Author: Tad Mickey
The COVID-19 pandemic created significant financial challenges, with unemployment rates spiking to levels related to the Depression of the 1930s. As the population sought alternative sources of income, there was a considerable increase in the usage of financial investment applications, such as Fidelity Investments.
Fidelity Investments is one of the largest multinational financial management firms, with over 40 million active users and 2.8 million daily trades.
Fidelity at a Glance
Although the platform offers industry-low fees, Fidelity Investments still boats an impressive range of features, both for experienced and newcomer investors:
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- No account fees
- No minimum opening balance
- $0 commissions for online US stock and ETF trades
- Fractional shares program
- Fidelity Go, a Robo-advisor, and two other managed portfolio options
- No-transaction-fee mutual funds and fee-free mutual funds
- Powerful but simple platform
The Pros of Fidelity Investments
Mutual Funds
Fidelity Investments supports an extensive selection of mutual funds, with user-friendly approaches to encourage investment in this channel.
The platform offers zero transaction fees on over 3,400 mutual funds. In addition, it is the first platform to provide multiple mutual funds without an annual expense ratio, which allows users to allocate their money towards buying shares rather than paying fees.
Fractional Shares
The platform offers “Stocks by the Slice”, for users to purchase fractions of a stock for as little as $1. The program supports over 7,000 stocks and ETFs. This feature is ideal for people with lower income because it accommodates minimal amounts. In addition, users can reinvest their dividends into fractional shares to maximize their investment potential.
Complimentary Educational Resources
As mentioned, Fidelity Investments is a beginner-friendly platform. It is ideal for users with zero experience in financial investment because it offers a range of learning tools and educational resources. The platform provides informative articles to teach the fundamentals of investment. It also offers financial webinars and podcasts to keep you updated with the current market trends.
For a limited time, Fidelity is offering a promotion where new users can receive $100 when they open an account. All you have to do is:
- Open a new account and use promo code FIDELITY100.
- Deposit $50 or more within 15 days of account creation.
- $100 will be automatically deposited to your account within 25 days of your account being opened.
That’s a 200% return on investment in just 25 days. Now that’s what you call a good investment!
The Cons of Fidelity Investments
No Trading of Futures, Forex, and Cryptocurrencies
Even though Fidelity Investment supports quite a good number of stocks and ETFs, the platform does not feature the trading of futures, Forex, and cryptocurrencies. However, recent announcements have hinted toward an update that supports the trading of cryptocurrencies.
High Fees for Managed Options
The platform’s broker-assisted trade fee of $32.95 is higher than the fee charged by its contemporaries.
Trading Restrictions on Some Securities
The platform has trade restrictions on some of the riskier investment opportunities, including certain types of preferred stocks. However, this should not be an issue for beginners, rather, they should focus more on the fundamentals before exploring riskier investments.
Is Fidelity a Good Investment Platform?
The platform may have disappointed users who plan on trading futures, Forex, or cryptocurrencies. Nonetheless, Fidelity Investments offers a list of attractive features for all experience levels. It is worth considering for beginners seeking an investor-friendly platform, zero trade commission, and a wide range of education and research materials.