Etrade, Ameritrade and ScotTrade - Comparison

Etrade is a financial services company which has the full name Etrade Financial Corporation. It can be classified as a holding company. It is primarily known for its online discount stock brokerage. Etrade allows investors to buy and sell bonds, mutual funds, stocks and options on its website. Banking and lending products are also offered by the company such as checking and money market accounts, certificates of deposit, credit cards, and mortgages.

The stock of the company is traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol ETFC, Etrade is publicly held. William A and Bernard A. Porter (Bernie) Newcomb founded Etrade in 1982. The subsidiaries of the company include Etrade Securities LLC, Etrade Bank and Etrade Clearing LLC. The National Association of Securities Dealers regulates and licenses Etrade.

Ameritrade is the largest online brokerage in America and is owned by TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation. Ameritrade Holding Corporation renamed itself to TD Ameritrade after the acquisition of TD Waterhouse USA. With 5.5 million clients and $219 billion in client assets TD AMERITRADE is one of the largest online brokerages. It is expected that the revenues of Ameritrade should increase to $1.8 billion and the net income is expected to rise to $557 million.

Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Scottrade is a privately owned discount retail brokerage firm. Scottrade is well known for its low commissions and online trading features. With over 287 local branch offices the bank has been ranked as the "Highest in Investor Satisfaction with Online Trading Services" award by J.D. Power and Associates previously. Rodger. O. Riney founded Scottrade in 1980.

Scottrade is one of the fastest growing U.S. firms of its size and is ranked as one of the largest privately held firms in the state of Missouri. There has been a 72 per cent increase in revenue for Scottrade in the fiscal 2006. The revenue of the company increased to $796 million in 2006 and Customer assets increased to $51.1 billion in the same year. Scottrade was also ranked as one of the largest U.S. advertisers by TNS Media.

Though all the three entities Etrade, Ameritrade and ScotTrade are related in the sense that are all financial services company they are distinctly different. While Etrade is a holding company Ameritrade is an online brokerage company. Scottrade on the other hand is a privately owned retail brokerage firm. Customers can opt for the services of any of these three firms depending on their needs.

Ajith Aravindakshan

Hi-Tech Editorial Division