TradeKing revisão

On-line since: 2016
Country of origin: US
Regulation: FINRA
Payment options: bank transfer, check, transfer between accounts, ACH
Minimum account size: $0
Minimum lot size: 1 lot
Leverage: up to 1:50
Spreads: from 1 pip

About company:

Ally Bank, one of the leading online banks, acquired TradeKing in 2016. Ally renamed TradeKing to Ally Invest and it started to operate as a new investment division of the bank. TradeKing was well known as one of the most affordable investment platforms. Ally Bank added its features and advantages to the previous successful performance of the broker.

Ally Bank offers some of the best interest rates in the industry. The bank works online and do not have representative offices. The company has more than 7,000 employees and stores more than $70 billion of clients’ funds. In December 2016, Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine named Ally Bank the best Internet bank.

Now Ally Invest serves more than 250,000 accounts that store about $4.7 billion in total.

Security

Ally Invest is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) that protects client's accounts. The corporation guarantees safety of up to $500,000, $250,000 of which can be in cash. Nevertheless, before opening an account with any company, we recommend you to have a look at the rating of Forex brokers on our website.

How does Ally Invest operate?

Ally Invest clients can trade shares, exchange traded funds (ETF), and fixed-interest securities (corporate, agency and municipal bonds). US Treasuries, Strips and Straps, and CDS are also available for trading.

Ally Invest offers its own platform, Forex & Futures. It features a wide range of tools and resources. Besides, the company provides one of the lowest commissions on Forex.

For those who are not interested in self-trading, Ally Invest developed the Managed Portfolios service that operates like robo-advisors. The company can provide traders with professional investment management service. The fee for such services is much lower than other investment managers offer.

Commissions

The main trading commission that Ally Invest charges for trading shares, ETFs and options is $4.95. The company also charges additional $0.65 for option contracts. The size of the commission is average in the industry.

The broker has established special prices for investors with high volume of trades and high balance. They are applicable to traders who make 30 or more trades in one calendar quarter and/or maintain at least $100,000 on their account. For such investors, the commission for shares, ETFs and options is only $3.95 per a deal, plus $0.50 for the option deal.

The fee for the load mutual funds is not charged, commission for the no load mutual funds is $9.95.

There is no commission for forex trading.

The broker does not charge commission for account maintenance, lack of trading operations for a long time and annual IRA.

Ally Invest managed accounts

This service enables creation of professionally designed and personalized portfolios that are tailored to traders' needs. To open an account, it is necessary to deposit at least $2,500. The annual fee for providing services is 0.30%. This fee is considered lower than average in the industry (1.02%). Thus, a trader who has a $100,000 portfolio will pay only $300 a year.

Ally Invest Forex & Futures

You can trade more than 50 currency pairs, gold and silver. All transactions are carried out in real time. The trader can access the forex market 24/7.

The Forex & Futures service grants access to a customizable trading platform, which includes:

• trading currency, metals, commodities, indices and bonds of various exchanges;
• multi-level commissions, ensuring a reduction of payments for trading large volumes;
• more than 100 technical indicators for constructing diagrams.

You can open a Forex & Futures account for only $250. Trading operations are carried out on one of the available platforms, MetaTrader4 and ForexTrader. Both platforms are available on PC and mobile devices.

When you apply for registering an account, you can open ForexTrader or MetaTrader. To open the Forex & Futures account you need to deposit at least $250. We recommend you to open an account with at least $2,500, that way you can use your account to the full. It will also allow you to increase flexibility and diversification.

Forex Premium Charting is professional tools for identification and analysis of forex models and trends.

Forex & Futures Practice Account is a free account with a virtual $50,000, which gives full access to trading platforms and tools for up to 30 days.

The Forex accounts are not protected by the SIPC or FDIC insurance.

Analytical tools and educational materials

Ally Invest offers a full set of tools for trading that will help traders to make investment decisions:

Streaming Charts is six charts with more than 90 graphic studies and drawing tools for analyzing the effectiveness of securities.

Market and company overview provides market statistics, news, detailed indicators and assessments of specific companies.

Watchlists is a customizable list for tracking and viewing the market data by groups of securities.

The profit/loss calculator allows you to understand the potential for profit and loss in options trading. You can also see how the result varies depending on volatility and time fluctuations.

Market data features quotes, charts, high/low prices, dividend dates, summary of general options, news.

Educational resources contain information starting from main forex principles and futures trading to technical and fundamental analysis. There is also a glossary. Moreover, Ally Invest offers professional training course for a fee.

Payment methods

The easiest way to deposit funds is via a bank card. That way the money is credited instantly. Depositing via bank transfer takes from one to two working days. Replenishment via ACN takes up to five working days; via check, from 5 to 10 working days.

You can deposit the following currencies: USD, EUR, CAD, JPY, GBP, AUD, and CHF.

In addition, Ally Invest clients can use the services provided by Ally Bank.

Advantages:

• wide range of services;
• average commissions in the industry;
• managed accounts;
• 24/7 customer support service by phone, email or Skype.

Disadvantages:

• There is no representative office that a client can visit;
• Account replenishment can take a long time.