SoFi Invest review: Trade stocks, ETFs, buy fractional shares and participate in IPOs

SoFi is a familiar name in the personal finance space. The fintech company launched in 2011 to help millennials refinance their student loans, but has since expanded into all sorts of financial products.

Today, SoFi offers everything from private student loans, personal loans, mortgages and auto loan refinancing, to banking, credit cards, wealth management services, insurance and investing. In other words, it's seemingly a one-stop shop or all your money needs.

This review will focus on the investing arm at SoFi, which in itself offers lots of options to grow your money. SoFi Invest® is an all-in-one investing platform that gives users the ability to trade stocks, ETFs, plus it allows users to buy fractional shares and participate in IPOs at IPO prices (before they trade on an exchange and the price increases). SoFi investors also have access to a robo-advisor and tax-advantaged IRAs to save for retirement.

Below, Select reviews SoFi Invest's offerings to give you the details on its investment options, features and fees so you can decide if it's right for your money.

• Investment options
• Features
• Fees
• Bottom line

With SoFi Invest®, you can pick and choose stocks, ETFs and fractional shares yourself, or have a portfolio built for you by a robo-advisor according to your risk tolerance.

Those who opt for the former can actively invest and take advantage of SoFi's zero-commission trading on stocks and ETFs (although exchange and fund management fees may apply). No commission fees essentially means that SoFi will not charge you for buying or selling these type of securities on its platform.

Fractional shares, which SoFi offers, allow you to get in on a pricey stock without having to buy a whole share. Investors can also buy shares of companies as they go public. IPO access not only can diversify your portfolio, but it's a perk that's historically been reserved for institutional investors (i.e. banks) and high net worth individuals.

While SoFi offers investors access to fractional shares, and IPOs, it doesn't offer some of the more standard investment options that retirement savers often tap into, such as mutual funds, index funds and bond funds (although you'll have access to ETFs which can operate in a similar manner). There is also no options, futures or foreign exchange trading available on the SoFi platform.

If you want a more passive approach to investing, you can do so through SoFi Automated Investing and never pay account management fees. The robo-advisor platform uses computer algorithms and market data to create and manage your investment portfolio from a broad range of low-cost ETFs. It will create a portfolio based on your risk tolerance, goals and investment timeline, and it will then automatically rebalance your investments on a quarterly basis.

And if you're looking to open an IRA for retirement, SoFi offers Traditional, Roth, SEP and Rollover IRAs.

Beyond its unique offering of investment options, SoFi Invest comes loaded with special features and perks for its users. As an example, here are a variety of bonuses new customers can earn:

• Download the SoFi app and get up to $1,000 when you open an Active SoFi Invest® Brokerage Account (you'll have to make qualifying deposits)
• SoFi covers up to $75 of any transfer fees your brokerage may charge when you transfer an account to SoFi

SoFi investors can also create a personal watchlist that follows their stocks to stay up to date and receive the latest investing news. And if you're looking to borrow money, SoFi members receive a 0.125% interest rate discount on other SoFi lending products, like student loan refinancing and personal loans. As a SoFi member, you can expect to get access to exclusive events and experiences, as well as career services and financial advisors at no cost.

SoFi's app is available to download for free in both the App Store (for iOS), where it has 4.8/5 stars, and on Google Play (for Android), where is has 4.3/5 stars at the time this article was written.‎

Minimum deposit and balance requirements vary depending on the SoFi investment vehicle you select. There is no account minimum for active or automated investing, or to participate in IPOs.

Active investors can also trade stocks and ETFs free of commission fees, but exchange and fund management fees may apply. Passive investors using SoFi's automated service have zero management fees. There is a $5 minimum to own a fractional share of a company.

It's hard to see what SoFi Invest® doesn't offer. It offers the ability to actively trade or to sit back and put your investments on autopilot. Investors can get access to special perks like the ability to buy into IPOs and fractional shares. They can also choose to funnel their money through SoFi's various IRAs. New SoFi users can take advantage of its welcome bonuses and beginner investors can lean on SoFi's financial advisors to help guide them along the way.

But if you want to put your money into mutual or index funds, you'll have to look elsewhere. Charles Schwab is a good place to turn to, as it offers these funds for active traders, plus IRAs and two robo-advisor options. Read our full Charles Schwab review.

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