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Our Take

Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is one of the world’s leading trading platforms. The company has historically catered to institutional and high-volume traders, and IBKR continues to meet the needs of these customers, earning our top choice for best broker for advanced traders, international trading, algorithmic trading, and risk management, cash management🎉, among other categories.

However, it has also been impressive to see IBKR’s commitment to newer and less sophisticated investors and traders. IBKR now has a commission-free pricing model and has continued to enhance the features 🔥associated with its IBKR Lite pricing plan while developing both its mobile IBKR Global Trader and a new IBKR Desktop platform, all of which are specifically designed to cater to this group of traders. In addition to the new platforms, IBKR has also been improving its educational content while designing features to make it easier for average traders and investors. IBKR now has an impressive array of offerings to meet the needs of all investor types.

Introduction

Interactive Brokers (IBKR), headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, and founded by chairman Thomas Peterffy in 1977, was one of the first adopters of technology for financial markets and continues to excel in bringing trading tools and technology to the markets. IBKR is a publicly traded company with $16.6 billion in equity capital, more than 3.34 million client accounts, and more than 2,900 global employees. IBKR is unrivaled in the breadth of markets and financial instruments available to trade on its platforms.

Pros & Cons

Pros Explained 

• Unequaled breadth of available trading markets: No brokerage company comes close to providing access to the number of markets across the world, and the number of trading vehicles, as IBKR does. IBKR’s platform offers access to 160 markets across 36 countries and 28 currencies and offers equity, ETFs, mutual funds, debt, futures, foreign exchange, cryptocurrency, and other trading markets, all on a single trading platform.
• Very competitive commission and margin rates: IBKR has low commission rates, scaled based on monthly trading volume, for its institutional and more active customers. IBKR also has competitive margin rates, which are adjusted lower as account size increases.
• Excellent trade execution: IBKR has developed sophisticated order routing technology and allows customers on its IBKR Pro platform to route their own orders to maximize trade execution.
• Multiple trading tools: IBKR offers a wide range of tools to help traders, including 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:stock screeners, the ability to trade directly from charts, sophisticated order routing, options analyzers, and easy order entry tools. IBKR customers also have access to fundamental and technical indicators that can be incorporated into advanced order functionality.
• Commission-free option: IBKR, to cater to non-institutional traders and be competitive with offerings from other online brokers, now offers an IBKR Lite plan to offer commission-free stock and ETF trading.

Cons Explained 

• TWS can be intimidating to learn: Beginners and less sophisticated traders can find the high-powered Trader Workstation (TWS) platform overwhelming and intimidating because of all its bells and whistles. In response, IBKR has recently launched more beginner-friendly alternatives, including its web Client Portal, IBKR Desktop, and IBKR GlobalTrader platforms.
• Commission schedules can be complex: IBKR has low commissions for high-volume traders. Unlike many brokerage firms with straightforward pricing, such as a flat rate for options trades, IBKR lowers commission rates using breakpoints based on monthly trading volume. This can make it difficult for traders to forecast their trading costs.
• Commission-free option requires sacrifice: Like many online brokers these days, Interactive Brokers offers customers a commission-free trading plan that allows the company to generate revenue through 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:payment for order flow (PFOF). Customers who choose this plan are required to give up control of order routing in exchange for not paying commissions.
• Limited access to IPOs and OTC stocks: IBKR is not an underwriter, so it does not usually get allocations of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:initial public offerings (IPOs). Also, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:over-the-counter (OTC) stock trading is not as economical at IBKR as it is on other platforms.

Usability

IBKR has made efforts to improve the usability of its platforms for all of its customers, and it is having success. It is not as cumbersome as in the past to open an account, and it can be done without funding. Customers still need to provide information for the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:know your client (KYC) rules required of brokers. Since tra🥃ders may choose to transact in multiple markets, there may be some additional forms to fill out, such as options and margin agreements. IBKR has a client portal that can be accessed from either the desktop or web-based application (via a computer or mobile device).

