Merrill Edge Review 2011-2012: Merrill Lynch Commissions, Fees and Investments
- Stocks and ETFs: $8.95 if total combined balances in Merrill Lynch investment accounts and Bank of America, N.A. deposit accounts is $250,000 OR making 0-119/0-29 trades per year/quarter
- Stocks and ETFs: $6.95 if total combined balances in Merrill Lynch investment accounts and Bank of America, N.A. deposit accounts is $250,000-$1,000,000 OR making 120+/30+ trades per year/quarter
- Stocks and ETFs: $4.95 if total combined balances in Merrill Lynch investment accounts and Bank of America, N.A. deposit accounts is $1,000,000+ OR making 240+/60+ trades per year/quarter
- Stocks and ETFs: 30 free online equities trades per month if total combined balances of $25,000 or more in your Bank of America, N.A. deposit accounts: Checking, savings, FDIC-insured CDs, FDIC-insured IRAs
- Stocks and ETFs Agent assisted: $75 for Standard customers, $50 for Preferred and Superior
- Options: $8.95 + $0.75/ contract if total combined balances in Merrill Lynch investment accounts and Bank of America, N.A. deposit accounts is $250,000 OR making 0-119/0-29 trades per year/quarter
- Options: $6.95 + $0.75/ contract if total combined balances in Merrill Lynch investment accounts and Bank of America, N.A. deposit accounts is $250,000-$1,000,000 OR making 120+/30+ trades per year/quarter
- Options: $4.95 + $0.75/ contract if total combined balances in Merrill Lynch investment accounts and Bank of America, N.A. deposit accounts is $1,000,000+ OR making 240+/60+ trades per year/quarter
- Merrill Edge Self-Directed Mutual Funds: 0.75% gross proceeds (Short-Term Redemption fee if held less than 90 days - $50 minimum, $250 maximum)
- Investment products: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options, ETFs, Bills, Notes, Bonds. Agency: Discount, Notes, Bonds. Zero Coupon Bonds: Corporate, Government, Agency
Municipal Bonds, Corporate Bonds, Brokered Certificates of Deposit
- Minimum to open Merrill Edge account: $2,000
- All Merrill Edge fees
Merrill Edge / Merrill Lynch Website (MerrillEdge.com)/Trading Tools review
MerrillEdge.com website looks very good at the first glance. But in reality it's cluttered with lots of useless banners and huge sections of
"fine print" at the bottom. It's often hard to find what you are looking for.
Trading tools at the company are very basic, not offering a lot of functionality (like more advanced order types) present at most other
online brokers. Changing existing orders at Merrill Edge trading screens is a nightmare.
Merrill Edge / Merrill Lynch Pros
- Free checking account
- Great research tools
- Free DRIPs (have to call to get it)
Merrill Edge / Merrill Lynch Cons
- Best commissions only for customers with over 1 million account balance
- High margin rates
- Limited, badly designed trading tools and charts
- Terrible executions
- Account balance discrepancies
- Technical issues
- Customer service complaints
- Mutual funds Self-Directed Short-Term Redemption fee if held less than 90 days: 0.75% gross proceeds, $50 minimum, $250 maximum
Merrill Edge Review Summary
Merrill Edge is a new discount brokerage created by Merrill Lynch, which is now owned by Bank of America. The company has a
three tier commission structure where commissions depend on a total assets held by a client or on the number of trades executed in the
quarter:
- Standard: $8.95 per trade, if total combined balances in Merrill Lynch investment accounts and Bank of America, N.A. deposit accounts is $250,000 OR making 0-119/0-29 trades per year/quarter
- Preferred: $6.95 per trade, if total combined balances in Merrill Lynch investment accounts and Bank of America, N.A. deposit accounts is $250,000-$1,000,000 OR making 120+/30+ trades per year/quarter
- Superior: $4.95 per trade, if total combined balances in Merrill Lynch investment accounts and Bank of America, N.A. deposit accounts is $1,000,000+ OR making 240+/60+ trades per year/quarter
Merrill Edge's Standard accounts commissions are above average in the industry but much better than hefty $30 per trade charged by
Merrill Lynch's old brokerage.
The internet is full of complaints from Merrill Edge's customers on the whole range of issues: trading tools bugs,
maintenance and account transfer fees, mutual funds availability, order executions and customer service.
Merrill Edge offers 30 free trades per calendar month if client meats one of these two criteria:
1. total combined balances of $25,000 or more in Bank of America, N.A. deposit accounts: Checking, savings, FDIC-insured CDs,
FDIC-insured IRAs.
2. total combined balances of $25,000 or more in cash balances in Merrill Edge self-directed account(s): Bank Deposit Accounts sweep
option with CMA or Retirement Assets Savings Program (RASP) sweep with IRA.
We don't see how a brokerage firm could make any money with these free trades. We believe Merrill Edge's free trades is the same marketing
trick that Zecco used to grow a customer base, and then dump free trades offer once it's done.
We can't recommend Merrill Edge even for high net-worth customers. There are better,
Top Rated Brokerage Companies that have fewer
problems and offer better trading tools and more free features to their customers.
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