Fidelity Review – Is Fidelity.Com a Reliable and Trusted Broker

Fidelity Investments, also known as Fidelity Management and Research, or just simply Fidelity, is one of the oldest asset management companies in the world. The company was first founded in 1946. In Boston, Massachusetts, and through their long history they have become one of the largest financial services providers on the globe.

As a complex financial entity, Fidelity offers not only brokerage but also a wide range of financial planning and consulting services which makes them truly stand out among the rest. Some of these include life insurance, retirement planning, mutual funds, wealth management, and many more.

The company currently employs 57.000 people and operates more than $4.5 trillion in assets under management. As of 2021, Fidelity reported more than $24 billion in revenue alone. All of the company’s shares are owned by private entities, with 51% of shareowners being current and former employees.

These incredible business statistics may seem intimidating at first, but the fact that Fidelity has existed longer and operated more funds than some countries speaks volumes about their long-term stability and reliability. In all honesty, dear reader, this little article doesn’t do it justice when describing their great accomplishments.

Fidelity Pros and Cons

It is easy to become sidetracked and go on a tangent with all the numerous products and services Fidelity has to offer. For that reason, in order to keep this as succinct as possible, we will try to focus on the topic of broking services.

Firstly, we should mention that Fidelity operates in one of the largest and most strictly regulated markets on the planet- the USA. Investors and traders can rest easy knowing their funds are safe, but this brings us to our first con: Fidelity does not offer almost any services outside of the USA. All business this company conducts abroad is delegated to international affiliates.

For a company that specializes in finance, it is worth noting that no bank card payments are accepted. This may seem old-fashioned at first, but Fidelity does accept e-wallet deposits.

As they are, among other things, a financial research company, Fidelity also offers great education, very detailed market analysis, and high-quality customer support.

Is Fidelity Regulated? License and Security

As mentioned before, Fidelity is regulated by FINRA of the USA. This is one of the most strictly enforced financial markets in the world, and obtaining a license requires some very specific criteria to be met.

In the USA, a company that seeks to provide broking services must operate more than $20,000,000 in trading capital. The client’s funds must be in segregated bank accounts, and a leverage restriction of 1:50 is imposed. Transactions must be fully transparent as well.

FINRA allows bonuses to be awarded, and currently, there is a promotion for new traders on Fidelity’s website. There are some downsides to this license as well. 

Even though no compensation scheme is legally required in the USA, it is highly unlikely that such a prominent company would go bankrupt. Novice traders should take great care not to “go under” when speculating since FINRA does not require negative balance protection.

Account Types Offered

Among many account types, traders can choose what best suits their preferences and expectations. Fidelity has designed a wide range of custom account types so that every investor picks their own that is tailored exactly to their trading needs. 

Since there are many account types, we will only mention several of the most popular types. For more information and what each account type offers, you can visit https://www.fidelity.com/. 

Retail accounts have the option to either be joint or individual. This stands for all account types except the Fidelity Business account.

Some of the most popular options are:

• Tested Brokerage account – this is the Standard account.
• Cash Management Account 
• Brokerage and Cash Management – represents a combination of options that Brokerage and Cash Management account offer.
• Fidelity Account for Businesses – in other words, this is a Cash Management account tailored to Business needs
• Saving for retirement – Several types of IRA accounts help clients create saving plans for retirement.
• Managed Accounts – Few types of accounts focus on clients’ accounts being managed by Fidelity professionals, with the options for using the advanced Fidelity technology. 

Trading Platforms Overview

Fidelity has developed their own trading platform that brings you unique trading conditions and an overall quality trading experience. Very comprehensive and easy to navigate, Fidelity trading software is especially convenient for beginners that wish to learn from the very basics. The downside to this platform is that it lacks customization options. 

More advanced traders may perhaps not find it fully suitable for their more complex trading strategies that require a more structured preview. Fidelity trader is available for web trading, for desktop and in the form of a mobile app.

Active Trader Pro is another top-notch product provided by Fidelity and exclusively for desktop downloading. More complex and customizable, this trading terminal has all the features that enable users to build up their own trading strategy.

Customers can fully customize it and adjust the layout to their preferences with the help of filters and advanced options. Multi-trading tools allow you to place up to around 50 orders at one time and store others for future reference.    

Trading Instruments Available

Among the tradable assets at Fidelity, there are different classes of financial instruments to choose from. Trading conditions are overall attractive and affordable, especially concerning the fact about no commissions are charged on US Stocks and ETFs. 

The following classes of tradable products are available:

• Forex (EUR/USD, USD/CAD, USD/JPY, USD/AUD, USD/NZD)
• Stocks (Boeing, Tesla, Amazon, Netflix, Nike, Adidas, Facebook, Google)
• ETFs (Fidelity Metaverse ETF, Fidelity Stocks for Inflation ETF, Fidelity Magellan ETF)
• Funds (Fidelity Blue Chip Value Fund, Enhanced Index Fund, Cap Value Fund)
• Bonds (U.S. Treasury, Agency, Municipal, Corporate, and High yield bonds)
• Options 
• Crypto (BTC, ETH, LTC, USDT, XRP)

Deposits and Withdrawals Methods 

While Fidelity offers a rich choice of funding options, the downside to the transfers is that no credit/debit card investing is allowed. On the other hand, the most popular methods are still there, including various E-wallets, wire transfers, and cryptocurrencies. 

Clients can choose between 16 different base currencies and deposit at any time they wish as no fees follow the depositing process. The same is with withdrawals, which do not take more than 2 business days to process. 

However, this stands only when withdrawing funds in USD or ACH. In other cases, you may face a commission of 3% for non-USD withdrawals. To avoid conversion fees that aren’t controlled by the broker, we advise you to open a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. 

Customer Support 

Staying in touch with customers and helping them overcome difficulties while trading or attempting to become long-term user is of crucial importance to Fidelity. For that reason, the broker has enabled several ways for the clients to contact customer support:

• Phone
• Live chat
• Email 

Phone agents are very helpful and responsive. The only fault in this sort of communication with customers is that this channel is only available in English. That’s understandable, considering that Fidelity mainly focuses on English-speaking areas and populations.

Email responses usually arrive within one business day. Very detailed and explanatory, they’re obviously done with dedication and will to resolve the customer’s issue.

Live chat, on the other hand, tends to be somewhat slow. Nonetheless, users will still get their answer. The problem with this feature is that it isn’t available 24/7.

Fidelity Overall Summary

This broker is a US-based online financial services provider with annual revenue in billions and more than 50 thousand employees. The company tends to trade the needs of millions of customers. Their satisfaction with the service is obvious from the high ratings and positive online reviews. 

Since Fidelity falls under US jurisdiction, they are properly regulated in this area. However, because of the jurisdictional regulations, interested investors from some other zones and countries may not be able to open an account.  

Broker clients can enjoy a number of different account types to choose from, very fast and reliable trading platforms and transparent methods of transactions. In the end, becoming a customer at this broker brings various advantages that this Fidelity review explains. While there may be some downsides, this doesn’t affect the company’s general performance and we wholeheartedly recommend this broker giant. 

FAQs About Fidelity Broker