IBKR has multiple desktop and mobile platforms to suit client needs, and two of the company’s newer platforms are very🎉 positive steps for helping IBKR’s beginner, and less experienced traders use the power of IBKR’s technology. The properly chosen platform should greatly reduce feelings of intimidation that newer traders have previously felt with IBKR’s Trader Worksta📖tion (TWS). All of the platforms do a good job of integrating all of the markets and tools, so users can navigate to news, analytics, charting, and trading across all asset classes and markets on a single platform.

Importantly, the company launche🃏d a new desktop platform in 2024 called IBKR Desktop. It was designed with user input with the goal of combining strong tools with an easy-to-use interface for beginner and intermediate traders. For mobile, IBKR GlobalTrader provides a simple interface that allows users to trade equities, ETFs, and options across the world. Active traders are still going to tend towards TWS, but there are more options now for everyone else.

Trade Experience

IBKR offers users multiple platforms, and with the launch of the IBKR Desktop platform in February 2024 and IBKR Global Trader in March 2022, it has an excellent mix of platforms to deliver its impressive trading technologies to a wide range of traders with different needs.

Platforms at IBKR are as follows:

Desktop Platforms

• IBKR Trader Workstation (TWS): This is IBKR’s top-end platform. It has all the features for sophisticated high-volume and institutional traders and money managers, including order routing and other special tools. TWS can be customized by the user.
• IBKR Desktop: This is a fully functioning desktop platform that was designed using input from beginner and intermediate-level traders who want a robust platform, but don’t need access to all markets and tools.
• IBKR Client Portal: This is a web browser-based portal, accessible via desktop or mobile platforms, that lets users trade, as well as manage their accounts, print reports, and see account analytics. This interface, which the user can customize, launches automatically when account management is selected from either of the desktop platforms, and it can also be accessed from the IBKR website. Only one sign-in is required to access the client portal.

Mobile Applications

• IBKR Mobile: This is the IBKR mobile platform closest to TWS, offering access to the full range of tradable markets available on TWS.
• IBKR GlobalTrader: This is a streamlined app designed for traders focusing on stocks, ETFs, options, and mutual funds. It has an easy-to-use design that is less intimidating than IBKR Mobile.
• IBKR Client Portal: This is the same as the desktop web experience but is accessible via mobile devices.

Other IBKR Platforms

• IBKR APIs: IBKR provides an application protocol interface (API) that provides users with multiple IBKR and third-party applications, such as an easy-to-use Excel API or an advanced FIX API.
• IBKR ForecastTrader: This is a specialized application for one specific asset class available through Interactive Brokers. These trades are outcomes of specific questions that have a yes or no answer. The platform still exists, but the events based investments are now also integrated into the existing platforms as well. 
• IBKR IMPACT: This is an app available for iOS or Android that allows users to set criteria which then lets them identify and invest in companies that share their values, such as for 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:environment, social, o𝓀r governance (ESG), or other socially positive criteria.

Interactive Brokers is constantly upgrading its🦩 trading experience based on user feedback. In the last year, this has included increasing the trade history available on mobile, adding new sorts and filters, adding orders to mobile, creating new options screeners, using AI to tag news by importance, and on and on. This is one of the reasons IBKR ꦰcan feel overwhelming, but you will quickly learn to appreciate the constant drive for improvement once you get over the initial shock.

