Ally Invest-Stock Brokers Review [Detailed Review 2018]

Ally is not just a broker, they are a financial institution offering banking, credit cards, home loans and auto finance and insurance.  After the acquisition of TradeKing in 2016 they branched into trading & brokerage services.

This acquisition seems to have worked well as they have a very competitive suite of investing services and excellent customer satisfaction scores.

Stock trading commissions weigh in at $4.95 per trade and for larger volume traders there are discounts available.  If you have a trading balance of $100,000 and or make more than $30 trades per month, the cost drops to $3.95.  Also, the Options trading costs drop from $4.95 +$0.65 per contract to $3.95 + $0.50 per contract, making them more competitive than TD Ameritrade, Fidelity & Merrill.

Ally also offers the full suite of vehicles such as Stocks, Options, Bonds, ETF’s, Forex and even Commodity Futures.

If you are looking for an institution to provide competitive rates across the full suite of investing and banking services the Ally could be a very good choice.

Round 1 – Stock Brokers Commissions Comparison

Commissions are not the be all and end all, but low commissions do help to reduce slippage especially if you are an active investor or trader.

Some Brokers offer a flat fee regardless of how many shares are traded.  Some offer an optional “per share” commission structure, which can be beneficial for smaller traders.

At Ally Financial, Stock trading commissions weigh in at $4.95 per trade and for larger volume traders there are discounts available.

If you have a trading balance of $100,000 and or make more than $30 trades per month, the cost drops to $3.95.  Also, the Options trading costs drop from $4.95 +$0.65 per contract to $3.95 + $0.50 per contract, making them a lot more competitive than TD Ameritrade, Fidelity & Merrill.

Ally also offers the full suite of vehicles such as Stocks, Options, Bonds, ETF’s, Forex and even Commodity Futures, which means you can easily balance your investments across different asset classes to suit your bullish or bearish outlook.

If you are looking for an institution to provide competitive rates across the full suite of investing and banking services the Ally could be a very good choice.

Round 2- Stock Brokerage – Trading Platform Comparison

How do you find the stocks that are in-play, have high volatility and are in a strong trend?  This is the job of the trading platform.

You need your trading platform to be fast, intuitive and powerful.  In this section, we rate the brokers on their choice of trading platform.

Ally Invest does not have the strongest suite of tools available in our Top 10 US Stock Brokers Review.

If you favor being able to manage all your Ally Services in one place, over having powerful scanning and fundamental screening or a wealth of expert advisors or studies then Ally is for you.

Ally is not trying to be the leader as a dedicated brokerage with the most powerful tools, Ally is offering it’s banking and credit services customers the possibility to trade simply and cost-effectively as an extension of their current services.  Many dedicated banks will upsell brokerage services to clients at higher commissions costs because the client prefers to have all services under one roof.

Ally has launched it’s “Ally Invest Live” Html 5 trading application, but it still does not cover all trading vehicles and does not compare to competitors like Firstrade, TC2000 Brokerage or Interactive Brokers.

Round 3 – Stock Brokers – Customer Support & Research Comparison

In this round we compare:

• Customer Support – we want to see all 3 options of Email, Messaging, and Phone
• Customer Satisfaction Score – how many complaints or bad reviews within the last year on Twitter or TrustPilot (jump to methodology)
• Research & Ideas – what services are provided free of charge to help you research a particular stock or sector.  Stand-alone research services can be costly, so free with an account is a big bonus.
• News – Is a real-time news service available for free or an additionally paid upgrade

Ally Invest has all the core requirements of good customer service in place. A 24/7 Support desk to handle customer calls and live chat and email services.  The company prides itself on good customer service and have also inherited the strong customer service from TradeKing who it purchased in 2016 to extend it’s brokerage services.

Because Ally it not a deep specialist broker, it has not yet added any deep Stock Market Research or real-time News Services into it’s product offering.

Round 4 – Brokerage Regulation & Account Minimum

Is the company well established, well funded and well regulated?  This is the main object of this round of comparisons.

Any U.S. based Broker should be a member of the following institutions.

