SogoInvest all set to Take Centre Stage

Competition among online traders has been on the rise, especially with the entry of new companies into the field. After ShareBuilder and MyStockFund, the latest kid on the block is SogoInvest.

With ShareBuilder, it is possible to open an account with as little as $10. The company also has an automatic-investing program which would be ideal for someone who is opening an account for the first time. You can make 20 automatic stock or exchange traded fund purchases for $20 a month and 6 for $12 a month. ShareBuilder also has the following extra benefits:

• Promotion bonuses
• Low commissions-around $4 per scheduled trade with no subscription fee
• Commission rebates-a 25% quarterly rebate on commissions
• Periodic promotions
• Free dividend reinvestment

The downside of ShareBuilder is that it places its orders only once a week, (on Tuesdays) which might not suit someone who wants their orders to be filled immediately. This could cost them nearly $16. Also, scheduled investments are available only on a weekly or monthly basis, there are no bi-monthly or quarterly automatic investment plans. ShareBuilder doesn't have a mutual fund investing option which is a major drawback when you consider the number of no-fee mutual fund options available.

SogoInvest also offers free service with low commission. Their automatic investment is much more flexible than ShareBuilder; it can also be made on any day of the week. SogoInvest mainly has three main plans-the Bronze plan, the Gold plan and the Platinum plan. There is no monthly fee in the bronze plan; just a $3 flat fee for both automatic purchase and real-time orders. In the Gold plan, there is a $10 monthly subscription fee but this includes five automatic investments which are free of commissions; additional purchases and real-time orders are charged at the rate of $2 per order. The platinum plan charges a monthly subscription fee of $15/month which includes 15 commission free automatic investments. The fee for additional purchases is $1 while real-time orders cost you $1.5. The only drawback is that it does not offer dividend reinvestment.

A comparison of these two would reveal that SogoInvest offers the lowest commissions for both scheduled as well as real-time trade, whether it is buy or sell. On the other hand, if you are planning to purchase stocks or ETFs in a retirement account, ShareBuilder is practically the only option for you.

Asha Prakash

Hi-Tech Editorial Division