Range of Offerings

Compared to other online brokers, it is incredible how many markets around the world and specific trading vehicles are ava🔴ilable for trading at IBKR. Here is a breakdown:

• U.S. Equities and ETFs long and short, with more than 17,000 U.S. traded stocks available to borrow
• Options traded globally on more than 30 market centers
• Exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including more than 150 ETFs with no transaction fees if held for at least 30 days
• Over-the-counter bulletin board (OTCBB), commonly referred to as “pink sheets” or “penny stocks” (IBKR Lite customers are subject to fixed fee pricing for OTCBB stocks)
• Futures and options on futures
• Precious metals: Spot trading in gold and silver
• Mutual funds: More than 43,000 funds available from more than 600 fund families, with more than 19,000 funds available with no fees
• International exchanges: 160 market centers across 36 countries and 28 currencies
• Foreign exchange trading in 24 currencies and more than 100 currency pairs
• Cryptocurrency trading, where traders can hold the assets for Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Ripple (XRP), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Litecoin (LTC)
• Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs
• Debt instruments, including corporate, municipal, treasury, CDs, and international issues
• CME event contracts and ForecastEx forecast contracts (IBKR ForecastTrader)
• Robo trading

Order Types

IBKR offers traders a very wide range of order types, with IBKR Pro (TW꧒S) customers having the ability to incorporate many order types and algorithms. They can also utilize fundamental and/or technical indicators as part of their orders. Even other platforms that don’t have that level of granularity offer customers significant flexibility in placing orders for entering and managing trades. For the🐟 more advanced platforms, traders can transact options strategies with up to six legs.

Order types available on IBKR platforms have some variation between the different platforms. IBKR has a very full array of order types but does not make them all available on the IBKR Desktop and IBKR Global Trader platforms to keep that platform simpler to use. This is done by design so that the more basic platforms do not overwhelm the user, who can always choose to step up their platform to TW🐬S or IBKR Mobile if they want the additional functionality. 

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网: Order types are as follows:

• Buy and sell orders, including limit, market and stop orders, including limit stops are available on all platforms, but IBKR GlobalTrader, a simpler platform by design, does not currently support trailing stops that are available on TWS, IBKR Mobile, and the web-based Client Portal. IBKR Desktop does support special stops, however, such as market if touched. 
• Conditional orders, including OTO, or one triggers the other orders; OCO, or one cancels the other orders; and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:OTT, or one triggers two orders, are all available on TWS, IBKR Mobile, and the Client Portal. 
• Options orders, including the ability to automatically set up multi-leg options strategies, are available on the platforms geared towards advanced users.

Trading Technology

IBKR has some of the best technology in the brokerage industry. It was one of the first companies to incorporate computer technology into its platforms, and it continues to stay on top of the innovation curve. Examples of IBKR’s strong trading technology include its order routing system, which finds the most cost-effective way to execute each leg of a transaction in a way that maximizes value for the cus♕tomer. Customers on IBKR Pro also have the ability to control the routing of their own orders. 

Other trading technology available at IBKR includes support for 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:fractional share trading, the ability to choose tax lots, and tax loss harvesting, which allows account holders to maximize the value of potential tax losses and gains in their accounts while being mindful of how wash sales rules will impact tax harvesting.

Additional advanced trading tools at IBKR include the ability to stage orders, automated and algorithmic trading strategies, a probability lab for looking at options in a less mathematically intense way, and Scale Trader, which helps execute large volume orders in a way that minimizes the impact of deteriorating prices. There are also options and foreign exchange interfaces for optimizing your trading. IBKR also offers paper trading, but one feature not present on IBKR is the ability to back-test trading s🐠trategies.

Costs

Interactive Brokers has more than one commission schedule for U.S. equit🐼y and ETF trading. The company offers two different commission fee structures: IBKR Pro Tiered and IBKR Pro Fixe🌳d. The tiered plan charges different commission rates as monthly trading volume increases, and the fixed plan is a fixed commission of $0.005 per share. IBKR Pro customers can also trade certain no-transaction-fee ETFs on the platform without paying a commission. IBKR also has tiered and fixed commission schedules for Canadian and Mexican stocks.

The other plan for U.S. equities and ETFs, for U.S. residents only, is called IBKR Lite, and this plan mirrors other brokerage companies’ commission-free🧸 models. With IBKR Lite, the trader gives up the right to route their own trades, allowiไng IBKR to provide execution and generate payment for order flow revenue in lieu of customer commissions. Other trading vehicles at IBKR are priced the same for all customers.

