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Bank of America Online Brokerage review 2012 - DISCONTINUED! New brokerage is now called Merrill Edge:
Click for Merrill Edge Review
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Bank of America Review 2011-2012: Commissions, Fees and Investments
- Stocks and ETFs: $14 per trade ($10 for checking account customers)
- Telephone Orders: $32.50. Broker Assisted Trades: $42.50
- Options: $19.95 + $1.50 per contract
- Mutual Funds: 1,900 no transaction fee mutual funds, except when mutual fund shares held for 90 days or less are exchanged or redeemed;
$45 minimum per transaction for non-NTF funds
- Bonds: call 1.800.926.1111 to get pricing
- Investment products: stocks, treasury bills, notes & bonds, govt. agencies, municipal notes & bonds, corporate bonds, mutual funds, ETFs
- Minimum to open account: $0
- All Bank of America Brokerage fees
Bank of America Brokerage Trading Tools Review
Bank of America Online Investment trading tools are just average and not what you would expect from one of the
largest financial institutions in the world. Even more surprisingly, you might get errors when you try to
modify your orders. The firm is offering good charts but terrible stock screener. BOA provides access to market
commentary by Standard & Poor's and Dorsey Wright & Associates (few people use it). Individual stock research
is offered by Standard & Poor's, Argus Research and First Call Earnings Valuation Reports provided by Thompson
Financial.
Bank of America Brokerage Pros
- Full service brokerage available for wealthy investors
- Free dividend reinvestment
- Minimum to open: $0
Bank of America Brokerage Cons
- Very high commissions on all investments
- Poor customer service
- Semiannual maintenance fee: $50 (waived with personal checking account relationship)
- Messy account opening process
Bank of America Brokerage Review 2012 Summary
Bank of America Online Investments (Baisidirect.com) bought troubled Merrill Lynch for a fraction of the
price during financial meltdown in the late 2008 and received government help to stay in business.
The firm offers self-managed brokerage services as well as wealth management solutions. But how could anyone
trust money management to the company that can't manage its own assets?
Investment costs with Bank of America Investment Services are very high: $14 for stock/ETF trades and
$19.95 + $1.50 per contract for options. Customer service is far from what you would expect in a high-end brokerage house.
$50 semiannual maintenance fee, which almost no other broker is charging, is not helping either.
Bank of America Online Investments does not have surcharges on large orders, penny stocks and
extended-hours trading. There is no IRA setup fee, but due to high commissions the firm is not in
Top IRA Accounts list.
Bank of America Investment Services offers no advantages over other brokerage firms.
Because of high costs, we can't recommend BOA for any type of account. There are many other
Discount Stock Brokers with
low commissions and no maintenance fees that will work much better for most customers.
Bank of America
Reviewed by Brokerage Review on
.
Rating: 3
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