Financial Industry Regulation Authority (FINRA) Membership.

FINRA is a nonprofit organization established to protect investors and ensure that the members are complying with the law and the Securities and Exchange commision rules.  They audit all members regularly.

Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) Membership.

The SIPC is there to protect and hopefully recover any money lost if a Brokerage firm fails.  Although Broker failure is rare, it can happen and SIPC membership ensures that your account is protected up to $500,000.

Ally Financial has all the protection and oversight required in the U.S.A, they are fully registered in the FINRA Database and have SIPC insurance.

Ally Invest – Stock Broker Comparison Master Table (Searchable)

Here you can find the table containing all the data in one place.  Use the search box to filter on a particular item you are looking to compare.  For example type “forex” or “margin” and you will get only the relevant rows to compare.

Brokerage
Result	Highly Recommended
Great for:	Investors seeking low commissions & many services
Likes	★ Competitive Commissions ★ Full Suite of Investing Vehicles ★ Banking ★ Great Customer Service
Dislike	✘ Higher Margin Costs ✘ No News or Research Services
Trades & Commissions
Direct Market Access DMA	✘
Stock Trading	✔
Stock Trading Fees	$4.95 & Volume Discounts Available
Per Share Trading Fees
Stock Trading Fees (Max)
Options	✔
Options Trading Fees	$4.95 + $0.50 per contract >100 contracts $2.95 + $0.40 per contract
Leverage Available	✔
ETF Trades	✔
Exchange Traded Funds (ETF)	$4.95
Number of Commission Free ETF's	✘
Futures	✔
Mutual Funds	$9.95
Bond Purchase	✔
Bonds	$1 + Net Yield
Forex Trading	✔
Foreign Exchange (fx) Commission $ per 1,000	Spread
Margin Account Interest Charges	4.75% to 9.25%
Margin Costs Rating	★★★
Trades & Commissions Score	★★★★
Trading Platform
Software Provider	Ally Financial
Trading Platform Cost	Free
Web Software	✔
Desktop Software	✘
Mobile Software	✔
LII Quotes	✘
Indicators / Studies	100+
Streaming Charts	✔
Watchlists	✔
Profit / Loss Graphs	✔
Probability Calculators	✔
Options Chains	✔
Trading Platform Score	★★★
Brokerage
Customer Support & Research
Customer Support (Phone & Live Chat)	✔
Customer Satisfaction Score*	★★★★
Research & Trade Ideas	✘
News	✘
Customer Support & Research Score	★★★★
Account & Company Details
Available for U.S. Citizens	✔
Account Minimum	$250
FINRA Member	✔
SIPC Insurance - Assets	✔
Regulated By	SEC

Do you want more Stock Broker Reviews?

Read our Review of the Best US Online Stock Brokers Comparison, or our Best Penny Stock Brokers or Best Brokers In-Depth Review

• Interactive Brokers Review
• SpeedTrader Broker Review
• TC2000 Brokerage Broker Review
• Firstrade Broker Review

Notes on the Review

Customer Satisfaction Score (Star Ratings)

The customer satisfaction score was compiled using the following methodology.

The Twitter Accounts of the Brokers was scanned back for the 1 year for any negative feedback from customers.  Also, TrustPilot UK and USA were reviewed and any negative comments counted against the broker.  These two sources of information were combined to provide the star rating you see below.

★★★★★ – No Complaints & Positive Recommendations  (1 year)
★★★★ – No Complaints  (1 year)
★★★ – < 10 Complaints (1 year)
★★ – 10 to 20 Complaints (1 year)
★ – > 20 Complaints (1 year)

Partnerships & Special Bonus

Liberated Stock Trader has partnerships with most of the service providers in this review.  This means if you find the review useful and purchase any of the services mentioned we will receive a small payment which goes towards funding the research and work we do. 

Review Methodology

Over 200 data points were collected during this review.  Brokers change services, terms, and commissions on a regular basis.  If you represent a Brokerage House or are a client and you spot an inaccuracy, please leave a comment or contact us here and we will endeavor to correct it.