Here is a breakdown of costs at IBKR:

• U.S. Stocks and ETFs - IBKR Lite: No commissions, but still need to pay regulatory fees
• U.S. Stocks and ETFs - IBKR Pro Fixed: Fixed commission of $0.005, with a minimum commission of $0.35 and a maximum commission of 1% of trade value. These customers also pay regulatory fees.
• U.S. Stocks and ETFs - IBKR Pro Tiered: Commission schedule ranges from $0.0035/share up to 300,000 shares traded per month; then $0.0020 up to 3 million shares traded; $0.0015 to 20 million shares; $0.0010 up to 100 million shares; then just $0.0005/share. IBKR Pro Tiered customers also pay regulatory, exchange, clearing, and pass-through fees. The minimum commission per trade is $0.35, and the maximum commission per order is 1% of the trade value.
• U.S. Options - IBKR Lite: Fixed rate of $0.65/contract, with a minimum commission of $1 per order.
• U.S. Options - IBKR Pro: Tiered pricing structure that also adjusts based on the cost of the option, plus exchange, clearing, regulatory, and transaction fees. For monthly trading volume of less than 10,000 option contracts, the rate is $0.25/contract for options with a premium less than $0.05; then $0.50/contract for options priced from $0.05 to $0.10/contract; and $0.65/contract if the premium is $0.10 or higher. The next tier for U.S. options trading is between 10,000 and 50,000 contracts traded, where the commission is $0.25/contract if the premium is less than $0.05, and $0.50 if the premium is more than $0.05. After this, the commission is $0.25/contract up to 100,000 contracts traded, and $0.15/contract after 100,000 contracts have been traded.   
• Futures and Options on Futures Contracts (standard contracts): Priced on either a fixed or tiered commission schedule. The fixed schedule is $0.85/contract, plus exchange and regulatory fees, while the tiered commission schedule starts at $0.85/contract if fewer than 1,000 contracts are traded; then $0.65/contract up to 10,000 contracts; $0.45/contract to 20,000 contracts traded; and $0.25 after 20,000 contracts.  
• Futures and Options on Futures Contracts (E-micro contracts): Contract breakpoints are at 1,000, 10,000, and 20,000, with corresponding commission rates of $0.25, $0.20, $0.15, and $0.10 per contract, respectively.
• Futures and Options on Futures Contracts (CME cryptocurrency futures and futures options): There are tiered and fixed commission rate options, and rates vary by contract and cryptocurrency, with rates as follows: Bitcoin: standard futures and options on futures have a $5/contract commission; Bitcoin micro futures are $2.25 per contract; and Bitcoin micro futures options cost $1.25/contract. Ethereum charges are $3/contract for standard contracts; $0.20/contract for Ethereum micro contracts; and $0.10 for Ethereum micro futures and options.
• Event Contracts (traded on the CME): The commission is $0.10/contract for the tiered and the fixed option, with tiered customers paying overnight position fees in addition to exchange and regulatory fees. The ForecastEx contracts are commission free. 
• Spot Currencies: Breakpoints are $1 billion; $2 billion; and $5 billion in USD notional value traded. The corresponding commission rates are determined by multiplying the trade value by the commission rates, which are 0.20 basis points (bp); 0.15 bp; 0.10 bp; and 0.08 bp, respectively.
• Cryptocurrency: If monthly trading value is less than 100,000, 0.18% times the trade value. The commission rate reduces to 0.15% time trade value for trading volume from 100,000 to 1,000,000, then to 0.12%. For all tier levels, there is a minimum commission per order of $1.75, and a maximum commission of 1% of trade value.
• Spot Gold (London): Orders below $500,000 pay a commission of 1.5 bp times the trade value. The commission is 1 bp from $500,000 to $1 million, and 0.7 bp for trades in excess of $1 million. The minimum per order is $2 for tier 1 trades. 
• Spot Silver (London): Orders below $250,000 pay a commission of 3 bp times the trade value. The commission is 2 bps from $250,000 to $500,000 and 0.7 bp for trades in excess of $500,000. The minimum per order is $2 for tier 1 trades. The pricing page also lists the storage and transportation costs associated with physical metals trading.
• Bonds (Corporate & CDs): Commission is 10 bps times face value for the first $10,000, then 2.5 bps for any additional face value of bonds. For the first $10,000 in face value, the minimum commission is $1, and the maximum is the lesser of % of trade value.
• Bonds (Municipal): Commission is 5 bps times face value for the first $10,000, then 1.25 bps for any additional face value of bonds. For the first $10,000 in face value, the minimum commission is $1, and the maximum is the lesser of 1% of trade value.
• Bonds (U.S. Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds): Commission is 0.2 bps times face value for the first $1 million, then 0.01 bps for any additional face value of bonds. There is a minimum commission of $5 for the first $1 million in face value and $5 for additional face value.
• Mutual Funds: There are no transaction fees for thousands of funds on the IBKR platform. IBKR’s transaction fee for other mutual funds is the lesser of 3% times the trade value or $14.95 per transaction.
• Trade Desk broker-assisted trading: For U.S. equities, options, futures, and futures options. The commission for stocks and ETFs is $0.01/share, with a minimum commission of $100, plus exchange, clearing, and regulatory fees. For options on U.S. equities, the commission is $0.95/contract, with a minimum commission of $95, plus exchange, clearing, regulatory, and transaction fees. The rate for futures is $3.00/contract, with a $300 minimum, and futures options cost $1/contract with a minimum per-order commission of $300.
  
