Sogoinvest is a fairly new online discount broker that opened its doors in the summer of 2006.  I signed up for it in November 2006 and was impressed by its website and attractive transaction fees.  Here is my take on it after using it for a month and doing some transactions with it.

The Good

• It's cheap.  They have a 90 day promotion where trades are a $1, and after that all trades (buy/sell) are $3 each if you are on the Bronze plan that has no monthly fees.  Sharebuilder charges you $15.95 to sell shares, whereas Sogoinvest is a flat $1-$3 per transaction.
• The website interface is very clean and nice. 
• Gain/Loss tracker (Sogoinvest's competitor Sharebuilder charges you for this feature)
• Execution speed was fast enough for my purposes
• No minimum required in your account
• No maintenance fee for the Bronze level
  
• Phone support is excellent and quick (0 wait time)

The Bad

• Dividend Reinvestment does not exist yet - The money goes directly to your cash account
• Electronic ACH withdrawal transfers are not possible without filling out a paper form and faxing or mailing it in for each transaction
• No options investing
• The activity history page on the website does NOT show you when dividends were credited to your account.  It is only visible through end of the month statements.
• No retirement accounts allowed yet.
• Funds are settled into your account only on the T+3 day, where T is the date Sogoinvest actually initiates the ACH transfer. 

Conclusion 

I do not feel it is worth continuing to invest with it at this time until it matures with more features.  Dividend reinvestment is a big feature that I definitely want.  They allow buying of fractional shares, but don't offer dividend reinvestments?  That makes no sense to me.  ACH withdrawals is the second priority feature I wish they had.  When they add these features, I will be glad to pick up where I left off with them.

Others have commented about features they don't like such as the long/inconsistent ACH transfer time in to their accounts and also the margin interest that accrues on T+1 day.  See indexfundfan's review below for more info.

In the meantime, I will be looking out for other discount brokers to invest with. 

Other Reviews of Sogoinvest 

Be first to comment this article

Write Comment

Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal verbal attacks will be deleted. Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed. Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button. Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code.
Name:
E-mail
Homepage
Title:
BBCode:
Comment:
Code:*
	I wish to be contacted by email regarding additional comments

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4