How to Transfer From Stash to Fidelity (and Vice Versa)
If Stash’s monthly fee is eating away at your account balance, you could move your investments to Fidelity and eliminate the charge altogether. With our step-by-step guide, you’ll know exactly how to make the move.
Step One: Open an Account at Fidelity
It may sound somewhat paradoxical, but to move your Stash investment account, you actually don’t do anything at Stash. All the paperwork (which will be electronic) is handled on the receiving end, which in this case will be at Fidelity.
To get started, you’ll first want to open a new brokerage account
through Fidelity’s website. At the top, you’ll see the OPEN AN ACCOUNT link. Just click on this and you’ll get the company’s starting point to open an account; it’s actually a long list of account types with orange buttons. Just click on the one you want to open and submit the requested details. Your new account will be open in no time.
Fidelity does offer a ton of account types (a little different than Stash), and you’ll need to pick the one that corresponds to the account type you have at Stash. For instance, if you have a taxable individual account at Stash, you’ll need to open a taxable individual account at Fidelity. If the account types don’t match up, your transfer request will be rejected. The names on the two accounts also need to match.
Step Two: Submit an ACAT Request
With your new Fidelity account open and active, it’s time to start the transfer. As already mentioned, everything is going to be handled on Fidelity’s side of things; so you’ll make the request within your Fidelity account. Because Fidelity isn’t stuck in the Stone Age, it has a simple online ACAT form, and this makes things quick and simple.
To find the digital ACAT request form, click on the Accounts & Trade tab in the top menu on Fidelity’s website; then click on the Deposit, withdraw, or transfer money link on the new page that appears. You’ll get a page with a drop-down menu of choices. Select Transfer an account to Fidelity inside this menu.
You’ll get another screen asking you for your current broker’s name. Stash isn’t in the list but Apex Clearing Corporation is. Select Apex. This is Stash’s clearing corporation.
You’ll need to submit your Stash account number and possibly a copy of your most recent account statement. You’ll also be able to specify a full transfer or partial transfer.
If you select partial transfer, you’ll be able to specify specific assets to move while leaving others behind. With this option, your Stash account will remain open. If you want to move everything and close your Stash account, select full transfer.
If you have any partial shares of stocks or ETFs (and you probably do since Stash only provides whole-dollar investing), these fractional shares will be converted to cash before the move begins.
Transfer Fee
Before pulling the trigger, you should be aware that Stash does have an outgoing ACAT fee. It’s
$100, and Fidelity does not currently advertise any transfer fee rebates.
If you
move your Stash account to Charles Schwab,
they will reimburse this ACAT fee.
Transfer from Fidelity to Stash
If you’re in the opposite situation (you have a Fidelity account and want to be at Stash), there
is a method to make the transition. However, it’s a little more involved because Stash doesn’t
accept inbound ACAT transfers.
Because of Stash’s policy, you will have to sell whatever assets in your Fidelity account you
want to move, transfer that cash balance to a linked deposit account, and from there move the
money into your new Stash account.
Opening that Stash account should be the first step.
Stash is giving you
$20 referral cash bonus
if you use this promotion link when opening an account.
Because the electronic ACAT system isn’t used here, you don’t need to worry about names and account types matching up.
A really important point to make is that Stash doesn’t offer all the investment vehicles that Fidelity does, and this may mean that you won’t be able to repurchase every asset you want to hold. Stash only offers a limited selection of stocks and ETFs; you may want to log into your Stash account first and verify that the securities you’re interested in are available for trading.
Stash Compared To Fidelity
Read Fidelity vs Stash vs Schwab Comparison
A major advantage that Stash has over Fidelity is free shares of stocks for shopping with a linked debit card. But Stash also charges an account fee twelve times a year, something that Fidelity doesn’t do.
Updated on 2/5/2025.
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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