• Margin Rates: Based on a tiered system, with account size breakpoints at less than $100,000; up to $1 million; to $50 million; to $200 million, and greater than $200 million. Corresponding margin rates for these tiers on IBKR Pro are 5.83%; 5.33%; 5.08%; 4.83%; and 4.83% again. The same breakpoints are used for IBKR Lite margin calculations, but currently, the margin rate for all IBKR Lite customers is 6.83%, regardless of account size. This is 2.5% over IBKR’s base rate. The IBKR Pro margin rate spread narrows as the account size grows larger. The current IBKR base margin rate is currently 3.83%. This means margin rates decline for larger accounts with IBKR Pro, not on IBKR Lite.
• Interest paid on cash: This is not a cost, but it illustrates that IBKR’s interest rate is very fair, at 3.83% for IBKR Pro accounts with at least $10,000 (just 0.5% less than IBKR’s base rate). IBKR Lite accounts with $10,000 or more in cash receive 2.83% on their cash, which is 1.5% below the base rate. These are generous interest rates for idle cash, considering some brokers don’t pay anything to customers who have excess cash in their accounts. IBKR’s rate is fantastic when compared to the less than 0.01% currently offered at E*Trade and 0.05% at Schwab.
• IBKR does not charge inactivity, minimum balance, or account closing fees.
  

ꦑHow This Broker Makes Money From You and For You

• Commissions: IBKR generates income in many ways, but its primary revenue stream is from commissions paid by traders on their trading. Although IBKR offers customers low commissions, the large volume of trading through its platform still generates substantial commission revenue. 
• Payment for order flow (PFOF): IBKR also generates revenue through payment for order flow related to the orders it executes from its non-commission-paying IBKR Lite customers.
• Interest income: Interest income is also an important revenue generator for IBKR. The interest income for IBKR comes from two primary sources. One is the difference between the margin lending rates the customer pays and the rate at which they borrow funds. IBKR also pays interest to customers on excess cash balances in accounts, but IBKR does not pay interest to customers on the first $10,000 if the account has a balance of less than $100,000, and lower balance accounts also receive lower interest rates from IBKR.
• Securities lending: IBKR also helps generate additional income for its customers through sharing revenue generated from 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:securities lending, where IBKR uses customer securities for securities lending operations. This entails IBKR using, with permission, a customer’s stocks for the purpose of lending them to a short seller. IBKR shares the revenue generated from securities lending with the account owner that lent IBKR the securities.
• Price improvement and portfolio margining: IBKR helps customers make money through price improvement through efficient order routing, as well as through 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:portfolio margining, which may allow a user to lower their margin rate because of a portfolio’s overall risk.

