Ally Invest Rating: 
- Stocks & ETFs: $0
- Options: $0.50 per contract
- Mutual Funds: $0
- Minimum to open: $0
Overview of Ally Invest
Although Ally Bank is more popular, Ally Financial’s securities firm Ally Invest should not be overlooked. A variety of services are available, and some of these come at very little cost.
Investment Overview
Ally Invest offers both investment-advisory (managed) and self-directed (brokerage) accounts. The former setup comes in two varieties—wealth management and robo. They both invest in just one product: exchange-traded funds. Both services are completely online.
Self-directed traders get a much larger assortment of investment vehicles. Besides ETFs, there are:
- Individual stocks (including OTC and penny stocks)
- Options
- Fixed-income securities
- Mutual funds
- Closed-end funds
- Forex
- Precious metals
Positions of securities, but not forex or precious metals, are protected by America’s primary insurer of brokerage accounts. SIPC delivers $500,000 of insurance per separate capacity. Ally has a secondary policy through its clearing firm Apex Clearing Corp that delivers an additional $37 million of protection per customer with a $150 million investment firm limit.
Securities accounts at Ally Invest can only be opened by U.S. residents (including foreign nationals legally residing in the United States). A Social Security Number is required; no other tax ID number is accepted.
Forex and precious metals are traded in a separate account, and the rules are different here. Ally does accept applications from non-U.S. residents in this case. A valid photo ID is required along with Form W-8BEN.
Multiple tax structures are available, although not all investment modes (robo, self-directed, and wealth management) are eligible for all of them. They include:
- Custodial
- IRA
- Coverdell
- Trust
- Joint and individual taxable
Fees and Minimums
The advisory accounts Ally Invest offers both have minimum deposit requirements. The automated service requires at least $100 to start, while the wealth management program has a very steep $100,000 to get into.
A wealth management account also has a steeper fee. It ranges from 75 to 85 basis points, depending on the account’s balance. A robo account can pay nothing if it has a 30% cash buffer. Otherwise, the annual management fee is 30 basis points.
Self-directed accounts at Ally Invest have no minimum deposit requirement, although an account with zero balance will eventually be closed by the brokerage firm. Stocks, ETFs, closed-end funds, and mutual funds have zero commissions. Options cost 50¢ per contract, per side.
Trades of penny stocks (defined as a stock or ETF under $2) are subject to a $4.95 commission plus a surcharge of 1¢ per share. Trades of OTC (over-the-counter) stocks have a $100 trade minimum.
Forex accounts get spreads as low as one or two pips, depending on the currency pair. Up to 50:1 leverage is available.
Cash Management
Although Ally Invest is owned by the same company that owns Ally Bank, the brokerage arm surprisingly doesn’t offer any banking tools. It’s not possible to add a debit card or check writing to an investment account.
Ally Invest does have an FDIC-sweep program through its clearing firm Apex Clearing. Uninvested cash is moved to participating banks, where it will receive FDIC insurance (but no interest). An available cash balance can be used instead to purchase a money market mutual fund, where it will earn SIPC protection.
One last option is to open a checking or savings account with Ally Bank. Such a deposit account will be automatically linked to the investing account; a single login is all that is required to access these financial accounts. Some of Ally’s deposit accounts have some lucrative perks, like ATM fee refunds and high yields.
Transferring funds between bank and investing accounts is quick and easy on Ally’s website or mobile app (a transfer from an advisory account into a bank account may take longer due to the need to liquidate positions).
Computer Trading
In the not-so-distant past, Ally Invest used TradeKing’s website software for general research and account management. LIVE, its own in-house trading platform, was used for most trading functions. It recently ditched the old TradeKing site and now uses the web-based platform exclusively for self-directed accounts. This means a lot of old features, such as account-management tools, have been eliminated.
The browser platform does have some good trading resources, though. Charts, for example, have several display styles, technical studies, and drawing gadgets. The order ticket has discrete selections for buy to cover and sell short. There are 5 trade types, including stop limit and market on close.
Forex cannot be traded on this web-browser platform. Instead, currencies are traded on forex platforms. There are three available: MetaTrader, Ally Invest Forex Desktop, and Ally Invest Forex Web. The desktop setups are the most advanced and come with lots of robust features, including forex dealing boxes and charting with many tools.
Securities traders also get one desktop option: Quotestream. This platform has some extras that the web-based platform doesn’t have, such as a waterfall ticker, Level II quotes, and time & sales numbers. But Quotestream has a trading minimum to access; the required level is 10 trades per month.
