WellsTrade Review: In-Depth Details You Need to Know

Investing is an excellent way to build wealth over time, and one of the best ways to get started is through a brokerage account. Wells Fargo offers WellsTrade, its online brokerage platform, which enables users to invest in stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, bonds, and other securities. In this WellsTrade broker review, we’ll look in-depth at the platform’s fees, features, and usability to help you decide if it’s the right brokerage for your investing needs.

Overview: WellsTrade

Account Minimum: $0

Fees: $0 for Stocks and ETFs (excluding penny stocks)

WellsTrade is an electronic trading platform established by Wells Fargo in 2008. The platform has been developed to facilitate the online trading of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs for investors. WellsTrade provides various features and benefits that make it a favored option for investors of all levels of expertise.

Wells Fargo has been a reliable place to bank and get other financial services for over 150 years. WellsTrade, Wells Fargo’s online brokerage platform, gives its customers a wide range of investment options. WellsTrade is a platform that caters to investors of all levels, from novice to advanced. Its user-friendly interface is designed to facilitate ease of use.

Customer Service

WellsTrade has a variety of customer care alternatives, including phone, email, and live chat. The customer service team for the platform is available 24/7 to help investors with questions or problems.

The investing customer care phone number is open from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. Although there is no online chat, live brokers are accessible during market hours. In addition, Wells Fargo only accepts clients who are residents or citizens of the United States.

Products

WellsTrade only covers a few asset types. You can’t trade fractional shares, futures, futures options, FX, or cryptocurrencies. There are a lot of no transaction fee mutual funds and an excellent tool for passive investors to use to screen mutual funds.

• Long and short stocks
• OTCBB (pink sheets)
• Mutual funds (more than 3,000 total, including more than 1,800 with no load and no transaction fee)
• Bonds (secondary market incorporates Treasurys, municipals, and CDs); only accessible through an agency.
• Options for only one leg (limited number of spreads available via a live broker)
• The website and app have both a Robo-advisor and an Intuitive Investor.

Pricing

WellsTrade offers competitive pricing for its services. The platform charges $0 for online stock and ETF trades. However, investors may be subject to fees such as mutual fund transaction fees, broker-assisted trades, and account maintenance fees. WellsTrade also offers a range of commission-free ETFs.

• There are no commissions on stocks (excluding penny stocks) or ETFs.
• Penny stocks (those priced less than $1 per share) have a fee of $34.95 or 3.5% of the investment.
• The basic commission for opening and closing options is $5.95.
• The price for options per contract is $0.75.
• The charge for exercising/assigning options is $25 and must be done through a live broker.
• Treasuries and bonds are subject to a $50 transaction charge.
• The mutual fund cost is $35 for individuals not on the no transaction fee list.
• Margin interest is 5.75% on a $10,000 amount and 4.25% on a $100,000 balance.
• The charge for an outward account transfer is $95.
• Outgoing wire costs are $30 for domestic and $40 for international transfers.
• Check fees are zero unless overnight delivery is required, in which case the price is fifteen dollars.
• In addition to the online costs, there is a $25 live broker charge.

Order Types

If you require complex order types, you need something other than WellsTrade. You can only place market, limit, or stop-limit orders online. No conditional orders are available, and trailing stop orders cannot be identified. Market-on-open and market-on-close orders may only be made with the help of a live broker (for a $25 charge).

Trade Experience

You can easily enter orders for stocks, single-leg options, ETFs, and mutual funds. WellsTrade doesn’t have order types like “one-triggers-another,” but it does have a limit, market, and stop orders. The order submission process is essential, but traveling from one page to the next takes a long time, which might become tedious and impractical for busy investors. You can start orders from watchlists or screener results and choose tax lots as you enter orders.

Single-leg option orders can be submitted online, but the maximum is two-leg positions. When opening a long stock position, you must make a separate transaction to create a covered call or protective put. If you regularly trade spreads, this brokerage is not for you, as you must call a broker to place those trades as a single order. In addition to the inconvenience, those calls can get pricey quickly. Using a live broker to place an order incurs a $25 surcharge.