Account and Research Amenities

As a well-established leader in providing technology tools and solutions for top traders, IBKR delivers to its customers when it comes to offering multiple account and research amenities traders, and investors may want to incorporate into their analysis and trading. As you read this list, it is important to keep in mind that Interactive Brokers’ market reach fundamentally changes the power of the tools. When we talk about screening stocks with IBKR, it is stocks all over the globe. IBKR has created unique tools for this purpose, like the IBKR GlobalAnalyst, which shows just how powerful this kind of search can be.

Stock and ETF Screener

IBKR has a very robust stock and ETF screener, especially the one on TWS. There are multiple filters that can be used to identify stocks that meet your criteria from hundreds o🤡f different fundamental and technical indicators. IBKR’s stock screeners can be customized and saved for later use, the screener results can be turned into a watch list, and you can generate an order ticket directly from the stock screen list. All clients, including IBKR Lite clients, can use the stock screeners on TWS.

Mutual Fund Screener

IBKR has a mutual fund screener. As with the stock screener, the TWS version is the most robust, but there is also a mutual fund screener on the Client Portal that allows you to look for funds with criteria such as if there are commissi🐬ons charged, specific fund families, as well as fund type, such as alternatives, balanced, bond, commodity, equity, mixed investments, and money mar𝄹kets.

Options Screener

The options screener can help traders identify potential options trades based on their criteria, which could include specific sectors, or quantitative measurements related to implied volatility, open inter♛est, trading volume, or other tr♔aits the trader can define.

Fixed Income Screener 

IBKR’s Bond Search Tool allows users to find specific bonds by CUSIP, or by category, such as global corporate bonds, U.S. CDs, U.S. Treasuries, and non-sovereign bonds. Further filtering is available for industry, country of issuer, and for high-yield or investment-grade securities. You can also access municipal disclosures in Trader Workstation.

Tools and Calculators

IBKR offers multiple tools and calculators for traders to identify opportunities and mဣanage positions. The options analysis tools help traders identify which option best fits their market viewpo💦int. IBKR has brought some of the powerful options analysis from TWS into the IBKR Desktop to help newer investors implement options strategies and screen for opportunities.

Charting

IBKR offers robust charti🍬ng on its platforms, even though it can be challenging to use charting on small-screen mobile devices. However, users can view charts that,✤ unlike many other online brokerage platforms, are dynamic and support the drawing of multiple studies and indicators. In addition, traders can initiate trades directly from charts, and current orders, such as limit or stop loss orders, will be displayed on charts. IBKR charting, especially on their mobile platform, is better than most online broker offerings.

Trading Idea Generators

IBKR has technology that can take your market expectatꦺions and suggest specific trading ideas. Users can choose sectors and other criteria for a trade, and the idea genཧerator will look for potential trading opportunities.

News

There are dozens of different news sources available on IBKR. Some of these services are free, while others, such as Dow Jones News, require payment to access their services. In some instances, such as news site Benzinga, some content is free, and other information is behind a paywall. In many instances, you can get free trials for the different services offered. The site also contains content that shares market insights, research, newsletters, and other information. Some of the c🎀ontent is bundled, so there are opportunities to find a package that may mee🐟t your needs.

Third-Party Research

IBKR does not provide its customers with any proprietary research on the markets. Instead, the company has a platform with hundreds of research reports and other content available. Like the news on IBKR, there are many possibilities. There is a helpful page that has news, research, and analysis content, sorting buttons for research, news, events, and alternative data, third-party tools, and the ability to view free and bundled services. Under “research” on this page, you can further sort content by fundamental, technical, ratings, macro research, quantitative, events, and media.

