Webull vs Fidelity

With online investment platforms increasing in number, it makes it difficult for investors to choose the right ones that suit their investment needs and offer the right investment options. Investors can trade and invest in stocks, bonds, options, ETFs, real estate, gold, and even cryptos. 

And because the information about online investment platforms can be overwhelming, here we help you compare Webull vs Fidelity to see which one is a perfect fit for your investment needs.

Fidelity is a popular well-rounded brokerage that serves most individual investors. It offers a wide range of tools, resources, and research for the average, buy-and-hold investor. Offering $0 trading commissions and a selection of over 3,700 non-transaction-fee mutual funds, Fidelity proves one of the brokerages with top-notch research tools to help its investors.

The brokerage is considered to be safe since it has a long-standing track record and has been regulated by top-tier regulators.

It allows its investors to earn interest – it sweeps the cash that has not been invested into a pool of money market fund.

Fidelity has an easy to use platform with customizable features to allow more advanced traders to make the most of the platform.

Webull is the latest online brokerage service provider to enter the market and it focuses on commission-free trading too. It targets the technical trader. The broker is considered to be safe since it is regulated by top financial authorities.

Webull provides investor protection of a maximum of $500,000. It also limits$250,000 for cash which is part of the SIPC funds protection scheme.

The Webull app not only focuses on commission-free trades but also has a vast amount of technical resources and research to help individuals that are seeking to trade stocks.

Opening an account with Webull allows you to enjoy two free gifts of stocks. For example, you get one free stock with a value that ranges from $2.50 to $250. There is also another offer of $12 to $1,400 when you make a deposit of not less than $100.

Summary

·         All ETFs are trade commission-free in Fidelity

·         No base commission - $0.65 per contract in Fidelity

·         Fidelity Stock trading costing $0

·         Fidelity account minimum is $0

·         No account frees including transfer fees, closing fees, inactivity fees, annual fees in Fidelity

·         Fidelity has over 3,700 mutual funds, attracting no fees

·         Fidelity trades securities including EFTs, options, mutual funds, bonds, and stocks

·         Fidelity available in Android and iOS

·         Free and extensive research and data with Fidelity

·         Live chat 24/7 with Fidelity

·         Webull offers free stocks on opening account

·         Webull trades in ETFs, options, stocks, and cryptos

·         Commission-free trading in Webull

·         Webull offers investor protection of a maximum amount of $500,000

·         Webull offers research and information tools

Who is Fidelity

Founded in 1946, Fidelity is one of the long-serving brokerages with top-tier regulators including the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

It trades EFTs, options, stock, mutual funds, and bonds. Its zero-fee index funds along with strong customer service support make it one of the preferred brokerage for individual brokers. Fidelity was rated by Barron's and Investor's Business Daily as the Best Online Broker in 2020.

Having been in the market for a long time, this brokerage has invested in research and technology to provide the investors with a strong platform that can make their experience a great one.

Fidelity continues to enhance the features of its platform and commits itself to lower the cost of investment for investors. While in the first, many brokerages used to charge a myriad of fees and commissions, however, today things have changed with many offering no free platforms.

The brokerage does have minimum investment requirements meaning that you can invest and trade with as little as $10 or even less. This allows many people, particularly the average Joe investor to be able to tap into the various investment options available at Fidelity.

Fidelity investment is designed for retirement investors though other types of investors can still invest in the platform. It is also ideal for active traders and those needing premium research tools.

It supports about 16 base currencies and it takes you about 1-3 days to open an account. Also, the platform provides a demo account to allow investors to test the waters before they can plunge into the real trading thing. That being said, Fidelity does support depositing with credit cards, but depositing using electronic wallets is available.

Fidelity offers stocks for domestic and international markets. It offers over 30,000 investment-grade bonds along with other fixed-income securities.  

How Fidelity Works

To begin investing through Fidelity, you need to open an account.

You will begin by signing up where you provide your personal information which includes your name, address, as well as social security number. Fidelity will have to verify your identity before you can open an account.

Once you open the account, you set up the account preferences and features for instance, whether you would want to get financial documents electronically.

You also have to review your selections as well as the customer agreements including terms and conditions and confirm that everything has been filled properly.

You can now fund your account, though this is optional.

Fidelity offers guest access to allow you to see what kind of benefits it offers. This also gives you an opportunity to learn more about the platform including its features, and how to invest. This way, you can make an informed decision before you consider using the platform.

Fidelity Features

·         Minimum deposit

Fidelity does not require a minimum deposit for you to open an account, however, to trade mutual funds, you will need to have a minimum deposit of $2,500 and for margin trading, you need to have a minimum deposit of $5,000.

·         Stock Trades

Online ETF and stock trades cost you $0, but broker-assisted trades will cost you $32.95. An investor will have no limits on the entire trade size as well as price. In addition, you will not incur additional fees if you trade stocks under $1.

·         Options Trades

An investor trading in options will part with $0.65 per contract for options trades. Any exercise or assignment will cost $0 meaning you don’t have to pay anything.

·         Mutual Funds

Investors can access over 13,000 varying mutual funds with over 3,700 no transaction fee (NFT) funds – where you are not charged when you sell or buy. However, when your fund sells within 60 days of purchase, they charge a redemption fee of $49.95.  The regular mutual funds trades attract $0 per sale and $49.95 per buy.

With trades executed through a broker, they are quite expensive often costing 75 percent of the entire principal amount and a minimum of $100 that goes up to about $250 maximum rate.  

