J.P. Morgan Chase Rating:  

Review of J.P. Morgan Chase Investments: fees and commissions, pros and cons, minimum requirements and promotion offer for opening a new J.P. Morgan discount stock brokerage account or an IRA.

Overview of J.P. Morgan Investing

Although it’s not one of the most widely used brokerage firms, J.P. Morgan Investing still offers some solid financial services. Let’s take a closer look.

Bulls Harp On...

Excellent pricing: No mutual fund transaction fees here.

Retirement accounts: Available only in IRA form, though.

Bears Harp On...

Few tradable products: Many asset classes are still missing.

Underdeveloped software: No robust trading platform here.

Limited options trading: No multi-leg strategies are available.

Investment Lineup

J.P. Morgan Investing (the broker-dealer) is built for self-directed trading. The company’s service delivers the entire selection of ETFs on the major American exchanges (that’s almost 8,000 funds) plus the following investment vehicles:

• Stocks
• American Depository Receipts (ADRs)
• Options
• Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
• Closed-end funds
• Mutual funds
• Fixed-income securities

J.P. Morgan Investing does allow trading in over-the-counter (OTC) instruments. At the same time, penny stocks (anything under $5) cannot be bought, and foreign stocks are unavailable, too.

The account can be opened in taxable or tax-deferred mode. The taxable side includes individual, joint, and trust accounts, while the tax-advantaged side is IRA only.

Opening and Closing an Account

J.P. Morgan Investing only accepts applications from adults with a valid Social Security number and a U.S. home address.

Speaking of opening an account, this can be completed online, thanks to the company’s user-friendly website and mobile-enhanced website (both of which we’ll look at here shortly). Chase says an application is generally reviewed within 1 business day. It’s also easy to close an account on the website (just send an internal message).

Banking Features

Although J.P. Morgan Investing is owned by the same financial conglomerate that owns Chase Bank (J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.), it surprisingly doesn’t offer any spectacular cash management features. In fact, it is not possible to attach checkwriting or a debit card to any securities account.

Its website and mobile app are the same digital platforms that Chase Bank customers use, so there are a lot of banking tools on those platforms. Examples include:

• ACH transfer tool
• Credit card offers
• Mobile check deposit
• Zelle transfers
• Bill pay
• Free credit score

The one easy workaround to the lack of banking features at J.P. Morgan Investing is to open a Chase Bank account under the same tax ID number. The deposit account will be automatically connected to the same login. Chase’s deposit accounts do frequently have monthly fees attached to them, and they usually have low APYs.

Customer Support

Because J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has so many departments within itself, it sometimes is hard to know which number to call. The correct number for a J.P. Morgan Investing account is (800) 392-5749. The phone line is staffed during the week from 8:00 am, New York time, until 9:00 pm. On Saturday, the hours are more limited (9:00 am until 5:00 pm), and there are no hours on Sunday.

The J.P. Morgan Investing website has an internal messaging feature underneath the settings menu (look for the three horizontal lines in the upper-left corner). It has an attachment feature, which could come in really handy. The website doesn’t have any type of chat feature, which is one weakness. But it does have lots of self-help features on it, like editing sign-in preferences and adding a beneficiary to an account.

Although Chase Bank has tons of branch locations, self-directed clients can still visit a branch and speak with a J.P. Morgan advisor about investment products. (J.P. Morgan Wealth Management clients do have broader advisor access.)

Website

Now we get to where it really counts: trading. J.P. Morgan Investing accounts can be easily managed through the Chase Bank website. We do emphasize the banking side of things because bank advertisements, tools, and accounts do tend to clutter the site up quite a bit.





Clicking on a brokerage account generates the section devoted to securities trading. The dashboard begins with a pie chart of an account’s value. Further down the page are sections for indexes, watchlists, and account positions.

An asset’s profile can be pulled up by clicking on its link in a watchlist (multiple can be created) or simply entering the ticker symbol or company name in the search bar at the top of the site.

A small chart with up to 30 years of price history is shown at the top of a security’s profile. There are no tools on this one, although there’s an expand icon that produces many tools, including technical studies, multiple plot styles, and drawing gizmos.





