For comparison, we gather and publish information about IPO brokers. We test the online brokerage platforms side by side, across the categories outlined below.
Methodology. What makes a good broker for IPO investing?
- First, the broker needs to offer access to IPOs in the US, where most notable IPOs take place. Stock exchanges in the USA are #1 arena for top-tier companies from all over the world to go public.
- Moreover, a good IPO broker should not miss many high-profile IPOs. Which indicates that the broker has strong connections with major lead underwriters (investment banks). To measure this criteria, we implemented "Access to US IPOs" rating tracking NASDAQ and NYSE IPOs with the largest valuation available through each particular broker.
- Another key factor - the broker must be able to provide services in the country where you live. Due to regulation procedures and licensing, most of the brokers are limited in terms of the country where they can offer services to the local citizens and residents.
- Finally, each broker has minimum account eligibility criteria - amount of assets deposited to the trading account to buy IPO stocks.
| Broker | Access to US IPOs | Available in the US? | Available outside the US? | Available in the EU? 🇪🇺 | Account minimum | Open an account |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|
Yes |
Non-U.S. citizens or residents cannot open an account. |
Is not available to EU citizens or residents. |
From $100,00 to $500,000 depending on IPO sponsor. | Sign Up |
 |
|
U.S. citizens or residents cannot open an account. |
Yes |
Yes |
$2000 | Sign Up |
 |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Undefined | Sign up |
 |
|
Yes |
Available in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, United Arab Emirates. |
Is not available to EU citizens or residents. |
$500 | Sign Up |
 |
|
Yes |
Non-U.S. citizens or residents cannot open an account. |
Is not available to EU citizens or residents. |
$0 | Sign Up |
Note, for trending IPOs allocation applies no matter what broker you use. The lead underwriters first allocate IPO shares to institutional investors, like pension funds and mutual funds. And the rest is allocated to retail investors. Brokers acquire shares through investment banks participating in the offering and make these shares available to eligible clients who request to participate in the offering.
Fidelity short review
Fidelity is one of the largest brokers in the United States. Fidelity was founded in 1946, now the company has evolved into a significant force in the online brokerage space. The broker has 4,000,000 clients and $11T of assets under administration.
Freedom Finance short review
Freedom24 is an online trading platform by Freedom Finance - an EU-based stockbroker, that operates under MiFID II investor protection regulation. Freedom is the only EU-based broker listed on the Nasdaq NASDAQ (ticker FRHC) with $4B market capitalization. The broker has 340,000 clients. Examples of IPO's listed on Freedom – Facebook, Airbnb, Rivian
Interactive Brokers short review
Interactive Brokers is a US multinational brokerage firm. It operates the largest electronic trading platform in the US by number of daily average revenue trades. Interactive Brokers conducts its broker/dealer business on over 135 market destinations worldwide, with 2,7M trades per day.
TradeStation short review
TradeStation is a US stockbroker founded in 1982 (in 2011 acquired by Japan's Monex Group). It is regulated by SEC and FINRA. Wide range of tradable securities, including cryptocurrencies. They provide access to IPO shares in a TradeStation equities account through ClickIPO.
SoFi short review
SoFi Technologies also known as SoFi is an US online personal finance company. SoFi provides financial products that includes student loan refinancing, mortgages, personal loans, credit card, investing, and banking through both mobile app and desktop interfaces. First IPO was listed through SoFi in Octover 2021 (Rivian).