Cash Management

IBKR is not a bank and does not offer checking accounts🧔 or bill-payment services. However, in addition to paying a nice interest rate to customers with cash balances in excess of $10,000, IBKR has a cash sweep offering for IBKR Pro users that takes cash in excess of $250,000 and invests it in various banks in a way that ensures all principal is protected because deposits are spread out over multiple accounts at multiple banks, with each deposit being for less than $250,000 to ensure all princ⛄ipal is FDIC-insured.

Fractional Dividend Reinvestment Plan

For accounts that have fractional share permissions, IBKR provides access to anꦯ industry-leading list of fractional investments, and allows customers to receive fractional shares for a reinvested dividend through the Dividend Reinvestment Program (DRIP).

Portfolio Analysis

IBKR has developed advanced tools for portfolio analysis that allow investors to see the entire performance of their portfolio, including assets not held at IBKR. PortfolioAnalyst is a free service that allows reporting and historical aggregation. PortfolioAnalyst lets investors link their checking, investment, savings, credit cards, mortgage, and student loans to help them better understand their personal financial situation. The data is used to create helpful analytics such as portfolio returns and risk information, reviews of asset classes and geographical distribution, and even a consolidated 澳洲幸运ไ5官方开奖结果体彩网:environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rating of your portfolio. This powerful software, which also has a retirement planner and budgeting feature, is available for free.

Education

As mentioned earlier in this article, providing educational offerings for customers is important to Interactive Brokers, and the company has put a lot of effort into creating resources for its users. Traders can sign up for one of the newsletters available on the Trader’s Academy, which has courses and content for beginner, intermediate, and advanced traders about how to use IBKR platforms and about ma🍌rkets and how to trade them.

Coinciding with the launch of IBKR Desktop in February 2024, IBKR developed a free IBKR 𝓰Desktop Trading Course, which features 10 lessons on how traders can use the platform. Additional content in the education section includes financial courses (Trader’s Academy), quant articles, finance webina﷽rs, market podcasts, a student trading lab, and a trader’s glossary. Since the IBKR Desktop platform is geared towards traders who don’t need all of the power of IBKR Pro (TWS), this further shows IBKR’s commitment to growing the ranks of its non-professional trading customers.

Customer Service

IBKR provides♈ customer service by email, live chat, and 24/7 phone support. In addition, the company has developed an AI-powered IBot, available throughout the IBKR platform infrastructure, that can often answer user questions by bringing users to online resources. Customers also have access to an extensive FAQ page. Brokers are available to help with trades for a premium cost.

In the past, IBKR has not been particularly good regarding phone wait times, but the company is trying to improve in this area. This is important if IBKR continues to bri🍒ng in less sophisticated customers who may not be as self-sufficient as high-volume institutional traders, so the company will likely continue making investments to improve its customer service delivery.

Security and Reliability

IBKR’s authentication system and security exceed those in place at other brokers. IBKR utilizes two-factor authentication and biometric security, as well as unique codes the user controls. Further, IBKR’s real-time risk management system includes protective liquidations of customer positions to protect other clients’ capital. Another reassuring feature is that IBKR does not make proprietary bets, so it is much less likely to have a catastrophic blowup that negatively impacts customer accounts. IBKR also segregates the amoun🔥t of cash and securities owned by clients daily, with an additional buffer of cash.

IBKR was the first broker-dealer approved by FINRA to calculate and apply this reserve method daily, where the industry standard is weekly or monthly. Also, while SIPC protects accounts for up to $500,000 (with a cash sublimit of $250,000), IBKR also has supplemental insurance with Lloyd’s of London. Finally, there have been no significant data breaches at IBKR in the past four years, rounding out a positive report on IBKR’s security and reliability.

