J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing Review 2021 | Pros, Cons, & Features

Commission-free trading began with online companies like Robinhood. Slowly but surely, however, all of the standard brokers began to remove their trade commissions as well, including massive full-service firms like J.P. Morgan. 

But unlike many of the digital brokers its competing with, J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing is able to provide human customer support at local branches and an all-in-one banking and investing app in addition to unlimited commission-free trades.

While convenience and low costs are its strong suits, J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing doesn\'t offer as many trader-focused bells and whistles as other platforms. Is J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing the right way to go for you? Here’s what you need to know about it.

The information about J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing has been collected independently by The College Investor. The product details have not been reviewed or approved by the company.

J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing is the new branding for what was previously called \"Chase You Invest Trade.\" Its mainly targeted at traders; but it may also appeal to long-term investors who want the freedom to be able to pick and choose their investments. 

J.P. Morgan also offers Automated Investing for those want robo-advisor wealth management. The company\'s managed portfolios have 0.35% advisory fees and require $500 minimum investments.

All of J.P. Morgan\'s investing features are accessed from inside the Chase Mobile® App. That\'s very convenient for Chase Bank customers as it means they only need to download one app to manage both their banking and investment accounts.

What Does It Offer?

Here are some of the best features and drawbacks of J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing that you\'ll want to know about before you decide to open an account.

J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing gives every customer commission-free trades for stocks, options, and ETFs, and the account balance minimum is $0. However, options do come with a per contract fee of $0.65.

Mutual funds investors will also love to learn that J.P. Morgan never charges fees on mutual fund transactions. While most brokers do offer a selection of no transaction fee (NTF) mutual funds, it\'s highly unusual for a firm to promise fee-free trades on every mutual fund that can be bought or sold on its platform.

Helpful Research And Education Tools

In addition to giving you the ability to buy and sell assets for free, J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing is doubling down on investor education. It has a number of articles in it’s “Insights” section that can help newer investors understand how to look at their portfolios.

You can also use the “Find Investments” section to find investments that fit your parameters. It’s possible to adjust parameters based on asset classes, fees, risk tolerance and more. Even better, you’ll be able to look at stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and fixed income assets that meet your parameters.

This may not sound like a special feature, but to the discredit of the investing industry, it is. J.P. Morgan Chase is one of the first brokerage companies that is using technology to help investors choose investments that fit with their goals, without spoon-feeding the “right” option. 

Portfolio Builder

If you have a balance of at least $2,000 in your J.P Morgan account, you become eligible to use the free Portfolio Builder tool. The portfolio builder tool analyzes your stocks and ETFs to see if the portfolio as a whole fits within your “risk profile” which is defined as your investment time horizon, your goals and your perceived ability to handle market fluctuations.

The portfolio builder won’t force you into certain investments. But it will warn you if you’ve selected investment options that aren’t well-suited to your risk profile. 

The J.P Morgan Investing account can function either as a standard brokerage account or you can open up a Roth IRA or Traditional IRA. However, you won\'t find any self-employed retirement plan options like a Solo 401k, SEP IRA, or SIMPLE IRA.

Technically, J.P. Morgan does offer 529 college savings plans. But they\'re only sold through financial professionals which means they\'re not accessible to the firm\'s Self-Directed Investing clients.

You can trade stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds (as in directly purchasing bonds), and other fixed income assets (think CDs) with J.P Morgan. And the platform tries to differentiate itself from other investing apps by helping investors keep an eye on their total portfolio while giving them the flexibility to choose from a variety of investments. 

But it should be noted that while J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing is marketed as a “trading” platform, it doesn\'t support foreign currencies, cryptocurrencies, or futures. You also can\'t buy or sell fractional shares with a Self-Directed J.P Morgan account or trade on margin (margin trading is only offered on full-service accounts).

Are There Any Fees?

Stocks, ETFs, options, and mutual funds trade commission-free with J.P Morgan. The options contract fee is $0.65. If you want to buy bonds, you’ll pay $1 per bond (with a $10 minimum and a $270 max). Fixed income also costs $1 per trade. Transaction fees you may face include:

As mentioned previously, J.P. Morgan also offer managed portfolios through its Automated Investing product. These portfolio come with AUM fees of 0.35%.

How Does J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing Compare?

J.P. Morgan competes with most of the other top brokers on cost. However, it offer fewer account types and tradable assets than many of the leading trading apps that are available today. Here\'s a quick look at how J.P Morgan Self-Directed Investing compares:

If you’re an existing Chase customer, all of the J.P. Morgan investing functionality can be found inside your mobile banking app. If you’re not an existing Chase customer, you can still open an account through the Chase website. You do need to be at least 18 years old with a valid social security number to open up an account.

Yes, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is an SIPC member which means that its accounts are protect by SIPC insurance up to $500,000 per customer ($250,000 for cash). The company\'s data is also protected by 128-bit encryption technology and it will ask for multiple authentications whenever you log in to your account for the first time on a specific device.

If you need assistance with your Self-Directed Investing account, you can call 1-800-392-5749 from 8 AM to 9 PM (ET). J.P. Morgan is different than many other top brokers in that you can also receive in-person support at any of Chase\'s 4,700+ local branches.

But access doesn\'t always mean quality. Like most national full-service banks, customers often complain about Chase\'s customer service (or lack thereof). Chase.com currently has 1.3/5 star rating on Truspilot and J.P. Morgan Chase is only slightly less dismal at 1.6/5. The company does have an A- rating with the Better Business Bureau, however.

Is It Worth It?

Overall, J.P Morgan Self-Directed Investing could make a lot of sense for people who already bank with Chase. You\'ll get commission-free trades and you\'ll be able to manage all of your financial accounts inside one app.

But if you\'re not a Chase Bank customer, there are few reasons to pick J.P Morgan over other brokers that offer free trades. And if you’re a trader who wants access to alternative investment types, advanced charting tools, or margin trading, you\'ll want to choose another broker such as TD Ameritrade or Robinhood.

To summarize, J.P. Morgan is great on cost but it\'s middle-of-the-pack on features. And if you\'re worried that it\'s feature set won\'t meet your needs, remember that there are plenty of other ways to to invest for free.

DISCLOSURE - INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: NOT A DEPOSIT • NOT FDIC INSURED • NO BANK GUARANTEE • MAY LOSE VALUE

Let\'s answer a few of the most common questions that are asked about J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing:

How much money do you need to invest with J.P. Morgan?

While its Automated Investing accounts have $500 minimums, there are no minimum investment requirements to open a J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing taxable account or IRA.

Does J.P. Morgan have a separate app for advanced traders?

No, unlike many of its competitors, J.P. Morgan does not offer a dedicated platform for active traders. All clients, regardless of experience or trading volume, use the Chase Mobile app to send trades and manage their accounts.

Can you trade after-hours with J.P Morgan Self-Directed Investing?

No, any trades places before 9 AM (ET) or after 4:30 PM (ET) will be queued until the start of the next trading day.

Does J.P. Morgan have any welcome bonuses or offers?

No, J.P. Morgan isn\'t currently offering any cash bonuses or other incentives to new investing clients.