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Muriel Siebert review 2010: unnecessary expensive brokerage house that seems to be stuck in the past
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Muriel Siebert Commissions and Investments Offered (2010)
- Equities: $14.95 per trade for up to 1,000 equity shares, market or limit orders
- Integrated Speech & Touch-Tone Phone: $29.95 for market or limit orders up to 1,000 shares (2 cents per share for each additional share over 1,000)
- Options commission: $34-$370
- Mutual Funds: $35 fee per transaction (regardless of amount bought or sold) for no-load funds that are not part of the Fund Exchange no-load, no-transaction-fee program
- Corporate Bonds: 100 bonds or more - $2.50 per bond, from 50-99 bonds - $3 per bond, Up to 49 bonds - $3.50 per bond. $35 minimum commission for listed corporate bonds
- Investment products: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options, ETFs
Who is Muriel Siebert?
The firm derives its name from its founder, Ms. Muriel “Mickie” Siebert. Popularly known as the "The First Woman
of Finance", Ms Siebert is the face of the company. The 79 yrs old Chairwoman and President of Siebert Financial
Corp, was inducted into the American “Business Hall of Fame” earlier this year. She was the first woman to step
inside the New York Stock Exchange as a member. Muriel Siebert & Co still remains the only female-owned brokerage
firm on the NYSE.
Muriel Siebert trading tools are just alright: they do all the basic stuff well but they lack in sophistication,
customization and wealth of features offered by many other discount online stock brokers.
The firm also does not offer advanced stock screening and charting tools that make investment research much easier.
- Good customer service
- Free dividend reinvestment
- No account inactivity fees
- Very high trading commissions for all investment products
- 1.5 cents per share surcharge for each additional share over 1,000
- $30 annual fee for retirement accounts with under $10,000 balance. Retirement account termination $50
- Visa debit card $60 per year
- Foreign securities $75 + commission
Muriel Siebert & Co., Inc has one of the highest trading
commissions on all asset classes of all discount online stock brokers we reviewed.
Its trading costs, website (Siebertnet.com) and trading tools design are more reminiscent of
1999 rather than 2010. The company seems to be stuck in the past and not realizing that the industry has
moved on.
Muriel Siebert has very good customer service and access to independent research. It seems to be targeting
more affluent investors but it falls behind in services to competitors like
optionsXpress
 or
Trade King.
Because of high prices, we find it hard to recommend Muriel Siebert brokerage for any kind of account.
There are better brokerage houses
that offer more to their clients without charging so much in trading fees.
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