Interactive Brokers review

When you’re looking for a broker to trade or invest, it is always a good idea to go with one which offers you numerous options. Even when you have that requirement, you will come across multiple brokers.

One such name is Interactive Brokers. However, rather than directly signing up with Interactive Brokers, it is better to know more about it. Only when you know more about it, it will become easier for you to decide whether Interactive Brokers is worth it or not.

Our Interactive Brokers review will go into every detail of this broker. By the end of this review, you can decide on your own whether you should go ahead with it or not.

Interactive Brokers Full Review:

Interactive is one of the most popular brokers you will find online. It offers you access to more than 135 exchanges across 33 countries. In a nutshell, the instruments which it provides you are 2nd to none.

Its reputation is also unblemished. It has never posed a problem for its traders or investors.

Moreover, it offers you access to US-based ETF’s and stocks as well. It provides you free trading for the same.

The instruments which it offers include:

• Stocks
• Bonds
• Mutual funds
• Fractional shares
• ETFs
• Options
• Forex
• Futures
• Metals
• And so on

With access to numerous such instruments, you can easily create a diversified portfolio. Moreover, with access to global securities and instruments, you will not have to worry about signing up with any other broker once you’re going with Interactive Brokers.

In terms of instruments on offer, Interactive Brokers is second to none.

Before we delve any further, it is a good idea to look at Interactive Brokers’ offerings in greater detail.

Interactive Brokers offering:

• Account minimum: $ 0

• Stock trading fee: $ 0

• Options trading fee: $ 0

• Trading platform: IKBR Lite & IKBR Pro

• Mobile app availability: yes

Highlights of Interactive Brokers:

• Access to over 130 markets

• Numerous types of accounts available

• fast order execution

• Stellar reputation

• Numerous tools available

• Automation possible

• Ability to invest in fractional shares

• 2 trading platforms available

Where Interactive Brokers scores:

Now that you are aware of Interactive Brokers’ basics, it is time to look at its more salient features. These include:

• Low cost:

The main advantage of Interactive Brokers is that you will not have to pay anything when you’re using its lite platform. Whether you invest in stocks, ETFs, or any other instruments, you will not have to pay anything.

Even when you’re using the pro platform, the commissions are pretty low. High volume traders will be paying $ 0.005 per share. The minimum Trade Commission is $ 1, and the maximum is 1% of the total traded value.

In this, the regulatory fees, as well as the exchange fees, are included.

There are even lower rates available if you trade more than 300,000 shares in a month.

Options trading is available for $ .65 per contract. The minimum option Trade Commission is $ 1 per order.

When you look at these commissions with respect to other brokers, you will realize that the commissions are pretty low. There are very other brokers that offer so many instruments and charge such low fees.

• Global investment options available:

Hardly any other broker offers you access to over 135 markets. These are spread across 33 countries.

It supports 23 currencies. In a nutshell, you can deposit the currency which you prefer.

Also, you can access the market 24 hours a day and 6 days a week.

Additionally, bonds, funds, futures, and currencies are available as well.

With so many global investment options available, there will be no need to sign up with any other broker.

• Trading platform for any device:

The trading platform on offer by this broker is available on the mobile app. You can easily use the mobile app on iOS as well as android devices. The numerous instruments which are available on the desktop are also available on the mobile app. Due to the same, you can easily transact using the mobile app.

The broker is also available on mobile browsers. The responsive website ensures that you can operate it easily from your smartphone.

As for desktops and laptops, it is available through those as well.

In a nutshell, the trading platforms which the broker provides are accessible across any device.

• Numerous algo orders available:

Did you know that Interactive Brokers offers over 100 different order types?

It supports algorithmic trading as well.

If you want to automate your trading efforts, you can certainly do so. Automation will help you save a lot of time. It will also ensure you do not miss out on any trading opportunity.

For the same, you will not have to pay anything extra. You can subscribe to the pro platform, and after that, you will have access to all the algorithms and the order types.

• Multiple trading tools available:

Want to analyze various tools to plan your trades?

If so, there are hundreds of free trading tools available as well. With the help of these trading tools, you can make an informed decision regarding trading.

Also, the trading tools are available on multiple devices as well.

Consequently, initiating a trade after proper due diligence is certainly possible.

• Detailed reporting:

The real-time confirmation ensures that you will not have to wait long to get the instruments.

Not only that, detailed reporting means that you can get information regarding:

• Portfolio analysis
• Cost analysis
• Margin details
• And so on

With the help of detailed reporting, you can plan your trades in your portfolio in a much better way.

• An account for every need:

The broker also offers various account types for different types of traders and investors. The different account types include:

• Individual accounts
• Joint accounts
• Retirement accounts
• Trust accounts
• Friends and family adviser account
• Institutional account

With the help of numerous accounts, you will always find a suitable one. It means that if you want to invest on behalf of someone else or want to invest for a specific purpose, you can certainly do so.

