ShareBuilder Review

Broker Review

 

Likes - Offers clients the ability to automatically make trades each week; partial shares supported.

Dislikes - Commissions schedule confusing; Automatic investment plan trades made only on Tuesdays; Very limited offering of research and trade tools.

Bottom Line - ShareBuilder appeals only to investors seeking automatic investment plans while offering poor customer service, tools, and investment research capabilities.

ShareBuilder is an online broker that is an extension of ING Direct. It is well known for its proprietary software that provides automatic investing programs with stocks, options, and mutual funds for its investors. ShareBuilder is continuously improving their trading system to make it as easy and yet effective as possible to successfully invest.

Our ShareBuilder review provides trade platform screenshots, detailed commissions information, and online broker ratings. Also discover how ShareBuilder placed in the most recent StockBrokers.com 2011 Review of Online Brokers as well as the 2011 Barron’s Review of Online Brokers and 2010 SmartMoney Broker Review**.

Commission Notes

ShareBuilder offers two different plans that allow for not only automatic investing but also regular equities trades. The Basic plan does not have a cost while the Advantage plan costs $12 per month. Full commissions schedule breakdown below.

Stock Trades - Automatic investments - For the Basic plan, automatic investments are $4 per trade, and with the Advantage plan 12 trades are included each month with each additional costing $1. It should be noted that all automatic trades are made on Tuesdays.

Non-automatic investments - For non-automatic trades, market orders cost $9.95 for the Basic plan and $7.95 for the Advantage plan. For stocks priced under $1.00, add $.007 per share. Phone orders are available for $19.95 per trade.

Also note, ShareBuilder does not support the ability to short stocks.

Options Trades - For the Basic plan, options trades are $9.95 + $1.25 per contract, and with the Advantage plan options trades are $7.95 + $.75 per contract. Assignments cost $20 per assignment. This $20 rate also applies to any automatic exercise.

Mutual Funds - ShareBuilder offers access to 170 different funds. Cost per transaction is $19.95.

Other Investments - ShareBuilder does not currently offer futures, bonds, or forex trading.

ShareBuilder was reviewed by StockBrokers.com on 2012-01-25 with an overall rating of 2 Stars.

ShareBuilder Mobile iPhone App

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