·         Portfolio Analysis

An investor is able to pull their non-Fidelity account through the FullView feature to help with analysis. This allows you to analyze your assets. An investor can also offer access to his or her investment to an advisor. The reports provide a good picture of asset allocation as well as where the changes occurring in asset value emanate from.

Pros

·         Commission-free ETFs, stock, and option trades

·         Strong customer service

·         Solid research tools

·         US and international stocks

·         Expense-ratio-free index funds

·         Uninvested cash swept to a money market fund

·         Asset screeners

Cons

·         High mutual fund fees

·         High broker-assisted fees

·         No commodities as well as options on futures

·         Non-US residents not able to open an account

·         High financing rates

What Is Webull?

Webull is a fintech startup based in the US that offers zero-fee as well as discount brokerage services. Having been founded in 2017, it is regulated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

With Webull, it is a mobile app offering free stock trading. The company holds the view that every investor needs to get equal opportunity in controlling their own financial future. This is why it created a professional-level trading and information platform, which would previously be available to only professional and super-wealthy individuals.

The online stock broker strives to ensure in-depth news for the investors, real-time market data, completely free trading commissions, and analysis stools.

Investors can set their new accounts through their app that they can download at the official site or from the app store. The approval of the account happens pretty fast – within one hour. However, if your application has to go through a further verification process, it may take longer. An investor has to open a Webull account on the app.

Once you open your account, you fund it using an ACH bank transfer.

With Webull, there is a minimum deposit you need to place. While there are other brokers offering free trading, Webull seems to offer more tools than some of the big names in the brokerage space including Robinhood, the pioneer of free trading. 

Investors who want to see how the platform works before they can decide to use it may open a paper trading account - this does not require you to deposit money to trade.

In the app, it features Bollinger Bands, RSI, Money Flow Index, and exponential moving averages.

If you need to short stocks, you have to have a margin account approval as well as a deposit of $2,000.

Webull allows 2 times overnight margin and 4 times intraday trading margin. You want to make sure you keep watch of your account balance because if it goes down below $2000, you may be forced to liquidate the holdings so that you cover position drawdowns.

Webull trades stocks, options, ETFs, and Cryptos. It is among those platforms that have included cryptocurrency trading.

The platform allows you to diversify your portfolio by investing in cryptos including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash.

How Webull Works

Opening an account with Webull if fully digital – it’s fast and easy. You can open an account on mobile, web, and desktop.

You will need to install the app or platform and start the registration by going to the Account menu.

You will sign up as the Login screen

When registering you will provide your personal information which includes name, date of birth, address, and social security number.

You verify your account by submitting a photo of your passport or ID. When the account is verified, you choose your account type – margin or cash. You now review the information and submit the application.

Webull Features

·         Webull Fees

In Webull, commissions are free, however, there are certain activities that you are charged. On trades, the FINRA and SEC charge nominal fees, though. In addition, there are margin fees that range from 3.99 to 6.99 percent. The larger the dollar amount you trade with, the smaller the margin fees.

Charging for transfers is something that many brokerage platforms do, and with Webull it’s no exception. On Webull’s side, the normal ACH transfers will not cost you anything, but your bank is likely to charge a fee. Besides, wire transfer cost about $25 and $45 for domestic and international transfers, respectively. 

·         Webull Bonuses

Currently, the Webull platform is offering its users a gift comprising of two free stocks. There is the first stock gift that has a value of $2.5 to $250 when you open an account with Webull.

The second gift of free stocks is valued at $12 and the amount goes up to $1,400 when you initially make a deposit of not less than $100.

·         Safety of your Money

Having a membership with the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), Webull allows protection to the securities of the members’ customers to the tune of $500,000 which includes a $250,000 amount for claims for cash.

In addition, there is an additional insurance policy provided by Apex Clearing Corporation.

·         Account Base Currencies

Having multiple base currencies is very important - and for two reasons. First, when you fund the account using the same currency as the bank’s account, you will not be charged the conversion fee.

And second, when you trade assets using the same currency as the account base currency, it means that you will not need to pay conversion fees. Here, Webull goes short in offering multiple base currencies. However, a convenient way in which investors can avert the conversion fees is to have multiple currency bank accounts. 

Pros

·         Fast and easy opening of account

·         Free ETFs, options, and stock trades

·         Great trading platforms

·         No inactivity fees as well as withdrawal fee when you use ACH.

Cons

·         No live chat and the telephone support seems to be poor

·         Limited product portfolio- being a new startup, this is expected, and with time it may add more

·         No debit cards and no credit cards. Also, no electronic wallets for cash transfer

·         Financing rates higher

·         Higher wire transfer fees

·         Only one base currency

The Verdict:  Fidelity vs Webull

Fidelity has been offering their services for a long duration. They provide a platform with a wide range of base currencies – totaling 16 thus helping the investors to avoid conversion fees. Fidelity also has a wide range of investment options.

Webull is a new platform and has limited investment options compared to Fidelity. It also has fewer base currencies – only two at the time of writing this review.

Both Fidelity and Webull have extensive research tools, though Webull seems to be gaining an edge in offering research and technological innovations. Both players have commission-free trades.

Webull is ideal for those investors needing to enjoy professional-level investment. It is designed for technical investors. Fidelity suits those who want to invest for retirement. It has a huge set of investment options, so if you want a highly diversified portfolio, you may go with Fidelity. It is also suitable for the average, buy-and-hold investor.