Financial Guard is a robo-advisor with a unique business model and pricing structure. It gives clients advice on their investments wherever they’re held and charges them a flat fee of $16 per month, or $150 per year. President Kevin Pohmer argues it doesn’t make sense to charge investors for advice based on how much money they have. It’s like “going to a grocery store and having the checkout person asking me how much I have in my wallet before telling me how much each item costs,” he said. Investors must have at least $1,000 invested to use the service.
JPMorgan Chase
You’ll need $500 to open a investment account, either online or through a bank branch. That gets you a basic brokerage account through which you can pick your own mutual funds. To qualify for Chase’s managed account portfolios, you’ll need $50,000.
Merrill Lynch/Bank of America
There’s no minimum to open an investment account through the bank’s discount Merrill Edge platform. As you gather more assets, you can move up to the firm’s other offerings. Once you have $250,000 in assets, it may make sense to transfer to a Merrill Lynch advisor, said Aron Levine, head of Preferred Banking and Merrill Edge at Bank of America. At $3 million or more, you may want advice from U.S. Trust, BofA’s private bank for the very wealthy. You may also want to open the window and scream, "YESSSSSS!"
Morgan Stanley
The minimum for managed account programs at Morgan Stanley starts at $10,000. The firm can handle accounts as small as $500 or less for a traditional brokerage or retirement account. But, unlike some competitors that offer online-only investment platforms, Morgan Stanley requires potential clients pick up the phone. To open an account or to get the details on which minimums apply to various types of accounts, you need to call a local advisor or the firm’s 1-800 number.
OppenheimerFunds
Most mutual funds are available for an initial minimum investment of $1,000. An IRA can be opened for $500. There are no additional charges for small accounts.
Personal Capital