This text/submit accommodates references to services or products from a number of of our advertisers or companions. We could obtain compensation once you click on on hyperlinks to these services or products
Merrill Edge is a reduction brokerage from Financial institution of America. With this dealer, you may open a self-directed funding account with no recurring charges and no commissions on shares or exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Plus, Merrill Edge supplies a few of the greatest analysis instruments and ESG investing capabilities available on the market. And should you want a serving to hand, it provides managed portfolios {and professional} funding advisors for an added price. Total, it’s a wonderful selection for hands-off and energetic traders alike.
execs
- Fee-free inventory and ETF buying and selling
- Merrill Edge has platforms for voth newbie and knowledgeable merchants
- Complete ESG investing choices
- In depth analysis and training sources
cons
- Charges for managed portfolios are larger than some opponents
- No fractional share investing
- No cryptocurrency investing
Who Is Merrill Edge For?
Merrill Lynch is an outdated title on Wall Avenue. Based in 1914, the foremost brokerage was acquired by Financial institution of America within the wake of the Monetary Disaster in 2008. As we speak, Merrill Edge is the low cost inventory buying and selling product from Financial institution of America.
Total, it is a aggressive, commission-free dealer that has a few of the most in-depth analysis and academic instruments. And should you’re a Financial institution of America buyer, Merrill Edge is an apparent selection due to its integration together with your financial institution and the Most well-liked Rewards program.
It is also a wonderful selection if you would like complete ESG investing and a wealth of investing instruments for extra energetic buying and selling.
It’s essential look elsewhere if you would like crypto investing and fractional shares. However for present Financial institution of America prospects or traders who worth analysis and training, Merrill Edge is price utilizing.
Merrill Edge Options
Minimal Funding | $0 |
Inventory/ETF Trades | $0 |
Choices Trades | $0.65/contract |
Mutual Funds | $0 |
Funding Varieties | Shares, OTC/Penny Shares, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Choices, Foreign exchange, Cryptocurrencies, Futures |
Accounts Varieties |
|
Entry | Net Primarily based, iPhone App, Apple Watch, Android App, BlackBerry App |
Dealer Assisted Commerce | N/A |
Digital Trades | |
Buyer Service | Telephone: 24/7; Dwell Chat: M-F 7:30 a.m. -11 p.m. ET, Sat 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; E mail |
What Makes Merrill Edge Nice?
Merrill Edge has been rated the #1 dealer for customer support, fee and charges, and analysis by the likes of Kiplinger and Institutional Investor. And with a spread of investing choices and analysis instruments, it’s straightforward to see why it is so well-liked.
Funding Choice
One benefit of Merrill Edge is the vary of funding decisions you could have. For starters, you get commission-free buying and selling for ETFs and shares. You may as well put money into:
Moreover, Merrill Edge has glorious ESG investing assist. ESG, or surroundings, social, and company governance, is a socially-responsible investing technique by which traders assist firms that assist these values.
With Merrill Edge’s sustainable investing, you should use its Thought Builder software to seek out shares that assist environmental and social initiatives you care about. Shares even have an ESG ranking that can assist you resolve. Plus, your portfolio has an total rating for every ESG element.
Lastly, you can too commerce on margin. Nevertheless, Merrill Edge doesn’t assist futures buying and selling.
Training & Assets
Merrill Edge prospects have entry to a wealth of investing analysis to assist them make extra knowledgeable selections. In the event you’re an energetic investor who loves digging by inventory screeners and analyst studies, Merrill Edge is for you.
A number of the primary instructional and analysis sources you get embrace:
- Financial institution of America’s (BofA) World Analysis studies
- BofA buy-rated inventory picks from its World Analysis Analyst crew
- Third-party analysis from companions like CFRA, Lipper, and Morningstar
Merrill Edge additionally supplies movies and webcasts from {industry} professionals protecting subjects like market volatility and numerous asset lessons.
The analysis you get from BofA is the principle promoting level. You get weekly and month-to-month studies with insights from funding analysts, hedge fund managers, and {industry} leaders.
And there are different helpful investing instruments as nicely. Merrill Edge has versatile screener instruments for shares, mutual funds, ETFs, choices, and fixed-income investments. Screeners have over 200 filters, together with choices like analyst opinions, dividends, earnings and progress, and different metrics that can assist you worth a inventory or safety.
