Biggest Brokerage Firms in the U.S.

Search Fintrev

Search our guides, reviews and glossary.

The biggest brokerage firms in the U.S. are Charles Schwab, Vanguard, Fidelity Investments and J.P. Morgan. Each manages trillions of dollars and serves tens of millions of clients. Their order depends on what you measure. Vanguard leads on managed assets, J.P. Morgan reports the largest customer count (banking clients included), and Fidelity’s assets under administration are larger than any of the four’s managed-asset figures. Because each firm reports a different yardstick, a single “number one” holds only for the metric behind it.

What the ranking is based on

Big stock firms are usually ranked by assets under management (AUM), the market value of client money a firm manages or holds. Account or customer counts are the second common measure. The difficulty is that the four firms do not report the same thing under these labels:

These columns are not apples to apples. “Client assets” at Schwab includes money that sits in accounts without being managed by Schwab. Fidelity separates managed assets ($7.1 trillion) from assets under administration ($18 trillion), which covers holdings it services, such as retirement plan assets, without managing them. J.P. Morgan’s 86.6 million counts people who may only have a checking account, while Schwab’s 38.5 million counts only active brokerage accounts, the only client figure of the four limited to brokerage.

How the order shifts with the yardstick

• By managed assets: Vanguard ($12 trillion), then J.P. Morgan ($7.64 trillion) and Fidelity ($7.1 trillion). Schwab’s $11.19 trillion is a client-asset figure, so it sits close to Vanguard but measures something broader than managed money.
• By total assets held or serviced: Fidelity’s $18 trillion under administration is the largest figure any of the four reports.
• By customers: J.P. Morgan (86.6 million consumers), then Fidelity (57 million investors), Vanguard (50+ million accounts) and Schwab (38.5 million brokerage accounts).

The four firms

Charles Schwab

Schwab was founded in 1971 in San Francisco and is the country’s first discount brokerage. It is one of the leading brokerages and IRA custodians in the U.S. It also runs Schwab Bank, which lets brokerage clients link a checking account to their trading account. The bank had 2.2 million active accounts at the end of 2025.

The product range covers stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, money market funds, fixed income, options, futures, insurance and annuities. Both Schwab’s own funds and third-party products are available.

Schwab’s size grew substantially through its acquisition of TD Ameritrade, announced in November 2019 as a stock deal valued at about $26 billion. The final group of TD Ameritrade client accounts moved to Schwab in May 2024.

Fees:

• Online trades in U.S.- and Canadian-listed stocks, ETFs and options cost $0 in commission on web and mobile. Schwab cut them from $4.95 in October 2019.
• Online options trades carry a standard $0.65 per contract fee.
• Operating expense ratios run from 0.21% to 1.09% for actively managed mutual funds and from 0.02% to 0.39% for passively managed ones.
• Schwab Wealth Advisory starts at 0.80% a year and steps down at higher asset levels.
• Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, the robo-advisor, builds and rebalances ETF portfolios around the client’s goals. It requires a $5,000 minimum and charges no advisory fees or commissions.

Vanguard

John Bogle started Vanguard in 1975 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Its ownership structure sets it apart: the company is owned by its funds, which in turn are owned by the investors in them, so fund shareholders are effectively the firm’s owners. Vanguard brought index mutual funds to individual investors, a model other firms soon copied.

Fees:

• ETF and mutual fund transactions placed online carry no added transaction fee. The funds themselves still charge expense ratios.
• Options exercises and assignments cost $1 per contract for accounts under $1 million.
• For accounts from $1 million up to $5 million, the first 25 trades are $0 and later trades are $1 per contract.
• For accounts of $5 million or more, the first 100 trades are $0 and later contracts are $1 each.

Fidelity Investments

Fidelity was founded in Boston in 1946 as Fidelity Management & Research. It is one of the largest holders of 401(k) retirement plan assets in the country, which helps explain why its assets under administration ($18 trillion in fiscal 2025) are so much larger than its managed assets. Beyond its brokerage clients, it serves 1.7 million non-brokerage customers through mutual funds and advisory services. It offers its own ETFs and mutual funds alongside other products.

