Merrill Edge Self-Directed review

Legal entity and regulation

Read from FINRA BrokerCheck on August 28, 2026. Check it yourself — the reference number below is all you need.

Legal name

MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INCORPORATED

CRD

7691

SEC

8-7221

Registration status

ACTIVE

Regulators

SEC, FINRA

Investor protection

SIPC member — up to $500,000, including $250,000 for cash

Read from Merrill Edge Self-Directed’s own published schedule. Fields we could not find on the pages we read are marked not verified — we do not fill them with estimates, and a blank would read as zero.

Where these costs sit

Against every other broker we publish that has a verified figure for the same field. Brokers whose figure we could not verify are left out rather than plotted at zero.

What you can hold

• US stocksOffered
• ETFsOffered
• OptionsOffered
• Mutual fundsOffered
• BondsOffered
• FuturesNot offered
• Spot currenciesNot offered
• CryptoNot offered
• International listingsNot offered
• Fractional sharesNot verified
• OTC equitiesNot offered

Account types

• Individual taxable offered
• Joint offered
• Traditional IRA offered
• Roth IRA offered
• Rollover IRA offered
• SEP / SIMPLE IRA offered
• Custodial offered
• Trust offered
• Solo 401(k) not offered
• HSA not offered
• Margin offered
• Managed portfolio offered

Strengths and limitations

How Merrill Edge Self-Directed scores

Under our default weights. Individual rankings re-weight these same sub-scores, which is why Merrill Edge Self-Directed sits in different positions on different pages.

Safety and regulation9/10 · weighted 30%

Active SEC-registered broker-dealer (8-7221) — the lowest SEC file number in our set, indicating a very long registration history — and a SIPC member within Bank of America. No headline retail enforcement matter identified in our sourced review.

Fees and total cost7/10 · weighted 30%

$0 online stock, ETF and options base commissions with a $0.65 contract fee and no balance minimum. Marked down for a $49.95 full account transfer fee, $24.95 wires, $19.95 transaction-fee funds and a $29.95 broker-assisted charge — a fee surface materially larger than the cheapest firms in our set.

Investment selection6/10 · weighted 22%

Stocks, ETFs, options, bonds and a large mutual fund range are published. No futures and no crypto. Fractional shares were not confirmed on the pricing page we read.

Account types and features8/10 · weighted 18%

Full retail lineup including all IRA variants, custodial and trust accounts, plus Merrill Guided Investing at 0.45% from a $1,000 minimum. No HSA or solo 401(k) identified.

Not scored

• Access and eligibility — Not scored in v1.0. Requires per-country eligibility confirmed against each firm's own onboarding terms, which we have not completed.
• Platform and usability — Not scored in v1.0. Requires hands-on use of a funded account, which we have not done.
• Research and education — Not scored in v1.0. Requires logged-in access to the research suite, which we have not had.
• Customer service — Not scored in v1.0. Requires timed contact tests across channels, which we have not run.
• Execution quality — Not scored in v1.0. Requires analysis of Rule 605/606 order-execution reports, which is scheduled for a later release.