, it has low costs, practical trading executions, educational offerings, and efficient screeners.