MarketPro Buying and selling
MarketPro is Merrill Edge’s on-line buying and selling platform that caters to energetic merchants. It’s free for Merrill Edge prospects, and there’s no minimal deposit or buying and selling requirement. You don’t pay commissions on inventory and ETFs both.
You create a customizable buying and selling dashboard with MarketPro. Merrill Edge has a number of prebuilt buying and selling views. You may as well add more information to your dashboard and save completely different layouts. Different perks of MarketPro embrace:
- Charting choices with 104 technical indicators and 25 drawing instruments
- Stage II Nasdaq quotes
- Choices evaluation instruments
Moreover, market makers compete for Merrill Edge’s enterprise. In keeping with Merrill Edge, this implies 99% of orders execute at or higher than quote worth. Orders additionally course of in 0.007 seconds on common, so you may commerce figuring out your quote worth is the precise worth.
MarketPro is simply obtainable on desktop. However Merrill Edge has a strong cellular buying and selling app the place you may handle your account, learn the newest information, and allow inventory and watchlist alerts so that you don’t miss a commerce.
Merrill Edge Guided Investing (MEGI)
Self-directed investing with Merrill Edge supplies every thing you must begin investing. And the vary of analysis and training instruments helps you get began.
However Merrill Edge additionally provides Guided Investing should you want knowledgeable investing assist. This robo-advisor considers your investing targets and ranges of threat tolerance to construct a portfolio that’s best for you. Merrill Edge even handles portfolio rebalancing, and you’ll monitor efficiency and progress in the direction of your targets in a central dashboard.
In contrast to some robo-advisors, Merrill Edge enables you to keep online-only or add entry to a Merrill Edge advisor. The plans have completely different funding minimums and charges:
- MEGI On-line: $1,000 investing minimal; 0.45% annual price.
- MEGI On-line With Advisor: $20,000 investing minimal; 0.85% annual price.
Robo-advisors like Betterment are extra inexpensive with a 0.25% annual price for accounts underneath $100,000. However Merrill Edge provides flexibility. And the very fact you may speak to a human advisor is a promoting level for some traders.
Most well-liked Rewards Program
As a result of Financial institution of America owns Merrill Edge, you robotically get enrolled within the Financial institution of America Most well-liked Rewards Program. So long as you could have an energetic Financial institution of America checking account and meet sure steadiness necessities, you acquire perks.
Presently, Most well-liked Rewards has 4 tiers that assist you save on investing and financial institution charges whereas unlocking additional rewards:
Gold | Platinum | Platinum Honors | Diamond | |
---|---|---|---|---|
3-Month Common Steadiness Requirement | $20,000 to $50,000 | $50,000 to $100,000 | $100,000 to $1M | $1M to $10M |
Guided Investing Low cost | 0.05% | 0.10% | 0.15% | 0.15% |
Benefit Financial savings Curiosity Bonus | 5% | 10% | 20% | 20% |
Credit score Card Rewards Bonus | 25% | 50% | 75% | 75% |
International Change Price Low cost | 1% | 1.5% | 2% | No worldwide transaction charges or ATM charges |
Bonus cash-back and curiosity are the principle perks of Most well-liked Rewards. However this program additionally makes Guided Investing extra inexpensive and helps you save on worldwide journey.
New Account Bonus
New prospects can earn as much as $600 for opening a Merrill Edge Self-Directed account. To qualify, you have to fund your account with at the very least $20,000 inside 45 days of opening. Merrill Edge bonuses differ relying on funding quantity:
Internet New Asset Steadiness | Money Reward |
---|---|
$20,000 to $49,999 | $100 |
$50,000 to $99,999 | $150 |
$100,000 to $199,999 | $250 |
$200,000 or extra | $600 |
Incomes $600 requires numerous capital, however even incomes $100 to $250 is a aggressive welcome bonus.
What Are Merrill Edge’s Drawbacks?
Merrill Edge excels when it comes to self-directed investing pricing, analysis, and investing choices. But it surely doesn’t assist each asset class, and its robo-advisor department isn’t aggressive on pricing.
