Top Brokers More Client-Friendly

Brokers are taking the time to reach out to their clients more these days. They’re using the technology that’s available to them to keep investors confident in investing — which they haven’t been lately.

According to SmartMoney, the industry relies on heavy trading volume for revenue, but instead they’ve experienced sluggish activity. To combat that, brokers are getting more involved, reaching out to clients and cajoling their money out of them.

SmartMoney just came out with its list of the best brokers of 2012, and for the third year running, Fidelity has taken the top spot.

Scottrade received the best ranking for commissions and fees, while WellsTrade was named worst. WellsTrade was also the worst in customer service (best goes to TradeKing), research (best was Fidelity) and trading tools (Fidelity was best again).

Fidelity was named the best in mutual funds and investments, and tied for best with Merrill Edge for banking. ShareBuilder was named for mutual funds and investments and Zecco was worst for banking.

Here are the overall top 10 brokers according to SmartMoney:

10. WellsTrade

Commission on stock per trade: $8.95

9. ShareBuilder

Commission on stock per trade: $9.95

8. Merrill Edge

Commission on stock per trade: $6.95

7. Zecco

Commission on stock per trade: $4.95

6. TradeKing

Commission on stock per trade: $4.95

5. Charles Schwab

Commission on stock per trade: $8.95

4. E-Trade

Commission on stock per trade: $9.99

3. TD Ameritrade

Commission on stock per trade: $9.99

2. Scottrade

Commission on stock per trade: $7.95

1. Fidelity

Commission on stock per trade: $7

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