Fractional Trading
Build a Balanced Portfolio with Fractional Shares
Invest in the stocks you want regardless of share price.
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Why Trade Fractional Shares with Interactive Brokers?
| Brokers | US Fractional Shares Available1 | |
|---|---|---|
| IBKR | 10,500 | + |
| Fidelity | 7,000 | + |
| Schwab | 500 | |
| E-Trade | 0 | |
[1] Fractional shares available for purchase as of January 1, 2025. Source: Bankrate
“IBKR offers access to an industry-leading selection of fractional investments.”
Investopedia.com
No Stock is Too Expensive
Pick any eligible US, Canadian or European stock (or ETF, where available) and decide how much you want to invest - it's that easy. If the purchase price doesn't result in a whole number of shares, we'll buy or sell fractional shares.
| Pick Your Stock |
Pick Your $ Amount |
Share Price1 | Number of Shares |
|---|---|---|---|
| NFLX | $25 | $644.50 | 0.0388 |
| TSLA | $25 | $173.79 | 0.1439 |
| GOOG | $25 | $176.03 | 0.1420 |
| AMZN | $25 | $184.69 | 0.1354 |
| $100 | Stock Portfolio | ||
Any trading symbols displayed are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to portray recommendations.
[1] Share prices as of June 11, 2024.
Get More for Your Money
With fractional shares you can divide your investments among more stocks to achieve a more diversified portfolio, and put small cash balances to work quickly to maximize potential returns!
What Are Fractional Shares?
Fractional shares represent portions of a whole share of a company’s stock or an exchange-traded fund (ETF). Instead of purchasing an entire share, investors can buy a fraction, allowing them to invest amounts that align with their financial goals. For example, if a single share costs $100, an investor with $50 can acquire 0.5 shares. This approach makes higher-priced securities accessible to a broader audience.
What are the Benefits of Fractional Shares?
The benefits of fractional shares trading include:
Accessibility to Higher-Priced Stocks
Investors can own portions of expensive stocks or ETFs without needing substantial capital.
Portfolio Diversification
Fractional shares trading allows investors to diversify their portfolios more effectively, helping to diversify risks.
Efficient Use of Capital
Fractional shares trading enables the full utilization of available funds, minimizing idle cash and maximizing potential returns.
Facilitation of Dollar-Cost Averaging
Investors can consistently invest in set amounts over time, smoothing out the effects of market volatility.
Fractional Shares vs Whole Shares Comparison1
| Fractional Shares | Whole Shares | |
|---|---|---|
| Ability to transfer shares | Fractional shares cannot be transferred in or out of IBKR. Instead, you can close your fractional share positions and transfer out the proceeds. (Standard fractional share trading commissions will apply.) | Whole shares can be transferred in and out of IBKR (provided there are no restrictions on the shares in question.) |
| Account availability | IE: Fractional shares are available for all account types. UK: Fractional shares are available for all account types except ISA and Junior ISA accounts. | Whole shares are available for all account types. |
| Capacity | An IBKR affiliate will generally act as the counterparty in fractional share trades and will execute the trade as principal or riskless principal. | Orders for whole shares may be handled in an agency capacity or may be executed by an IBKR affiliate acting as principal. |
| Commissions | Fractional share commissions may be different to the commissions that apply to whole shares. | Whole shares are subject to standard IBKR commissions. |
| Corporate actions | You cannot make voluntary elections on corporate actions regarding fractional shares. You will participate in any stock splits, mergers or other mandatory corporate actions. | You will be able to make voluntary elections on corporate actions with respect to whole shares and participate in any stock splits, mergers or other mandatory corporate actions. |
| Dividends | You will receive payments of dividends, or in the case of stock dividends, either dividend shares or value commensurate to the dividend shares. | You will receive dividends on whole shares. |
| Minimum investment | Orders submitted in share increments must be entered for at least 0.0001 shares. Orders submitted in monetary increments must be for a minimum of USD 1. | The minimum investment is dependent on the price of a single share of the stock/ETF in question. |
| Order types | Only certain types of orders are available for fractional share trading (e.g., market orders, limit orders, stop orders, stop limit orders, etc.). | A wider range of order types are available when trading whole shares. |
| Ownership | You will be the beneficial owner of any fractional and whole shares in your account and all fractional shares you own are segregated in IBKR's books and records. | |
| Platform availability | Fractional shares are available on all IBKR platforms except via IBKR API. | Whole shares are available on all IBKR platforms. |
| Product unavailability | IBKR can, at its discretion, remove any stock from the list of stocks eligible for fractional trading. If we stop offering fractional share trading in a product, we will liquidate fractional positions in the product and credit the proceeds to your account. | IBKR can, at its discretion, limit any security to closing only, meaning you can close existing positions but not open new ones. You may transfer these shares to another broker willing to accept them. |
| Effect of Trading Halts | Exchanges or regulators may also halt trading in a security. If this occurs, IBKR would likewise stop trading in the fractional and whole shares. | |
| Short selling | IBKR supports short selling of fractional and whole shares provided you have a Margin account. | |
| Treatment in case of Insolvency | In the unlikely event of our insolvency, clients will still hold their fractional interest. If the insolvency administrator/liquidator cannot transfer fractional entitlements to another broker or custodian they may need to liquidate the fractional interest and return the proceeds to you. | In the unlikely event of our insolvency, clients will still hold their whole share interest, which can be transferred to another broker or custodian or liquidated. |
| Voting rights | You will not have voting rights for the fractional shares held in your account. | You will have voting rights for the whole shares held in your account. |
Interactive Brokers’ Fractional Shares Education and Resources
Fractional shares allow IBKR clients to allocate a sum of money when investing stocks rather than buying a specific number of shares. Traders’ Academy by Interactive Brokers provides complimentary resources to educate you on fractional shares and their role in accessing higher-priced stocks, portfolio diversification, the efficient use of capital and facilitating dollar-cost averaging.
This lesson and short video reviews how to configure your account for fractional shares trading and the steps to follow when investing your preferred amounts in shares of stocks or ETFs.
Additional Resources on Fractional Trading
FAQ About Fractional Trading
Try Fractional Trading Today
Available on all platforms.
Open an Account Try On Our Platforms
Already have an account? Enable Fractional Trading
Disclosures
- Fractional shares available for purchase as of January 1, 2025. Source: Bankrate
- Interactive Brokers may close fractional share positions in stocks no longer eligible for fractional trading at any given time.