J.P. Morgan Chase versus Fidelity Investments: compare cost, commissions, investing fees, trading tools, account differences, pros and cons. Which online broker is better?

Fidelity vs. Chase Investing Introduction

Fidelity and J.P. Morgan Investing come with trustworthy names. But which one of these two brokerage firms provides the better trading experience? We have the answer.

J.P. Morgan and Fidelity Fees

First Category: Tradable Assets

J.P. Morgan Investing offers access to the following financial instruments:

• Equities (on U.S. exchanges)
• Fixed income
• Options
• Funds (mutual, exchange-traded, and closed-end)

Over at Fidelity, the list is the same, but the broker adds life insurance, annuities, and foreign stocks on several global exchanges.

Fidelity also offers portfolio management for which it charges between 0.0% and 0.35% per annum for its digital service. Old-school packages are available with a variety of fees, minimums, and investment vehicles. One trades municipal bonds, has a $350,000 minimum, and charges up to 40 basis points annually.

Winner: Fidelity

Second Category: Margin Trading

Fidelity self-directed customers can buy more securities with borrowed funds if they wish. Of course, there’s a fee for this generous service. The brokerage house charges between 12.575% and 8.275% for debit balances. It takes a million bucks to get to the lowest rate.

Margin accounts are also available with J.P. Morgan Investing. Margin rates range from 10% to 12.25% However, short selling is not permitted.

Winner: Fidelity

Third Category: Websites

When we logged into our Fidelity test account, we were immediately impressed by the layout of the dashboard with various functions displayed in tiles. A search bar in the upper-right corner makes finding a stock or fund easy (of course there are screeners for this, too).





The Fidelity trade ticket has two versions: an advanced style and a simplified form. The former has several trade types and duration choices.

Charting on Fidelity’s site is available in full-screen mode with several tools like color customization and the ability to save a graph as a spreadsheet.

The J.P. Morgan Investing site is the same one Chase Bank customers use. A single login displays multiple financial accounts (brokerage and banking). Investing accounts get charts with tools, but there is no full-screen mode.





J.P. Morgan Investing’s trade ticket has real-time data with multiple duration choices and order types. Options and bonds have their own trade tickets that are easy to use.

Winner: Fidelity

Fourth Category: Desktop Programs

In addition to its very good website, Fidelity has designed a desktop trading program. Called Active Trader Pro, the software manages to live up to its name. During our probing of the platform, we really enjoyed using these features:

• Conditional trade ticket
• Basket order form that can send multiple trades simultaneously
• Level II quotes
• Streaming video news
• Advanced option tools with spreads

J.P. Morgan Investing does not have a desktop platform, but it should!

Winner: Fidelity

Fifth Category: Mobile Apps

Fidelity does not stop with its desktop platform, either. The brokerage firm has an excellent mobile app that has some very good educational and investment widgets. For the former, there are podcasts, on-demand webinars, tiles of news articles (courtesy of Reuters, Bloomberg, and others), a learning center, and more.





For the latter, Fidelity’s app has a trade ticket with 8 trade types and 5 duration choices (on the open, but not on the close, is one of them). Mutual funds can be traded on the app, and there are integrated option spreads, too.

The J.P. Morgan Investing app is integrated into the Chase Bank app. The brokerage side of things has an order form with 4 trade types and 5 duration choices (on the open and on the close are two of them). Calls and puts can be traded, but there are no multi-leg plays. Mutual funds can be researched and traded as well.





Besides phones, both firms have apps designed for tablets. Fidelity, but not J.P. Morgan, has software for iMessage and Apple Watch.

Winner: Fidelity

Sixth Category: Extra Services

Periodic Mutual Fund Investing: Both firms offer the ability to establish recurring mutual fund investments.

DRIP Service: Available at both brokerage houses.

Banking Tools: A Chase Bank account can be linked to a J.P. Morgan Investing account. The latter does not have any cash management features itself. Fidelity has something called the Cash Management Account. This is a discrete brokerage account that offers unlimited ATM fee refunds and five times the normal FDIC insurance (which aren’t available through J.P. Morgan Investing).

Individual Retirement Accounts: Fidelity customers get to choose from a larger selection of IRAs.

Fractional Shares: For stocks and ETFs, Fidelity offers the ability to trade in whole dollars. J.P. Morgan Investing does not.

Extended Hours: Only available at Fidelity.

Initial Public Offerings: Again, only available at Fidelity.

Winner: Fidelity

Recommendations

Mutual Fund Trading: On the Fidelity website, we found 9,581 funds open to new investors. Over at J.P. Morgan Investing, we found 3,043. Fidelity also has much better fund resources. We definitely recommend Fidelity.

ETF & Stock Trading: With Fidelity’s very good desktop platform, this one is a no brainer. Fidelity’s website also delivers more thorough ETF resources.

Beginners: We defend Fidelity robo service for novices. For self-directed trading, Fidelity has better educational materials, including a free weekly newsletter, online coaching sessions, live and on-demand webinars, in-person events, branch locations, learning articles and videos, and much more.

Small Accounts: There are no minimums for self-directed traders. Fidelity’s robo service has a $10 minimum.

Long-Term Investors and Retirement Savers: Fidelity’s human advisors can do financial planning and more. Plus, it has many long-term tools on its website for self-directed clients, including goal planning, annuities, 529 plans, college saving, wealth management, charitable giving, and more.

Fidelity vs J.P. Morgan Summary

Fidelity has won every single category in this survey. Although J.P. Morgan Investing has a trustworthy name, that doesn’t mean it delivers the better trading experience.

Find a Financial Advisor

If you are looking for a professional financial advisor in your area, you can find top Financial Advisors on the Wiser Advisor website.

Visit Wiser Advisor

Continue Reading

• Fidelity vs Webull
• Fidelity vs Moomoo
• Empower vs Vanguard
• Fidelity vs Voya Financial
• Brokarge Account Without SSN