When you look at other brokers, most of them will not offer you an institutional account. They do not even have the necessary infrastructure to offer so many different accounts. The fact that Interactive Brokers offers you so many accounts speaks volumes regarding the robust backend technology it uses.

In a nutshell, whether you want to trade worth $ 1000 or whether you wish to trade worth $ 100,000, you can certainly do so with this broker.

The robust servers ensure that you will not have to worry about trade execution or any downtime.

The numerous accounts make the broker suitable for everyone.

• Free trial available:

Want to try out the platform?

If so, the broker offers you a free trial as well. With the help of a free trial, you can access all tools and news platforms, and even actual market instruments. Moreover, you can do so without any risk of depositing any money. It will help you in testing various strategies as well.

Thus, if you want to get the hang of it, the free trial can certainly come to your rescue.

• Detailed research and news platform:

News has a significant impact on various market instruments. Interactive Brokers understands this.

Due to the same, it offers a research and news platform. In the news platform, you will get the news across various sources. Some of the sources are paid as well. You can get access to premium quality information.

Thus, you can access all this research and news without paying anything extra.

• Margin accounts available:

The IBKR pro also offers you access to margin accounts. It provides you the maximum margin rate of benchmark rate +1.5%.

With the help of margin trading, you can quickly increase the capital with which you are trading.

With the help of the cash management feature, it becomes easy for you to access extra capital.

The cash management feature can provide additional help when you are looking to increase your capital.

• Ability to invest in fractional shares:

Fractional shares are becoming more and more popular among retail traders. Interactive Brokers also offers you the same.

The ability to invest using fractional shares ensures that it is easy for you to diversify your portfolio.

Moreover, the interface is such that you can invest in fractional shares quite easily.

In this regard as well, Interactive Brokers does not disappoint.

• 2 trading platforms available:

For the retailer or the average trader, Interactive Brokers offers the lite platform.

For the advanced traders, it offers the pro platform as well. Pro platform provides you various tools, access to news sources, and even margin accounts. The pro account has slightly higher commissions. However, if you’re a professional trader, the pro account can undoubtedly come to your rescue. The platform provides all necessary tools to trade professionally.

The news and research sources which the broker offers on the pro platform are almost unparalleled. Many other professional brokers do not provide the same even when you’re ready to pay. You might have to source them from third-party sources.

For the retail trader and investors, the lite platform is enough. You will not have to opt for the pro platform. Moreover, it offers almost free trading. Lite platform will not disappoint you.

The two platforms ensure that you can easily get access to the tools and resources which you need.

• Numerous instruments available:

The number of instruments available are plenty. These include:

o Stocks

o Fractional shares

o Mutual funds

o Bonds

o ETFs

o Futures

o Forex

o Options

o Metals

o And so on

If you look at the category of mutual funds alone, it offers over 8300 mutual funds.

As you can see, the number of instruments on offer are enormous. Irrespective of the type of investment you want to make, this broker can certainly help you out.

With such a large number of features, Interactive Brokers will not disappoint you. When you compare it with other brokers, you will realize that the instruments which it has on offer are much greater than other brokers.

However, it is essential to look at some of the shortcomings of this broker as well. Once you look at the same, you can make the correct decision.

Where Interactive Brokers can improve:

The shortcomings of this broker include:

• Inactivity fees:

Inactive accounts having a balance of less than $ 100,000 are charged $ 10 per month of inactivity fees. Many brokers do not charge this fee. However, the IBKR pro account charges it.

The advantage, however, is that IBKR lite does not charge an inactivity fee.

• Website design can be better:

At first glance, the website design might appear proper. However, if you’re using the website’s intricate features while trading, you will find that the design could have been better.

Sometimes, it becomes difficult to locate the right feature. You will have to refer to the FAQ section to get help regarding the same.

Moreover, having all types of trading accounts on a single website and numerous trading instruments can certainly make it look cluttered.

While it is not necessary that you might have a problem due to the website design, but the website could have been designed in a better way.

We will now highlight the pros and cons to help you know more about this broker.

Pros:

• Numerous trading instruments

• 2 different trading platforms

• Low fees

• Detailed reporting

• Numerous tools available

• Responsive website and app available

• Multiple account times available

• Suitable for everyone

Cons:

• Can be overwhelming

Should you choose Interactive Brokers?

For sure, the set of features that are on offer by Interactive Brokers is not available on any other broker. It is one of the reasons why it has become so famous.

The fact that it sources instruments from over 30 countries speaks volumes regarding its rules and regulatory framework. Moreover, the robust processes ensure that you can access all the data 24 hours a day and execute trade seamlessly. The fact that it is available across devices is another feather in its cap. Combining all these features ensures that Interactive Brokers is undoubtedly one of the best options if you’re looking to sign up with a credible broker. Once you do so, it will become easier for you to trade in any instrument without worrying.