Mobile Trade Experience

The WellsTrade mobile application is compatible with both iOS and Android devices. The app lets investors check their accounts, make trades, and keep an eye on the markets while they’re on the go.

Putting in an order on a mobile device is the same as putting in an order online. To close a position and avoid making a mistake, it’s best to go to the “Positions” page and click “Trade” on a mobile device.

Account and Account Amenities

WellsTrade provides many account and research features you’d expect from a large broker such as screeners, market news, and research reports.

Security and Reliability

By entering a unique Advanced Access verification code sent to your phone, mobile device, or RSA SecurID device, you can add an extra layer of security to your online accounts. Mobile apps now support biometric authentication.

London Underwriters offers excess Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) insurance up to a maximum of $1 billion, including up to $1.9 million per customer for cash.

Wells Fargo and WellsTrade have experienced many well-publicized data breaches throughout the years, including one in May 2022.

Transparency

On the Wells Fargo website, it is relatively simple to locate pricing, commissions, service fees, and margin rates (you must visit the WellsTrade page and scroll down to “Pricing”). You may access the “WellsTrade Brokerage Commissions and Fees” website, which provides further information.

In the late 2010s, Wells Fargo was at the heart of several costly scandals, as previously reported. In April 2018, Wells Fargo, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) settled mortgage lock and car loan concerns for $1 billion. Four months later, the business paid $2.09 billion for its involvement in the housing bubble. Since then, the company has had a few more minor data breaches that left sensitive information about a small number of customers out in the open.

Account Types

WellsTrade offers a range of account types to suit different investor needs. These include:

• Individual account
• Joint account
• Traditional IRA
• Roth IRA
• Simplified employee pension (SEP) IRA
• Education savings accounts (ESA) for college savers

Education

WellsTrade’s educational services are minimal or don’t exist at all. There are only FAQ pages, a dictionary, and other small pieces. The papers are brief and need more content such as videos or webinars. The assistance available to novice investors who struggle with fundamental concepts is limited. The WellsTrade interface and tools are easier to navigate with little assistance. For instance, investors with limited knowledge of stock screening may need help exploring the screening tools independently.

The life planning tools on the Wells Fargo Advisors website include marriage, career changes, and divorce, among other topics. The Retirement Center offers advice on retirement preparation and living. The retirement planning tool contains little educational material but needs more depth. WellsTrade appears to prioritize clients who rely heavily on support employees for assistance.

Pros and Cons

Pros Explained

• Commission-free stock and ETF transactions: WellsTrade offers free online ETF trading, excluding penny stocks. Remember that a $25 agent-assisted trading fee applies if you trade stocks or ETFs over the phone.
• User-friendly website and mobile app: Both the website and the mobile apps are easy to use and look the same, which makes it easy to switch between devices.
• One application provides access to all Wells Fargo accounts: You can access your Wells Fargo accounts and manage them from a single website or mobile app. This “one app to rule them all” can be a helpful tool for managing your finances.

Cons Explained

• The limited research outside private Wells Fargo analysis: Wells Fargo’s proprietary research is worth examining, but there is little else. There were no options for analysis and few screeners.
• No quotes stream: No real-time quotations. You must refresh the page to update a quote after it appears in real-time. This extra stage makes market moves harder to predict.
• Options trading has a commission: Many significant brokers charge a per-contract fee, but options are commissioned. Wells Fargo charges both and has a higher per-contract cost than other major brokers.

Is WellsTrade A Worth Broker to Get?

Except for buy-and-hold investors who already have a relationship with the firm, the restricted tools and lack of education are unlikely to attract most investors. Nevertheless, the above-average research, excellent phone assistance, and connection with other Wells Fargo accounts may outweigh the negatives for the proper investor. So, customers need to read the WellsTrade broker review before deciding.

Conclusion

Overall, WellsTrade is an excellent brokerage platform with many investment options, low fees, and many trading and research tools. While there may be better options for those looking to trade international securities or cryptocurrencies, this review of WellsTrade broker will let you know that WellsTrade it’s an excellent choice for beginners and experienced investors.

FAQs

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Source: Investopedia