Voya Financial vs Fidelity – Independent Comparison

Voya Financial provides a wide variety of financial services, including brokerage accounts. You may buy mutual funds, 401(k)s, IRAs, and even life insurance if you’re an investor. However, similar services can be found at other brokers. Fidelity is also included in this category. Check out how Voya stacks up against the competition by comparing it to the other companies in this space.

Fidelity Investments is a top online broker because of the depth and breadth of its offerings in terms of tools and research and the types of assets that can be purchased through the platform. Fidelity is an excellent option for experienced traders and novice investors due to the platform’s extensive library of tools and information.

Voya appears to be experiencing some identity crisis since navigating their website and deducing what they sell is hard. It appears they are constantly evolving. Currently, their firm is only seeking high-net-worth people to handle their assets.

Besides Voya Select Advantage, most of their investors here come from institutional brokers. Your retirement funds will be held in a mutual fund custodial account. The mutual funds you can choose from are set in advance.

Voya provides access to a self-directed brokerage account (SDBA) with TD Ameritrade. You may invest in equities, bonds, CDs, over 100 commission-free ETFs, and over 13,000 mutual funds through the SDBA, a brokerage alternative. Before you may begin trading securities, you must open a self-directed brokerage account and apply.

You need to fill out the SDBA Application Package if you want to start an SDBA. Brokerage service provider TD Ameritrade will send you a welcome packet once they receive your completed application.

Voya Financial Overview

Voya Financial, Inc. is a publicly listed financial, retirement, investment, and insurance corporation. Voya Investment Management is its asset management branch. Voya Investment Management, headquartered in Atlanta, primarily caters to insurance companies. Still, it also has a subsidiary called Voya Investment Management Co. that caters to private investors. Individuals and HNWIs, in addition to a diverse variety of funds and institutional clients, are serviced by this section. New York is home to the offices of Voya Investment Management Co.

Voya Financial Advisors, Inc., the company’s national network of financial advisors, offers investment advisory services in addition to Voya Investment Management. Financial planning, investment management, financial education, and a retirement savings program are all available through this system.

 

Initially established in 1972 under the name Aetna Capital Management, Inc., Voya Investment Management Co. changed its name to ING U.S. Investment Management in 1997 and finally to its current moniker in 2014. The firm is affiliated with a large group of businesses providing similar services. Voya Investment Management, a licensed investment advisor, provides portfolio management services for insurance companies. 

Transitioning from ING U.S., Inc. to its current form, Voya Financial, Inc., began in 2013. 2014 marked the end of the company’s rebranding process. Voya said its new moniker, which comes from the term “voyage,” is meant to convey the “journey to financial empowerment.”

Fidelity Overview

Fidelity is a great option when beginning out in the investment world or for sophisticated day traders. This platform has everything fundamental and technical traders need to research stocks, ETFs, and fixed-income securities in-depth.

The unique qualities of Fidelity Investments put it in the group of the most outstanding online brokers. The screeners, third-party research resources, and portfolio analysis tools available at Fidelity are extensive. Meanwhile, Active Trader Pro, available for download, provides all the necessary resources for trading stocks and options. For active traders, Fidelity is an excellent option because of the substantial savings on order execution costs.

Investors who want DIY tools and advisor-led help will appreciate the extensive selection of managed portfolios with associated coaching and financial adviser supervision.

One of Fidelity’s few flaws is a portfolio analysis tool that lacks the depth perspective necessary for a comprehensive examination. For instance, even if it lacked varied exposure to U.S. equities, a portfolio substantially invested in overseas stock funds and real estate was nonetheless considered diversified. There’s also the fact that the platform’s design hasn’t been updated in a while, making it look old.

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Voya Financial vs. Fidelity Service & Feature Comparison

Costs

Trading stocks and ETFs at Fidelity for no fee is routine practice. While that’s the case, this brokerage site also provides commission-free OTC stock trading. The $0.65 per contract fee is waived when trading options.