Transparency

IBKR maintains multiple platforms and supports trading a wide range of products and services around the world. Its business is complex, and there is a great deal of in🍒formation and a steep learning curve to fully understand all of its technology and tools. However, the firm is transparent about its products and services and the various costs and commissions associated with them. The company shows the commissions for each product and fully discloses how it makes money through payment for order flow on accounts using IBKR Lite, where stocks and ETFs can be traded commission-free. IBKR even clearly lists the various exchange, clearing, and pass-through fee schedules.

There have, however, been some regulatory issues reported over the past few years, 🌟including:

• IBKR was charged a $3.5 million penalty in December 2023 from FINRA related to multiple alleged violations of the rules related to supervision and execution. Part of the complaint included the potential that its routing logic for IBKR Lite accounts resulted in a lack of best execution for clients, but FINRA’s order stated that remedial steps had already been taken by IBKR to address those issues.
• IBKR, in October 2023, agreed to pay $35 million in penalties to the SEC and $20 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for problems related to improper recordkeeping. As part of the settlement, IBKR also agreed to retain independent compliance consultants. 
• These penalties followed a $15 million fine IBKR received from FINRA in August 2020 for problems with the company’s anti-money laundering (AML) program over a five-year period.
• FINRA fined IBKR $475,000 in October of 2024 for lapses in compliance in the securities lending program and a $2.25 million fine that was paid in January of this year for free-riding they failed to detect.

Available Account Types

IBKR offers a wide selection of account types that should fit just about any situation. Individual, joint, UGMA/UTMA, and retirement accounts are all available at IBKR. Retirement account types that can be opened at IBKR include traditional IRA, traditional rollover; traditional inherited, Roth IRA, Roth IRA inherited, simplified employee pension (SEP), and Savings Investment Match Plan for Employees (Simple IRA).

Beyond these account types, IBKR also offers multiple other account types, including for non-professional advisors, family offices, small businesses, advisors, money managers, Broker & Futures Commission Merchants (FCM), proprietary trading groups, hedge fund, and mutual funds, compliance officers, administrators, and institutional hedge fund investors.

The Bottom Line

Interactive Brokers has been one of the leading brokerage firms for institutional and high-volume traders for decades. Its low (or no) commission and margin rates, combined with its unbeatable reach to different markets around the world, create an active trader’s dream. The different types of trading vehicles that can be traded across the globe on a single platform in real-time is staggering. While other brokers might add a European exchange or some access to Asia, IBKR’s recent editions are the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, the Bursa Malaysia Exchange, and the Saudi Exchange. It is unparalleled in terms of global reach. 

IBKR’s trading technology and tools are all top class as well. Clients can access news, third-party research, and IBKR-built tools, such as screeners and reports, interactive charting with drawin♓g tools, and the ability to trade any and all of these markets on a single platform with a safe single sign-on. This is why IBKR has been our top choice for best online brokers for professionals for many years now.

Adding to its impressive platform and technology capabilities is IBKR’s strong commitment to improving the IBKR experience for beginners and intermediate traders and investors. In addition to delivering new desktop and mobile platforms geared towards a less sophisticated trader, it has also backed up its commitment to lower-volume traders by creating educational tools to help people be🍰tter understand markets, how to trade, and how to use the IBKR platform efficien𝓡tly. In all honesty, IBKR is now an excellent choice for traders at any level.

Compaꦑre Interactive Brokers to Similar Online Brokers

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Providing readers with unbiased, comprehensive reviews of online 🥀brokers and trading platforms is a top priority for Investopedia. We combined our industry research and subject matter expertise to guide the research and weightings for our 2025 onl🐈ine broker rankings. To collect the data, our researchers collected data points through online research of provider websites. To fill in any gaps, our research team reached out to the individual brokerages. In some instances, our researchers did much deeper online research to get the information they needed to complete the data collection. The data collection process spanned from Dec. 20, 2024 to Feb 19, 2025.

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