Merrill Edge Self-Directed Review 2023: Pros, Cons and How It Compares
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Our Take
4.7
The bottom line:
on Merrill Edge's website
Pros & Cons
Pros
Robust third-party research.
Integrated with Bank of America.
Cons
Advanced traders may find fewer securities on offer.
Compare to Similar Brokers
Current Product
NerdWallet rating 4.7 /5 | NerdWallet rating 5.0 /5 | NerdWallet rating 5.0 /5 | NerdWallet rating 5.0 /5 |
Fees $0 per trade | Fees $0 per trade for online U.S. stocks and ETFs | Fees $0 per trade | Fees $0 per trade |
Account minimum $0 | Account minimum $0 | Account minimum $0 | Account minimum $0 |
Promotion Up to $600 when you invest in a new Merrill Edge® Self-Directed account. | Promotion Get $100 when you open a new, eligible Fidelity account with $50 or more. Use code FIDELITY100. Limited time offer. Terms apply. | Promotion None no promotion available at this time | Promotion Get up to 12 free fractional shares (valued up to $3,000) when you open and fund an account with Webull. |
Learn more on Merrill Edge's website | Learn more on Fidelity's website | Learn more on Interactive Brokers' website | Learn more on Webull's website |
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Full Review
Where Merrill Edge Self-Directed shines
Integration with Bank of America: Merrill Edge is a product of Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch, and it’s clear that the parent company has made the effort to create a seamless experience for clients who use both services. You can view Bank of America accounts and Merrill Edge accounts with a single login, and real-time transfers move money between accounts instantly.
Educational resources: In addition to a library of educational articles, courses, videos, webinars, virtual events and free tools and calculators, Merrill Edge has an Idea Builder tool to help newer investors find investments that appeal to them, such as ESG products.
Where Merrill Edge Self-Directed falls short
Investment selection. Advanced traders may find fewer securities on offer.
Fractional shares. Fractional shares let investors buy by the dollar amount, rather than the share amount. This makes it much easier — and more affordable — to diversify, but Merrill Edge doesn’t offer this ability.
Merrill Edge Self-Directed is best for:
Bank of America customers.
High-balance customers.
Environmental, social and governance investors.
Merrill Edge Self-Directed at a glance
Account minimum | $0. |
Stock trading costs | $0. |
Options trades | $0 + $0.65 per contract. |
Account fees (annual, transfer, closing, inactivity) | No annual, inactivity or transfer/closing fees for brokerage accounts; $49.95 full outgoing account transfer fee for retirement accounts. |
Number of no-transaction-fee mutual funds | Over 2,000. |
Tradable securities | • Stocks. • Bonds. • Mutual funds. • ETFs. • Options. |
Crypto availability | No access to cryptocurrencies or crypto-related products. |
Trading platform | Three trading platforms:
|
Mobile app | Advanced features mimic a desktop trading platform. |
Research and data | Research, ratings and reports from several providers, including Bank of America, Morningstar and S&P Global. |
Customer support options (includes how easy it is to find key details on the website) | 24/7 phone, chat, email, with in-person appointments available during Bank of America branch open hours. |
More details about Merrill Edge Self-Directed's ratings
Account minimum: 5 out of 5 stars
Merrill Edge has no minimum account requirement. Customers with a combined balance of more than $20,000 in eligible investment and cash accounts can qualify for Merrill’s rewards program.
Stock trading costs: 5 out of 5 stars
There are no commissions on stock or ETF trades at Merrill Edge.
Options trades: 4 out of 5 stars
Merrill Edge has no commissions on options trades, though you will still have to pay $0.65 per contract, a fairly typical charge among brokerages.
Account fees: 5 out of 5 stars
Merrill Edge gets high marks when it comes to account fees: There are no partial transfer, annual or inactivity fees for brokerage accounts. If you close an account and transfer out all assets, you’ll pay a fee of $49.95, but that charge is still lower than at some other brokerages.
Number of no-transaction-fee mutual funds: 3 out of 5 stars
Merrill Edge offers more than 2,200 no-transaction-fee mutual funds to choose from.
Tradable securities: 3 out of 5 stars
While most investors will find Merrill's selection of stocks, bonds, options, ETFs and mutual funds more than adequate, active traders eager to invest in futures or forex will need to go elsewhere. It’s also worth pointing out that Merrill Edge doesn’t offer fractional shares. Such an offering is becoming more commonplace among brokers, as it lets investors with less capital build diverse portfolios. Without fractional shares, this can be harder to do. (Learn more about fractional shares.)
Crypto availability: 1 out of 5 stars
Merrill Edge does not offer access to cryptocurrencies or products such as Bitcoin trusts.
Trading platform: 5 out of 5 stars
Like many brokers, Merrill Edge offers website trading and an active trader platform, called Merrill Edge MarketPro. The company’s website is clean and intuitive and offers several screeners so you can quickly sort through stocks, mutual funds, ETFs and bonds. There's also a "quick trade" feature that lets you make stock and ETF trades from just about any page on the website.
The MarketPro platform, available to all Merrill Edge customers, is also robust, with much of what active traders expect: interactive charts, alerts, Level II quotes (which show real-time bid and ask prices for Nasdaq stocks), a customizable dashboard, and streaming data and news.
Mobile app: 5 out of 5 stars
Merrill Edge’s mobile app is highly rated among iOS users, but receives lower ratings from Android users. The app connects with a Bank of America account, letting customers get a holistic view of their financial situation in a single app.
Research and data: 3 out of 5 stars
The company provides research from its own BofA Global Research, as well as third-party providers, including Morningstar, Center for Financial Research & Analysis, Lipper and S&P Global. Mutual fund reviews and rankings come from Morningstar and Lipper.
Customer support options: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Customer support is a strong suit for Merrill Edge, with 24/7 phone, chat and email support. For those who want in-person customer support, appointments are available at Bank of America branches during the bank’s business hours. However, Merrill Edge's website can be somewhat confusing to navigate.
Is Merrill Edge Self-Directed right for you?
Regardless of your experience as an investor, there's a good chance this broker has much of what you would need — high-quality research, a good investment selection, helpful customer service and an innovative user experience. The company ranks among the top of the field when it comes to online brokers.
How do we review brokers?
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We collect data directly from providers through detailed questionnaires, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through provider demonstrations. The questionnaire answers, combined with demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the providers and our specialists’ hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each provider’s performance across more than 20 factors. The final output produces star ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars).
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on Merrill Edge's website
