LOS ANGELES, Jan. 29, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Investor’s Business Daily (IBD), a leading financial news and research organization, today announced the results of its sixth annual investor survey of the Best Online Brokers. Conducted in conjunction with polling partner TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence, the study analyzed responses from 5,052 investors to find out how well their primary online brokerage firms stacked up. Notably, Fidelity and Charles Schwab were recognized for their Overall Customer Experience for the sixth consecutive year, while TradeStation moved into the top five brokers for 2018 after receiving an Honorable Mention last year.
“Our annual Best Online Brokers report has been an invaluable tool for investors seeking to learn which firms excel in the services, platforms and performance categories that they value most,” said Chris Gessel, Chief Content Officer of IBD. The category breakouts allow everyone from beginning ETF investors to veteran options traders to identify the brokers most likely to meet their needs.
“We commend all the winners for their strong performance, as determined by the people who know them best,” Gessel said.
The 2018 Best Online Brokers list is based solely on objective data drawn from the brokers’ own customers, unlike other broker rankings based on editors’ subjective selections. The list thus provides honest, unfiltered feedback from investors who rely on the brokers day-in and day-out as they execute investment strategies.
The rankings were determined through a two-phase survey process that assessed both investor priorities and the brokerages’ ability to satisfy them. During Phase I of the survey, respondents were queried regarding which attributes of an online broker were most and least important to them.
In Phase II, survey respondents rated their primary broker on the 14 most important criteria, including the new Trade Ideas category. Weights were assigned to each attribute to compute an Overall Customer Experience Index for each broker. The top five overall and in each category were recognized as Best Online Brokers.
Complete Survey Results:
2018 Top Overall Customer Experience:
- Fidelity
- Charles Schwab
- TradeStation
- TD Ameritrade
- Interactive Brokers
Low Commissions & Fees:
- Interactive Brokers
- Fidelity
- Charles Schwab
- TradeStation
- Merrill Edge
Trade Reliability:
- Fidelity
- Interactive Brokers
- Charles Schwab
- TradeStation
- TD Ameritrade
Site Performance:
- Fidelity
- TradeStation
- Charles Schwab
- TD Ameritrade
- Interactive Brokers
Equity Trading Tools:
- TradeStation
- Fidelity
- Charles Schwab
- TD Ameritrade
- Interactive Brokers
Customer Service:
- Fidelity
- Charles Schwab
- Scottrade
- TD Ameritrade
- Merrill Edge
Research Tools:
- Fidelity
- Charles Schwab
- TradeStation
- TD Ameritrade
- Merrill Edge
Investment Research:
- Fidelity
- Charles Schwab
- TD Ameritrade
- Merrill Edge
- TradeStation
Low-cost/Free ETF Trading:
- Fidelity
- Charles Schwab
- Interactive Brokers
- Merrill Edge
- TradeStation
Portfolio Analysis & Reports:
- Fidelity
- Charles Schwab
- Merrill Edge
- TradeStation
- TD Ameritrade
Options Trading Platform:
- TD Ameritrade
- TradeStation
- Interactive Brokers
- Fidelity
- Charles Schwab
Mobile Trading Platform:
- TradeStation
- Interactive Brokers
- Fidelity
- TD Ameritrade
- Charles Schwab
Educational Resources:
- Fidelity
- TradeStation
- Charles Schwab
- TD Ameritrade
- Merrill Edge
Trade Ideas:
- TradeStation
- Charles Schwab
- Fidelity
- TD Ameritrade
- E-Trade
Investment & Retirement Planning Tools
- Fidelity
- Charles Schwab
- Merrill Edge
- TD Ameritrade
- TradeStation
To find out more about this year’s winners, including brokerage profiles, please visit www.investors.com/BestOnlineBrokers. To learn more about the rankings, read details of the survey methodology.
Reprints and licensing of the 2018 Best Online Brokers logo and accolade are available through IBD’s partner, PARS International. For more information, go to www.IBDreprints.com.
About IBD
Investor's Business Daily (IBD) is a leading financial news and research organization recognized for proprietary stock screens, comparative performance ratings and a record of identifying stock leaders as they emerge. The company takes a data-first approach to investing, educating investors about how to invest successfully using tested methods and sound research. IBD has honed its approach over the last 50 years to help investors make smarter decisions. Its stock lists have outperformed the S&P, and its recent presidential poll, the most accurate over the past four election cycles, was one of only two national polls to accurately predict the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election. IBD offers a number of interactive stock research tools and information for investors of every level. To learn more about all that IBD has available, please visit www.investors.com.
© 2018 Investor's Business Daily, Inc. All rights reserved. Investor's Business Daily, IBD, CAN SLIM and their corresponding logos are registered trademarks of Investor's Business Daily, Inc.
For Editorial Contact:
Marisa Lam
GMK Communications for IBD
marisa@gmkcommunications.com
650.544.3350