Ally Invest Review 2024

Is Ally Invest regulated?

As Ally Invest is based in the US, it's regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), as well as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the case of Ally Forex.

Is Ally Invest safe?

To be certain that a brokerage is safe, we highly advise that you check two facts:

• how you are protected if something goes wrong
• the background of the broker.

How you are protected

This matters for you because the investor protection amount and the regulator may differ from entity to entity.
Ally Invest operates several legal entities, but all customers (except forex) are covered by the US investor protection scheme called SIPC.
The SIPC investor protection scheme protects against the loss of cash and securities in case the broker goes bust. The limit of SIPC protection is $500,000, which includes a $250,000 limit for cash. This amount is substantially higher than what most other investor protection schemes provide.
Not all investments are protected by SIPC. In general, SIPC covers notes, stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other investment company shares, and other registered securities. It does not cover instruments such as unregistered investment contracts, unregistered limited partnerships, fixed annuity contracts, currency, and interests in gold, silver, or other commodity futures contracts or commodity options.
Below is a rundown of Ally Invest regulators, legal entities and investor protection amounts:

As a plus, Ally's clearing firm, Apex Clearing, has also purchased an additional insurance policy through a group of London Underwriters (with Lloyd's of London Syndicates as the Lead Underwriter) to supplement SIPC protection. This policy becomes available to customers in the event that SIPC limits are exhausted, and provides protection for securities and cash up to a total of $150 million.
Like most US brokers, Ally Invest does not provide negative balance protection.

Our brokerage experts put together a comprehensive guide on the safety profile of Ally Invest.

Background

Ally Financial is a bank holding company that was founded in 1919 by General Motors to provide financing to automotive customers. Today Ally is one of the largest car finance companies in the US but also provides online banking, corporate lending and mortgage loans. In 2016, the company acquired TradeKing (a stock brokerage with a focus on options trading) and re-branded it as Ally Invest, with a more general focus on investors and traders.
Ally Group (Ally Financial Inc.) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, which is a big plus in terms of safety as Ally Invest releases financial statements regularly and transparently.
Having a banking license, being listed on a stock exchange, providing financial statements, and being regulated by top-tier financial authorities are all great signs of Ally Invest's safety.

Find your safe broker

Account base currencies

At Ally Invest, the only available base currency is USD.

If you have a personal bank account in a currency other than USD, then you will be charged a conversion fee.

A convenient way to save on currency conversion fees is by opening a multi-currency bank account at a digital bank. These usually offer bank accounts in several currencies with great currency exchange rates, as well as free or cheap international bank transfers. Opening an account only takes a few minutes on your phone.

Deposit fees and options

Ally Invest charges no deposit fees.

Clients can use checks, ACH and wire transfers to deposit funds. Credit/debit cards and electronic wallets are not accepted. We tested the ACH transfer and it took 2 business days to go through.
Of course, the easiest is if you have an Ally Bank account, in which case you can simply move funds to your brokerage account.

Due to US regulations, US citizens cannot use credit cards to fund their brokerage accounts. They can only use debit cards, where available.

Here's all you need to know about depositing money at Ally Invest and key info on minimum deposit requirements.

A bank transfer can take several business days. You can only deposit money from accounts that are in your name.

Ally Invest withdrawal fees and options

Ally Invest charges no withdrawal fees if you use ACH withdrawal, but wire transfers cost $30. Alternatively, you can request a check for a $5 fee.

Read this guide with all key info on available withdrawal methods and related fees.

You can only withdraw money to accounts in your name.

How long does it take to withdraw money from Ally Invest? We tested the ACH withdrawal and it took 2 business days.

How do you withdraw money from Ally Invest? Just follow these steps:

• Log in to the account
• Go to 'Transfers'
• Select the 'Bank Transfers' menu, then 'Withdraw'
• Select your Ally Invest account in the 'From' field and your previously linked external account in the 'To' field
• Add the amount you wish to withdraw and set the frequency and date of the withdrawal
• Preview and initiate the withdrawal

Can you open an account?

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Only US residents can open an account at Ally Invest.

Read this article on how to get your account started with Ally Invest.

What is the minimum deposit at Ally Invest?

The required Ally Invest minimum deposit is $0.

However, the minimum deposit is higher for margin accounts and managed portfolios. You can also transfer your account from another broker to Ally and get reimbursed for the costs.

*Forex trading is available through a separate Ally Forex account provided by GAIN Capital (Forex.com)
**You trade with money borrowed from the broker, also called trading on leverage.

Account types

Ally Invest offers several account types.

In this review, we tested the Individual Brokerage Account without margin.

How to open your account

The account opening process is fully digital and user-friendly. The online application takes roughly 20 minutes, but account verification can take much longer. Our account was verified after 3 business days.
Follow these 8 steps to open an account:

1. Enter your personal information and email address
2. Choose the account type
3. Continue with some more personal info and details for the subsequent verification of the account, like your Social Security Number
4. Add your personal phone number (to be used during the registration process and as your default contact), and choose a security question
5. Provide your employment info
6. Select your investment profile and trading preferences
7. Add some investment objectives and state your margin and option preferences
8. Upload a copy of the relevant documents to verify your date of birth and your SSN

If you want to trade forex, you need to register a separate Ally Forex account as well.

We tested Ally Invest's in-house developed mobile trading platform and not the trading platforms offered for forex trading.
The mobile trading platform is available both on iOS and Android devices and we tested it on iOS.

