Fidelity Reviews And Information

Fidelity Investments was one of the early pioneers in the mutual fund industry. They launched their first fund in 1947, and have long served as advocates of mutual funds as a way for individual investors to access the market. In recent years they have expanded to serve as a discount brokerage for individual stocks as well as mutual funds. The company currently boasts over $1 trillion in assets under management.

Fidelity Services

Fidelity has three tiers for investment accounts: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. As expected, the tiers are assigned based on account size and trading activity. All tiers provide real-time streaming stock quotes, hourly price updates for Fidelity's internal mutual funds, and a broad suite of free research tools. Further, investors have access to independent research from S&P, Reuters, Thomson Financial, Argus, and a number of other outlets. Most of this analysis and research is provided free of charge.

For active traders, Fidelity provides a specialized platform called "Active Trader Pro." Investors using this platform can enter multiple orders at once, and set up trailing stops, conditional trades, and other sorts of advanced orders. In order to speed up the process, investors may also elect to set up one-click trading and to skip order previews. You also have to ability to route orders to different market makers if desired.

Fidelity provides a broad array of additional services, including individual retirement accounts, company 401(k) administration, wealth management, and more. Fidelity also provides excellent telephone access to brokers and advisors, and have a reputation for top-notch customer service. Their executions are solid and fast. In fact, they offer a 1-second execution guarantee on many types of orders.

Fidelity Reviews in the Media

Fidelity has long been recognized as a strong advocate for the individual investor, beginning with the advent of mutual funds, and continuing to the present day with its excellent service to large and small investors alike. Critics in the media have given them high marks for customer service, solid independent research, and trade execution in general, although some have questioned the quality of their routing system for individual stocks.

Downsides to Consider

Much like Charles Schwab, Fidelity's fees can be burdensome for smaller investors. While still cheap compared to full-service brokerages, there are a number of less expensive options available for those who don't qualify for Fidelity's Gold or Silver tiers.

Bottom Line

Fidelity is one of our two top picks for customers who want more personal service, including independent investment advice, wealth management services, and the ability to meet with brokers in person (Charles Schwab is the other). If this is you, then it's hard to beat Fidelity or Schwab for quality and value. Further, Fidelity provides excellent access to international stocks, which should be part of every investor's portfolio nowadays.

Smaller accounts and the more independent-minded, on the other hand, would likely be better off with less expensive providers, such as Zecco.com or TradeKing.com.

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