Mobile App
Once again, forex traders must use a dedicated platform, either the Ally Invest Forex app or MetaTrader 4. Both have some sophisticated tools, like technical analysis and real-time quotes. The Ally Invest Forex app has audio price alerts that can be sent instantly. Order types include some pro-level ones, including contingent and If/Then.
Securities accounts use the same app that Ally Bank customers use. Tapping on a brokerage account brings up the trading side of things. Resources include a watchlist (that doesn’t appear on the website anymore), option chains with Greek values, security analysis, news articles, and very simple charting. A graph cannot be displayed horizontally, and there are no tools at all.
The app’s trade ticket cannot place orders for mutual funds. But it can trade option contracts and stocks. Multi-leg orders for options can be created, although there are no integrated spreads. There are 4 trade types (market on close being the missing trade type from the website).
Customer Service
Ally Invest associates are available by phone and online chat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The relevant phone number (which is different from banking and other numbers) is 1-855-880-2559. The chat icon can be found in the upper-right corner of the trading platform. For less-urgent needs, there is e-mail support. The broker’s email address is support@invest.ally.com.
Due to the recent website update, many self-help features have been removed. Ally Invest, like Ally Bank, does not have any branch locations.
Margin Accounts
Ally Invest self-directed customers can short securities and purchase them using margin. Unfortunately, margin details for individual assets aren’t displayed on the broker’s software. For stocks priced above $6, the initial margin requirement for long positions is 50%, and the maintenance is 30% (or higher if the account is concentrated). The cutoff price for short positions is $5; short positions cannot be entered on equities below that price.
As for margin rates on long positions, these vary from 12% at the lowest rung to 7.5% at the highest.
Because of the recent changes made to the website, it’s not possible to upgrade a cash account to margin status on the site anymore.
Additional Services
Dividend Reinvestment Plan: Available for ETFs, stocks, and mutual funds.
Securities Income Program: Ally Invest auto-enrolls its customers into a fully-paid stock lending program that generates income for those accounts for loaned-out shares. An account must meet at least one eligibility requirement, such as more than 5 years of trading experience.
Extended Hours: Pre-market and after-hours trading are both available for securities. Forex trades 24 hours a day, 6 days a week.
IPO Access: Not available.
Fractional-share Trading: Not available, either, for stocks and ETFs. Mutual funds can be traded with whole dollars.
IRA Service: Individual Retirement Accounts are available at Ally Invest as personal accounts (the brokerage house does not offer small business IRAs or individual 401k plans). An IRA can be opened in self-directed, robo, or wealth-management format. There is a $25 closeout fee.
Automatic Mutual Fund Purchases: Missing in action.
Day Trading: Ally’s web-based platform keeps track of an account’s day trades.
Our Recommendations
Mutual Fund Trading: Ally Invest no longer has a screener for mutual funds. Therefore, we
don’t recommend it.
Firstrade has a fund screener and no commissions on 11,000+ funds.
Long-Term Investors & Retirement Savers: Although Ally Invest has IRAs, it doesn’t have a lot
of other tax structures, such as solo 401k plans or estate accounts. There aren’t many retirement
resources on its website, either. We suggest
Charles Schwab instead.
Stock and ETF Trading: Ally Invest’s browser platform does a decent job, although a more
advanced experience (with fractional shares, no trading minimums, and a desktop program) will be
found at Webull.
Small Accounts: Investment-advisory and brokerage customers can both avoid various minimums
and fees at Ally by packing up and heading to
Robinhood.
Beginners: An advisory account at Ally Invest, in either robo or wealth-management format,
would be a good beginning.
Ally Invest Review Recap
Ally Invest has succeeded in creating a variety of investment services, although it doesn’t always
have a spectacular performance. Its forex service, something hard to find at any securities broker,
is perhaps its greatest achievement.
Ally Brokerage Commissions
| Investments | Price |
|---|
| Stocks and ETFs | $0 |
| Options | $0.50 per contract |
| Mutual funds | $0 |
| Bonds | $1 per bond with $10 minimum, $250 maximum |
| Treasuries | commission-free |
| Certificates of Deposit (CDs) | $24.95 |
| Forex | Pay based on buy/sell spread, no commissions. |
Ally IRA & Account Fees
| Fee | Amount |
|---|
| IRA Setup Fee | $0 |
| Annual IRA Fee | $0 |
| IRA Termination Fee | $25 |
| Full Account Transfer Out | $50 |
| Outgoing Wire Fees (Domestic) | $30 |
Updated on 1/1/2025.