nteractive Brokers, founded in 1977, is one of the most professional brokers in existence, as it is not only regulated by almost all the major regulatory authorities in the world (SEC, FCA, ASIC, etc.), but it also allows you to work with almost all types of financial assets, stocks, ETFs, fixed income, futures and options. This platform provides access to almost all markets at very reasonable fees. A wide range of analysis tools are also available, from both fundamental and technical perspectives. And these are not all its advantages. Below, in this Interactive Brokers review you will learn in detail about all the characteristics, services and conditions.
Interactive Brokers Review: The Company and Its Services
Interactive Brokers is a financial intermediation company, that is, a stockbroker, futures, options and other instruments that we will see shortly. This financial services company has been one of the most reputable brokers on the world stage since 1977. In addition to offering a wide range of products, Interactive Brokers has one of its core missions to provide cutting-edge technology. Thanks to some advanced investment tools, the trader has the opportunity to develop effective operations. In this and other senses, the broker responds with quality solutions. It is also characterized by offering some of the most competitive interactive brokers margin rates.
Financial assets
The catalog of available financial assets is another of the company’s strong points: its product offer is wide and varied: Stocks, ETFs, Futures, Options, Forex, Stock indexes and more. It provides access to 150 markets belonging to 33 countries.
Advantages and Disadvantages
| Pros | Cons |
| 150 markets in 33 countries and 24 currencies.IBKR offers highly competitive fees and access to options, futures, forex, bonds and funds.The Strategy Builder helps you easily build Interactive brokers custom strategies, using as much or as little automation as you want.Access to US and global markets.Access to market data 24 hours a day, six days a week.Very competitive rates for stocks and no commission for ETFs.Possibility of short trading of cash shares.Interactive brokers affiliate program. | Possibilities for depositing and withdrawing funds are limited.The commission system is complex. |
Account types and trading conditions
Interactive Brokers account structure:
- Individual and joint accounts.
- Family accounts.
- Family wealth management accounts.
- Advisor accounts.
- Portfolio manager accounts.
- Futures commission broker accounts.
- For proprietary trading.
- Hedge and mutual fund accounts.
- Administrator accounts.
However, many of these accounts are for professionals and institutions. Generally, traders usually open an individual account or, at most, a joint account. This is the type of account that Interactive Brokers offers to individuals (the others are usually oriented to the provision of some financial service).
Money market account
This is a type of account that does not allow you to leverage or accept credit for investing. By opening this account, you can trade spot products (e.g. stocks, ETFs, etc.). You can’t trade futures or other margin instruments. This account is easier to open, and the broker doesn’t require a minimum deposit. Interactive Brokers also gives you a free Interactive Brokers demo account.
Margin accounts
If you decide to open an individual margin account, you will be able to trade leveraged products (futures, CFDs, etc.). It is useful for developing a more complete trade, but it also has higher opening requirements.
Trading platforms
Interactive Brokers has its own platform: Trading Workstation. This is a platform with great functionality and power, but it can also be somewhat complicated for inexperienced traders. For this reason, the company also offers other solutions.
Trader Workstation
Trader Workstation (TWS) is Interactive Brokers’ proprietary trading platform. It is extremely functional. Moreover, it is designed by market makers to meet trading needs and achieve speed of order execution. It has a customizable mosaic screen where you can control chart analysis, order triggering, account management, etc. With this platform, you have the ability to monitor all data in real time and perform in-depth analysis to make informed decisions.
Client Portal
Trading Workstation is a desktop platform with excellent functionality, but Interactive Brokers also has a simpler, more user-friendly and fully online tool. In the client portal, you have an integrated platform to monitor your trades from any computer. It has an attractive and intuitive interface, giving you access to advanced stock charts, metrics, news and all the tools you need.
IBKR GlobalTrader mobile application
In addition to these two platforms, you also have the option to trade from your smartphone and tablet using the Interactive Brokers trading app. This tool provides many features such as access to analytics, news, etc. Access to it is protected by two-factor identification and it is available for download on the Google Play Store and the App Store.
Commissions and tariffs
Share commissions
| Shares | Commission | Minimum |
| US | $0.005 to $0.0035 | $1 |
| Canadian | from 0’008CAD/share | 1 CAD |
| French/Spanish/German | from 0.05% | 3 euros |
| Australian | from 0.8% | 5 AUD |
| Hong Kong | from 0.05% | HK$18 |
Currency exchange fee
As for Forex commissions, Interactive Brokers charges a flat volume commission if included. The higher the transaction volume, the lower the commission will be. Let’s look at this using some major currency pairs as an example:
- Less than $1,000,000: 0.2 points (minimum $2)
- From $1,000,000 to $2,000,000: 0.15 points (min. $1.5).
- From $2,000,000 to $5,000,000: 0.1 points (min. $1.25)
- Over USD 5,000,000: 0.08 points (min. USD 1)
Fund commission
The Interactive Brokers Mutual Fund Marketplace provides access to more than 45,000 mutual funds from 520 fund families, including more than 17,000 funds with no transaction fees. The Mutual Fund Search Tool allows investors to search for mutual funds by several categories, such as fund type, fund family, fees charged, and country of origin.
It is worth noting that the minimum initial order to open a fund is $3,000, and subsequent orders are $100. The commission for opening free purchase funds is always the same and does not change, being $14.95 or 3% of the commercial value.
API integration and programming capabilities
The Interactive Brokers API is an application programming interface that allows developers to access Interactive Brokers’ online brokerage services. With the API, developers can create custom programs and applications to automate trading tasks such as position tracking, order entry, and risk management. The API also allows integration with other third-party platforms and applications.
Safety and Reliability
It is always important that a broker is regulated by the financial authority of the country in which it is located. Is interactive brokers safe? Let’s find it out.
Interactive Brokers Group is a holding company consisting of a significant number of subsidiaries, that is, the company is a real giant and represents a guarantee of solvency and solidity. Moreover, the fact that a company is listed on an organized market obliges it to report and act with full transparency publicly.
The company is duly regulated by several accredited bodies such as the FCA (UK), SEC (US) and ASIC (Australia). In addition, this company is also registered with the Securities Market Commission in Europe as a company providing free investment services in the European Economic Area. Thus, Interactive Brokers complies with all legal guarantees while offering transparent and secure services.
Regarding the security of client funds, the company complies with the following requirements for financial matters:
- Segregated Accounts: Client funds are separated from the broker’s assets and are guarded by a third-party banking organization. Interactive Brokers may only use this money to fulfill investment orders.
- Deposit Guarantee Fund: The broker is associated with the Investor Compensation Scheme (ICS) of Ireland. This is a fund that compensates the client for 90% of the lost amount (maximum 20,000 euros per investor).
- Negative Balance Protection: Investors cannot suffer losses greater than their account balance. There is no possibility that after unsuccessful transactions you will incur debts to the broker.
Interactive Brokers Customer Service
The broker offers the following channels of communication:
- Frequently asked questions section.
- Telephone attention.
- Chat (is open 24 hours a day (except Sundays, which have limited hours)).
- Email.
- Social media.
FAQs
The amount of regulations to which this broker is subject makes it one of the safest and most reliable stock brokers.
To access the Client Portal, click the “Login” button in the upper right corner of any page on Interactivebrokers.com and then click “Sign In to Portal.”
Yes, using Scale Trader, is an automatic Interactive Brokers trading algorithm designed to run indefinitely until it is stopped or changed, or until conditions arise that cause it to stop.