Fidelity competes directly with the fee-slashing pioneer Vanguard in the mutual fund industry. Investing in any of their four index funds has no minimum amount, and there are no fees associated with doing so. Various mutual funds, including all Fidelity mutual funds, can be purchased and sold with no transaction fees or minimum holding periods of less than 60 days.

However, there is a caveat: commissions are often applied to mutual funds not offered by Fidelity. It’s a bit of a bummer that there’s a $49.95 fee on purchases but cashing in is free of charge.

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Bond buyers will be pleased to learn that there are no costs associated with purchasing new issues of bonds, while secondary issues cost $1. Trading with a broker or through the Treasury costs a modest $19.95.

To the group’s center, Fidelity’s average margin rate of 6.94% is about average. The average margin rate at Interactive Broker is 2.6%, which is the lowest of any broker. Borrowers of less than $25,000 from Fidelity’s margin program will be charged 8.33 percent. In comparison, interest on loans of $1 million or more is only 4%.

Voya’s market order fee for individual accounts is $8.50 per stock or exchange-traded fund. In addition, there is a $1 extra fee for every 5,099 shares held. The limit order price is $7.50 + $0.0125. The minimum fee for working with a broker at Voya is $37.50, and the inactivity fee for a standard securities account is $47 per year. If your account simply contains mutual funds, the annual charge drops to $20. The cost of canceling your account is $110.

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Account Types

Both organizations provide every sort of account a person or business may want, including non-standard options like education savings and health savings accounts and the more common taxable brokerage accounts and retirement accounts. Solo 401(k) plans for sole proprietors and small firms and 529 plans for education expenses are two examples of more unusual account types.

Education and Research

When compared to other online brokerages, Fidelity’s research offerings are superior. In addition, recent updates to the research vertical have made an already superb experience even better.

Investors in stocks, ETFs, options, initial public offerings (IPOs), and fixed-income securities will find a treasure trove of research tools, screeners, lists, and reports organized by asset class. Investors will value the insights from independent research reports and scorecards from leading financial institutions, including CompStat, Zacks, Argus, and Reuters.

To assist you select the most suitable financial assets for your portfolio, we have created separate screeners and lists for each asset type. Screening by fund family, performance, volume, and comparisons are just some options for ETF investors. Traders of options have rapid access to data and tools, including the IV index, quotations, charts, a probability calculator, and a profit/loss calculator.

A plethora of resources is available to investors for conducting both fundamental and technical analyses of stocks. Sector, market cap, dividend yield, market movers, and more are some categories covered. Pre-made and custom screens, with up to 140 customizable parameters, are available to investors. Complete data is highlighted on summary cards. Intraday social sentiment scores and ESG (economic, social, and governance) scores are also available.

Voya provides access to a wealth of resources. They provide live and on-demand sessions to get you started on the path to financial health. And you are the first step. Join us for an upcoming live session, or check out our on-demand video collection. We’ve got you covered with information to help you reach the financial future you imagine, whether it’s a 2-minute lesson on budgeting or a 30-minute seminar on Medicare.

Range of Investments

Whether you’re looking for stocks, options, fixed income, or one of the most excellent selections of mutual funds, you’ll find what you’re looking for at Fidelity. Fidelity stands apart from the competition since it allows clients to trade on 25 international marketplaces.

Fidelity is among the first big brokers to provide fractional share trading. Futures and cryptocurrencies are the only asset classes not offered by Fidelity.

IRA Retirement Accounts 

With only a few options available, Voya’s workplace IRA platform is obviously designed to make investing easier for busy professionals. The IRA options at Voya are varied. Rollover, Traditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE, and Spousal pension plans are all examples. The broker doesn’t impose an inactivity fee for retirement accounts but levies a $95 closeout cost. You have the option of opening your Voya IRA as either a traditional brokerage, a mutual fund, or a managed account. The minimum beginning deposit for the first two options is $5,000, and the minimum direct deposit amount is $100 each month. Conversely, there is a $10,000 minimum to open a managed account.