No Crypto Investing
Merrill Edge provides commission-free buying and selling and helps quite a few investments. Nevertheless, a scarcity of crypto investing is one main downside.
If you wish to add digital belongings to your portfolio, you should use a cryptocurrency trade like Coinbase or Gemini that assist dozens or tons of of well-liked cash. Alternatively, use investing apps like Robinhood that assist crypto.
No Fractional Shares
Whilst you can allow a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) to reinvest dividend earnings with Merrill Edge, he dealer doesn’t assist fractional share investing outright. Total, this makes Merrill Edge much less beginner-friendly than brokers like Charles Schwab and Constancy which each assist fractional shares.
Excessive Guided Investing Charges
Merrill Edge’s flexibility for its Guided Investing plan is a power. Nevertheless, charges are steep, even with potential Most well-liked Rewards reductions.
The $1,000 investing minimal can also be excessive. Compared, robo-advisors like Betterment have a $0 steadiness requirement and solely cost 0.25% yearly. Wealthfront, one other main robo-advisor, has a $500 steadiness requirement and likewise expenses a 0.25% annual advisory price.
Merrill Edge Pricing & Charges
Merrill Edge doesn’t cost commissions on inventory and ETF trades. You don’t pay account upkeep charges both.
Nevertheless, completely different order varieties and investments have numerous charges:
- Dealer-Assisted Trades: $29.95.
- Choices: $0.65 per contract.
- Mutual Funds: $19.95 for funds exterior of the no transaction price (NTF) group
- Mounted Revenue & Bonds: $1 per bond ($10 minimal and $250 most)
- Margin Charges: Ranges from 7.50% plus base lending charge to eight.50% plus base lending charge relying on mortgage quantity. Merrill Edge doesn’t embrace pricing for patrons with $250,000+ in belongings or margin loans larger than $1 million.
Lastly, you pay numerous account charges in some situations:
- Canceled Checks: $3.
- Returned Deposits: $20.
- Wire Switch: $24.95.
- Cease Funds: $25.
- Full Account Transfers: $49.95.
- Account Closeout: $49.95.
The right way to Contact Merrill Edge
The quickest solution to contact Merrill Edge is to name.
- Merrill Edge Prospects: Name 877-653-4732.
- Non-Prospects: Name 866-460-1282.
Telephone assist is accessible 24/7 which is one benefit. You may as well schedule an in-person appointment at 2,200 Financial institution of America branches to talk to a Merrill Monetary Options Advisor.
This stage of in-person assist is one large distinction from utilizing Merrill Edge versus online-only brokers.
Greatest Alternate options
In the event you’re a Financial institution of America buyer or need the perfect ESG investing platform, Merrill Edge is price utilizing. But it surely’s far out of your solely choice. Opponents like Charles Schwab and Robinhood are superior in some situations. Right here’s how all three platforms examine.
Charles Schwab takes the sting for fractional share investing and its Clever Portfolios robo-advisor which doesn’t cost advisory charges. Moreover, it provides computerized rebalancing similar to Merrill Edge. And you can too get skilled, human recommendation for a $30 month-to-month price or $300 one-time planning price.
As for Robinhood, it’s extra of a beginner-friendly solution to commerce shares, ETFs, choices, and crypto. You’ll be able to even dabble in crypto buying and selling with simply $1.
Merrill Edge nonetheless reigns supreme for ESG investing. It additionally has a few of the greatest analysis and training choices on the market. In the end, selecting the correct platform is dependent upon the way you make investments and which asset lessons are most necessary.
Backside Line
Merrill Edge is an award-winning dealer for good purpose. It has aggressive pricing for self-directed investing. And its vary of portfolio choices, specific ESG-friendly ones, is a bonus. If you throw in industry-leading analysis and perks for present Financial institution of America prospects, it’s the most effective brokers on the market.
However you will want to decide on a special dealer should you’re eager to become involved in cryptocurrency or fractional share investing. And should you’re searching for managed portfolios, brokers like Charles Schwab or robo-advisors like Betterment are superior.
Briefly, present Financial institution of America prospects ought to undoubtedly take into account Merrill Edge, as ought to any investor who values analysis and ESG investing choices.