Fees:

• No account fees and no minimum to open a retail brokerage account, IRAs included.
• Commission-free online stock, ETF and options trades. Options carry a $0.65 per contract fee.
• No minimum to invest in Fidelity mutual funds. Certain proprietary funds charge no expense ratio, and hundreds of other funds carry no transaction fee.
• Advisory services cost 0.20% to 1.50% a year depending on the amount invested, with minimums from $50,000 to $500,000 depending on the option.
• Fidelity Go, the automated service, has no minimum to open and charges a 0.35% advisory fee on balances above $25,000.

J.P. Morgan

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the oldest of the four, with roots in the late 1700s. It took its current form through many bank and financial-services combinations. The New York-based firm offers ETFs and mutual funds, and clients choose between self-directed investing, a team of advisors, or a dedicated advisor. J.P. Morgan is a bank first. Its customer total reflects that, and its pricing leans toward advice-based accounts.

Fees:

• Personal advisor accounts start at 0.6% a year for balances from $25,000 to $249,999 and drop to 0.5% at $250,000 or more.
• Existing clients who have kept balances of $1 million or more since May 31, 2024, pay 0.40% until further notice, according to the firm’s wrap fee brochure filed with the SEC.
• Dedicated advisor programs cost more. The Core Advisory Portfolio charges 1.45% with a $10,000 minimum. The Mutual Fund Advisory Portfolio and the Advisory Program each charge 1.45% with a $50,000 minimum. The Fixed Income Advisory Program charges 0.70% with a $100,000 minimum.
• Brokerage account commissions on stocks and ETFs are 1% of principal with a $25 minimum. Check which account type and order channel that charge applies to before you compare it with the $0 online commissions at the other three.

How to choose between the largest brokerage firms

Size alone does not make one of these firms the right one for you. Narrow the choice with these questions:

1. Do you want to trade yourself or pay for advice? At Schwab, Fidelity and Vanguard, self-directed online trades in stocks and ETFs carry no commission. Advisory accounts are where costs diverge. For example, assume a $100,000 balance and an annual fee charged on the full balance. At 0.35% the fee is $350 a year. At 0.80% it is $800. At 1.45% it is $1,450. Each program sets its own tiers, minimums and fund costs, so treat these only as a way to see how a percentage fee scales.

2. How much are you starting with? Minimums decide what you can open:

• No minimum: Fidelity brokerage accounts and Fidelity Go.
• $5,000: Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.
• $10,000: J.P. Morgan’s Core Advisory Portfolio.
• $50,000 to $500,000: Fidelity’s advisory services.

3. How actively do you trade options? Schwab and Fidelity charge $0.65 per contract on options trades. Vanguard charges $1 per contract on exercises and assignments, with free allowances only above $1 million.

4. What else do you need under one roof? J.P. Morgan and Schwab both pair brokerage with banking. Fidelity is often the default for workers whose 401(k) already sits there. Vanguard is built around low-cost index fund ownership.

5. Which fund costs will you actually pay? A $0 commission does not make a fund free. Expense ratios are deducted inside the fund every year. At Schwab alone they run from 0.02% for some passive funds up to 1.09% for some active ones.

Does a bigger firm mean safer money?

Not by itself. In the U.S., broker-dealers register with the SEC and are members of FINRA. Most are also members of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which covers customer securities and cash up to $500,000, including a $250,000 limit for cash, if a member firm fails and customer assets are missing. SIPC does not cover investment losses from market moves. Cash swept into an affiliated bank, as at Schwab Bank or Chase, falls under FDIC rules instead. The protection that applies depends on where your cash actually sits and on the firm’s registration, which you can confirm through FINRA’s BrokerCheck.

The Bottom Line

Investors comparing the largest U.S. brokerage firms should look past size, since each firm ranks first only on the metric it reports. Self-directed traders pay no online stock or ETF commissions at Schwab, Fidelity and Vanguard, so advisory fees, account minimums, options pricing and fund expense ratios drive the real cost. Safety depends on where cash sits and on registration, which BrokerCheck can confirm.