The trade ticket on the site has just four order types:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop
• Stop limit

And there are five duration choices. On-the-open and on-the-close are the most unusual.

Self-directed customers now get access to more than just the trade ticket. The platform highlights screeners, alerts, watchlists, research, and market briefings, which makes the website more useful than a bare-bones trading page.

Mobile App

J.P. Morgan Investing uses the Chase Bank app, which borrows a lot of software from the website we have just seen. This means the order ticket is very similar. Charting is also similar, except that a graph still cannot be displayed horizontally. This really limits the charting experience.





The watchlists from the website sync to the mobile platform, which is really convenient. Account statements can be downloaded in pdf format, which is also a nice feature.

Other investing tools commonly found on mobile apps, like live streaming video news, are missing in action on the J.P. Morgan Investing app, although mobile check deposit now works for eligible investment accounts, including general investment accounts and IRAs.

The website can also be used in a mobile-enhanced mode. The site displays well, and this format is recommended for opening an account on a mobile device.

Other Software

Unfortunately, J.P. Morgan Investing does not offer any other type of trading software, such as an API or desktop platform. Somewhat surprisingly, Chase Bank doesn’t have a smartwatch app.

Margin

J.P. Morgan offers margin accounts. Only one margin account is allowed per person, and the broker’s margin rates follow tiered pricing:

Fees and Minimums

Accounts have no minimum and no ongoing fees of any kind. Online trades of stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds are commission-free. Option trades do have a per-contract fee of 65 cents. Exercises and assignments are free.

Trades placed with the assistance of a live broker over the phone are an additional $25 or $20, depending on what exactly is traded.

Closing an IRA costs $75.

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Research & Education

J.P. Morgan Investing does a decent job of providing learning resources for its clients. For general investment education, there are articles on a variety of economic events, such as how to survive a recession and how to interpret a jobs report.

Then there are the articles more geared towards actual investing. These cover issues like handling a margin call and the impact interest rates have on assets.

J.P. Morgan Wealth Management, an affiliated company, publishes digital newsletters. It’s free to receive them via email.

Security profiles on the J.P. Morgan Investing website unfortunately are pretty bare. Only a few trade details are shown (market cap and P/E ratio are a few examples). Dividend history is shown on the profile, and stocks have a section that shows which funds hold the security. Benzinga provides news articles.

Stock reports are available from CFRA and J.P. Morgan Securities. These reports have price targets and trade recommendations, so they’re really useful.

Extra Services

IRAs: Traditional and Roth accounts can be opened. There are no other IRA versions available, although it is possible to rollover a former employer’s retirement plan.

Fractional-share Trading: Available for eligible stocks and ETFs, starting at $5.

DRIP Service: Dividends can be reinvested into the securities that paid them. There is no charge for the service.

Extended Hours: Available. Stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and options can be entered online during extended hours, although only limit orders are accepted outside the regular session.

IPO Service: Upcoming stock launches will not be found at J.P. Morgan Investing, which is somewhat odd, given that J.P. Morgan Chase is one of the biggest investment banks in the world.

Recommendations

Beginners: J.P. Morgan is a decent choice for beginners. But Charles Schwab offers automated investing free of charge.

Active Equity Trading: What do frequent traders need? A desktop platform, fractional-share trading, and low margin rates. Charles Schwab has all three.

Mutual Fund Investors: Using J.P. Morgan Investing’s mutual fund screener, we found 2,984 funds. This is a rather small list. We suggest Firstrade instead, who offers 11,000+ (some of these will have a load; J.P. Morgan Investing only offers no-load funds).

Individual Retirement Accounts: With a closeout fee and only two IRA types, we can’t defend J.P. Morgan Investing.

Small Accounts: With zero minimum balance requirement, J.P. Morgan Investing is a good choice for self-directed trading.

Long-Term Investors and Retirement Savers: Charles Schwab has lots of resources for retirement planners (such as calculators, annuities, several tax-advantaged accounts, branch locations, and financial advisors).

J.P. Morgan Investing Review Verdict

Because J.P. Morgan Investing is owned by one of the largest financial institutions in the world, one might expect more out of this minimalist brokerage firm. It does have a few strong points, though, with the biggest one perhaps being its connection to Chase Bank.