On the other hand, Fidelity’s individual retirement account (IRA) offers access to tens of thousands of equities, ETFs, and fixed income assets in addition to the approximately 10,000 mutual funds. Thankfully, effective filtering methods help sort through all this variation. When investing in mutual funds, you can select the ones you’re interested in based on broad criteria like “No Transaction Fee” and narrow, technical criteria like volatility and expense ratio. Fidelity allows investors to narrow their search for a suitable investment by categorizing them into sections like “Artificial Intelligence,” “Construction Machinery,” and “Environmental. These third-party classifications are a great place to begin when you’re prepared to take on the vast universe of firm stocks.

Trading Technology

The investment screening and research toolsets required are all included in Fidelity’s primary desktop platform. Stocks and bonds, investment grades, styles, and sectors may all be dissected with the help of these portfolio analysis tools.

Performance, dividends, asset allocation, and fund rankings are just some screens available for analyzing a portfolio. Users can see and analyze their entire portfolios in context by connecting third-party services.

Regarding research tools, the site is competitive with the leading online brokerages. They feature access to fixed-income experts and significant external research.

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Fidelity’s trading platform and tools are among the best compared to the other three brokers we looked at. This downloadable trading platform has nearly perfect scores for the most critical aspects, making it a complete option for novice to expert traders and investors.

A trading log, level II quotations, heat mapping, and 45 market filters are valuable tools for active traders. The Active Trader Pro allows for a highly personalized trading experience. It competes head-to-head with other leading platforms such as thinkorswim from TD Ameritrade and Schwab’s StreetSmart Edge.

Mobile Apps

The Fidelity mobile app has received positive reviews in both Google Play and the Apple App Store. All the options that potential backers would want are included. The online platform provides users with several essentials, such as portfolio tracking, banking, and academic study.

Trading, research, and portfolio monitoring are all accessible directly from the app’s main screen with the new beta trading experience. 

Customer Service

The service at Fidelity is reliable, with low hold periods when calling in for help. The average time to wait for a call to be answered was under three minutes.

No email went unanswered for more than two days, and most received responses within a few hours. The chat service is provided by a chatbot around the clock, while human replies are available at specific times. Exactly the correct response was given to every inquiry sent through email.

Voya’s customer service is minimal, and the company requires you to work via a financial advisor. Even though their Frequently Asked Questions section is incredibly informative and valuable,

Managed Portfolios

Investment opportunities through a Fidelity-managed portfolio are vast. Managed accounts range from primary and hybrid robo-advisors to fully managed portfolios, each offering its own set of services and pricing structures. However, remember that certain services’ prices are higher than the market average.

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Fidelity Go and Fidelity Personalized Planning and Advice are Fidelity’s digital and hybrid robo-advisor managers. Fidelity Go’s central platform offers a diversified portfolio with automated rebalancing. There are no account maintenance fees for accounts under $10,000, and no minimum investment amount is required. For account balances between $10,000 and $49,999, the monthly investment management cost is $3. For balances of $50,000 or more, the fee structure changes to a percentage of AUM of 0.35 percent each year.

To provide a more tailored service, Fidelity Personalized Planning and Advice blends the capabilities of Fidelity Go with those of real-life financial advisors. Your annual fee will be 0.50 percent of assets under management (AUM), with a minimum investment of $25,000.

Although Voya’s website features a wide variety of managed portfolio options, no supporting materials are available; instead, the company encourages website visitors to get in touch with its financial advisors. Expert users may get detailed information on their funds and portfolios with just a click of the mouse.

My Preference: Fidelity Hands-down

Fidelity allows investors to buy and sell stocks and ETFs in the U. S. without paying any fees. In addition, it provides access to a wealth of excellent research tools, including charts, fundamentals, and trade ideas. The online trading interface is intuitive and provides access to complex order options. Not only may US equities be traded in, but so can those from across the world. Margin rates and fees on mutual funds can be steep.

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