Fidelity Investments Reviews

I see comments here from executors having trouble, so one should be careful to specify beneficiaries on each Fidelity account to completely avoid this issue. I use the cash management bill pay feature to handle 99% of my check-writing needs. Using credit card auto-pay and income direct deposit to my cash management account, I seldom need to take action for routine payments. Checks are easily deposited via cellphone. Trade executions are fast, and are often improved - i.e. assets purchased at below my stated limit. The website continues to improve. I've used both the Active Trader Windows app and the Active Trader web+ and found them to be excellent. I also like the video library and live webinars, particularly those featuring Jurrien Timmer.

In an effort to resolve the issue, I arrived to my local branch with every document imaginable proving my funds were legitimate, including bank statements, pay stubs, and records from my demanding white-collar career, in addition to the ongoing communication I’ve been sending between Fidelity, regulators and other financial institutions they had me string along during this ordeal. I wanted someone to scan my documentation and submit it for review so this nightmare could finally come to an end. Upon arrival, I was assisted by a very pleasant young Caucasian gentleman. He escorted me to one of the office’s rooms, offered me a glass of water, and assured me the branch manager would see me shortly. I have absolutely nothing negative to say about him; he was professional, courteous, and helpful throughout the entire interaction.

About ten minutes later, he returned and informed me that the branch manager was not client-facing and that a senior associate would be assisting me instead. After another fifteen minutes or so, I was finally called in to speak with an older ** woman. From the moment the conversation began, her tone felt less like customer service and more like an interrogation. Despite the fact that I had come prepared with extensive documentation, she repeatedly questioned the source of my funds as though I were being dishonest. As I attempted to explain everything Fidelity had put me through, including their ridiculous account restrictions, being locked out of my own invested funds, the endless back-and-forth between institutions, and the CONSTANT stonewalling, she continuously interrupted me with "ma'am" and "stay on topic," as though I were somehow being hostile or unreasonable. For the record, I NEVER raised my voice. Not once.

Eventually, I stopped talking altogether and simply stared at her for a moment. Once she realized I had completely disengaged from the conversation, her demeanor changed. Suddenly, she became far more pleasant and accommodating. Unfortunately, by that point, the damage had already been done. My impression was that she came into the interaction with preconceived notions about me based on my appearance. When I failed to fit whatever ** female stereotype she seemed to expect, her attitude shifted. Whether others agree with that assessment or not is irrelevant, as that is how the interaction felt from my side of the table.

At the end of the day, I just want my money back. Once that happens, Fidelity will never hear from me again. And I will absolutely be sharing my experience with others. No one should have to feel like a criminal simply for depositing legitimately earned income into a financial institution. There are plenty of investment companies out there. Based on my experience, I would strongly encourage people to consider literally ANY of them before choosing Fidelity.

It killed my time, probably cost me solid profits, and honestly tanked whatever trust I had left in their “pro trader” setup. They hype up the platform nonstop but clearly didn’t bother investing in the tech to back it up. Pathetic. If you’re a serious trader who actually needs reliable execution on big moments, do yourself a favor and go somewhere else. Fidelity needs to fix their crap ASAP. One star.

When Fidelity was asked about the specific protections to investors' savings/investments from AI or QC network hacks that lead to account losses, Fidelity refused to answer with any specific, pertinent protections or liabilities. I tried to send the question higher up the Fidelity accountability chain only to get back a deflecting email. Yet Fidelity manages BILLIONS in IRA and other retirement accounts.

Their current customer protections are specific to certain financial management operations the law REQUIRES Fidelity to observe--but NOT specifically to network attacks that result in financial loss. And while Fidelity surely has a cybersecurity team aware of the network threats from AI (now) and QCs (soon), Fidelity refuses to divulge to customers entrusting our future to them specifically how they're protecting us (what tech protocols), what they're doing (timeline of putting AI fraud & PQC protections in place), or what liabilities exist should an AI or QC attack steal user funds.

As of today, it seems Fidelity lacks a working, publicly published post-quantum-ready security protocol. Fidelity hides behind the opaque "proprietary" shield to obscure its likely lack of liability for customers' losses if these network attacks are successful SOONER than their cybersecurity engineering team can put into place PQC-era protocols or build robust protections against sophisticated, ever-evolving AI threats. Who would bail out consumers if we suffer catastrophic financial loss from successful network attacks like the complete loss of our IRAs? I'm confident Fidelity's legal team would do whatever it could to absolve Fidelity of responsibility. Retail investors are on our own so need clear, timely communication of security protocols and liability for loss--which Fidelity is hiding.

We'll be moving our entire retirement portfolio off of Fidelity as soon as we can and replacing it with more autonomously managed, explicitly tech-threats-secure self-managed retirement accounts with specialty firms that, yes, charge much more but offer far greater protections against breathtakingly quickly evolving threats.