Look and feel

Ally Invest's mobile trading platform is user-friendly and well-designed.

Login and security

Ally Invest provides only a one-step login for its mobile platform. A two-step authentication would be more secure and adding this feature should be high on any company's list of security changes.

You can log in using biometric authentication, which is a convenient feature.

Search functions

The search functions are good.

They are similar to those offered on the web-based platform. You'll easily find what you are looking for.

Placing orders

You can use the following order types on the mobile trading platform:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop-loss
• Stop limit
• Trailing stop

There are also order time limits you can use:

• Good 'til canceled (GTC)
• Good 'til time (GTT)
• Pre-Market
• Post-Market

Alerts and notifications

You cannot set alerts and notifications on the Ally Invest mobile platform.

Our analysts personally tested Ally Invest's mobile app, check out their verdict.

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Ally Invest has three trading platforms, which differ in tradable products and the devices the platforms are offered for:

In this review, we tested Ally Invest's web trading platform. This trading platform is available only in English.
If you are interested in Ally Invest Forex, you can find out more in our Forex.com review.

Look and feel

The Ally Invest web trading platform is user-friendly and well-designed.
You can also do basic customization when setting up your dashboard.You can change the tabs' positions, but you can't change their sizes.

Login and security

Ally Invest provides only a one-step login. A two-step authentication would be more secure and adding this feature should be high on any company’s list of security changes.

In theory, when you first log in on a new device, you'll need to give an answer to your security question. However, during our test, we were not always asked a security question when we switched to a new device.

Search functions

The search functions are good.

You can search by typing both a company's name and an asset's ticker. There is also a useful auto-suggestion feature that shows relevant results

Placing orders

You can use the following order types:

• Market
• Limit
• Stop-loss
• Stop limit
• Trailing stop
• Market on close

If you are unfamiliar with some of these terms or want to learn more, read our overview of order types.

There are also order time limits you can use:

• Good 'til canceled (GTC)
• Day

Alerts and notifications

You can set price alerts and notifications on the Ally Invest web trading platform.

To do this, click 'Investments', then go to 'Tools' and select 'Alerts'. You can't set up alerts for your email or mobile; they pop up only on the trading platform.

Portfolio and fee reports

Ally Invest has unclear fee reports.

You can't see how much commission you paid to the broker.

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Forex trading is offered through Gain Capital's Forex.com brand.

This selection is average compared to competing brokers.

Stocks and ETFs

Ally Invest covers only the US market. In this regard, its product portfolio is similar to that of E-Trade but worse than Merrill Edge's.

You can trade stocks on these exchanges: NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, OTCBB, and other OTCs.

Funds

Ally Invest has great mutual fund coverage.

This selection is great compared to competing brokers. Both Merrill Edge and Fidelity offer fewer fund providers to choose from.

Bonds

Ally Invest has a wide bond offer:agency, treasuries, municipals, strips & zeros, CDs, and new issues.

This selection is great compared to competing brokers. Both Merrill Edge and Fidelity list fewer bonds.

Options

At Ally Invest you can trade options only on the CBOE.

This selection falls behind competing brokers. Both Merrill Edge and Fidelity offer more option markets to trade on.

Ally Invest Managed Portfolios

Ally Invest also offers a robo-advisory service called Managed Portfolios. It's a great service if you need help managing your investments.
To get started, first, you have to answer questions about your investment goals, risk tolerance, time horizon and available funds. Then, based on your answers, a portfolio is created and the robo-advisor will automatically rebalance the portfolio when needed.
It only takes a $100 minimum amount to start your portfolio and the annual advisory fee is low, at 0.3% of the account balance.
If you are interested in such automated investment services, check out our robo-advisor reviews.

Maxit Tax Manager

As an Ally Invest client, you can also access a platform called Maxit Tax Manager. It's a third-party service that helps you easily manage the factors that determine the taxes you pay on your investments each year.
Maxit has a number of tax strategies that are easy to set up, e.g. which lots get sold when. For example, if you have bought the same share on more than one occasion, you might want to sell a lot with a higher purchase price in order to realize a loss and lower your tax bill that way.

We recommend Ally Invest for investors and traders looking for low fees and focusing on the us market.

Below you can find links to all aspects of Ally Invest in this comprehensive collection.

Lower fees, lower costs?

We detailed this in our Ally Invest fees article.

What about the minimum deposit?

Our ultimate guide to the Ally Invest minimum deposit is updated regularly.

How to start your Ally Invest account?

Look no further than our evaluation of the Ally Invest account opening.

How's their trading app?

Here's our expert view after checking the Ally Invest trading app.

Is the quality of customer service satisfactory?

All you need to know about the Ally Invest customer service.

Legit or scam?

Is Ally Invest legit features all the key aspects you need to look at to see if a broker is safe and legit.

Free or premium? Or both?

A glance at actual costs and whether Ally Invest is really free.

Is this broker good for beginners?

We checked it in Is Ally Invest good for beginners.

Should you buy your silver bullets on Ally Invest?

Research for silver bugs in the Silver buy on Ally Invest guide

I want to trade options, are they available at Ally Invest?

We explored the topic in Can you trade options on Ally Invest?

What is the minimum account balance at Ally Invest?

Check out the current account balance requirements at Ally Invest in our What is the minimum account balance at Ally Invest article.

Looking for commission and fees data for Ally Invest?

We collected them in Ally Invest commission and fees.

How do you withdraw money from Ally Invest?

We tested it and collected the options and costs in How to withdraw money on Ally Invest.