Merrill Edge Review: Can It Compete With Online-Only Brokers? (2024)

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Merrill Edge is an investing and wealth management service that’s under Bank of America’s retail banking arm. The service began in 2010, connecting Bank of America’s existing online investing options with Merrill Lynch, a wealth management and research service.

You don’t need to be a Bank of America customer to invest through Merrill Edge. And, unlike many online-only brokers, Merrill Edge has advisors at over 2,000 Bank of America financial centers so you can seek advice in person as a customer.

Like many of the top discount brokerages, Merrill Edge offers commission-free trading on stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). There aren’t trade minimums and Merrill Edge has a $0 minimum deposit requirement.

Merrill Edge also lets you trade other types of securities, including:

Fees vary for these trade types. For example, option trades cost $0.65 per contract. Mutual funds that aren’t part of a no transaction fee (NTF) fund cost $19.95 per transaction, and certain bonds cost $1 per bond with a $10 minimum.

Overall, commission-free stock and ETF trading is what you want most from your online broker. Just know that Merrill Edge doesn’t support cryptocurrency investing, futures, or forex. You can’t buy fractional shares or penny stocks either.

This variety means you can use Merrill Edge to invest for retirement, future college education, or even with a tax-advantaged account like a HSA.

Merrill Edge also offers small business investing accounts, including a small business 401(k), retirement cash management account, and a business investor account.

One of Merrill Edge’s strengths is the research tools it provides customers. For starters, Merrill Edge has several prebuilt stock screeners to help you find the right investments. For example, you can try screeners like highly-rated dividend stocks, large cap stocks with low P/E ratios, and EPS and revenue growth stocks.

The actual stock screening tool has over 200 filters, including categories like analyst opinions, earnings and growth, valuation, financial strength, and technicals. Screeners are also available for mutual funds, ETFs, options, and fixed income investments.

Furthermore, customers get access to investing insights from BofA Global Research, Bank of America’s global research team. Some of the reports investors gain access to include:

Merrill Edge has even more research offerings you can take advantage of. For starters, its Idea Builder tool highlights different investing ideas, like energy or Warren Buffett value stocks, so you can find ideas that match your investing style.

Merrill Edge also has a wealth of third-party research. This includes research from Morningstar, CFRA, and Lipper. This level of additional research plus regular market news and updates means you can dive into your sectors of choice and stay informed.

Everyday investors can get away with Merrill Edge’s mobile app or the platform’s normal portfolio dashboard. And more active traders can try MarketPro, a more robust trading dashboard that’s free for Merrill Edge customers.

Some perks of MarketPro include:

There’s also built-in automatic technical analysis through Recognia, which is the same partner companies like Fidelity and Charles Schwab integrate with.

Overall, MarketPro is useful for more active investors who need additional charting tools and research capabilities. But it’s not ideal for day trading since it lacks one-click buy and sell.

Another Merrill Edge feature that’s attractive for some customers is its ESG investing offerings. ESG stands for environment, social and corporate governance. It’s a method of socially responsible investing that values companies and sectors that benefit the environment and various social welfare initiatives.

Merrill Edge claims its an industry leader in terms of ESG investing, and it certainly has a lot of features to back up this claim.

The Ideas Builder tool highlights numerous ESG-friendly investments you can add to your portfolio. You also get ESG ratings for individual securities with the Stock Story tool. And, with Portfolio Story, you can view your entire ESG score at a glance.

Merrill Edge offers Self-Directed investing which is ideal if you want a low-fee way to invest on your own terms. There’s also Guided Investing which caters to investors who need a helping hand with building their portfolios.

Guided Investing provides advice and portfolio recommendations from Merrill professionals. Merrill also handles portfolio rebalancing and essentially takes the work off of your plate. All you have to do is tell Merrill about your goals and risk tolerance so its professionals can build a portfolio that’s right for you.

There are two branches of Guided Investing, each with different funding requirements and fees.

With the Merrill Edge app for Android and iOS, you can manage your investment accounts and Bank of America accounts while on the go.

The app also offers several feature aside from letting you check your portfolio, including:

As mentioned, Merrill Edge offers commission-free trading on stocks and ETFs. But option trades cost $0.65 per contract, and no transaction fee mutual funds cost $19.95 per transaction. And you'll pay an AUM fee of 0.45% to 0.85% depending on your account size.

There aren’t any account maintenance fees or minimum deposit requirements. However, Merrill Edge charges $49.95 in closeout fees for retirement accounts and $49.95 for account transfer fees for general investing accounts. Overall, Merrill Edge is best for stock and ETF investing due to its lack of fees.

Opening an account with Merrill Edge is straightforward. You can answer a short questionnaire to find the right investment account type. Alternatively, you choose your investment account of choice.

Merrill Edge Self-Directed investing has a $0 account minimum. Information you need to apply includes:

If you’re a Bank of America customer, investing through Merrill Edge might be an obvious choice. Moving money around your various BoA and investing accounts is fast and free. Furthermore, you can unlock perks with the Preferred Rewards program if you maintain a monthly balance of $20,000 or more.

Merrill Edge is also competitive for stock and ETF trading with other commission-free brokers. ESG investing is also a platform strength. However, a lack of cryptocurrency investing, fractional shares, and futures is a downside. Additionally, MarketPro isn’t comprehensive enough for day trading.

Overall, you can use Merrill Edge’s Self-Directed or Guided Investing even if you’re not a Bank of America customer. However, it’s certainly best for BoA customers. And even with BoA relationship discounts, Guided Investing isn’t as affordable as many of the top robo-advisors.