Options Assignment Prior to Expiration

An American-Style option seller (writer) may be assigned an exercise at any time until the option expires. This means that the option writer is subject to being assigned at any time after he or she has written the option until the option expires or until the option contract writer closes out his or her position by buying it back to close. Early exercise happens when the owner of a call or put invokes his or her rights before expiration. As the option seller, you have no control over assignment, and it is impossible to know exactly when this could happen. Generally, assignment risk becomes greater closer to expiration, however even with that being said, assignment can still happen at any time when trading American-Style Options.

When selling a put, the seller has the obligation to buy the underlying stock or asset at a given price (Strike Price) within a specified window of time (Expiration date). If the strike price of the option is below the current market price of the stock, the option holder does not gain value putting the stock to the seller because the market value is greater than the strike price. Conversely, If the strike price of the option is above the current market price of the stock, the option seller will be at assignment risk.

Selling a call gives the right to the call owner to buy or “call” stock away from the seller within a given time frame. If the market price of the stock is below the strike price of the option, the call holder has no advantage to call stock away at higher than market value. If the market value of the stock is greater than the strike price, the option holder can call away the stock at a lower than market value price. Short calls are at assignment risk when they are in the money or if there is a dividend coming up and the extrinsic value of the short call is less than the dividend.

What happens to these options?

If a short call is assigned, the short call holder will be assigned short shares of stock. For example, if the stock of ABC company is trading at $55 and a short call at the $50 strike is assigned, the short call would be converted to short shares of stock at $50. The account holder could then decide to close the short position by purchasing the stock back at the market price of $55. The net loss would be $500 for the 100 shares, less credit received from selling the call initially.

If a short put is assigned, the short put holder would now be long shares of stock at the put strike price. For example, with the stock of XYZ trading at $90, the short put seller is assigned shares of stock at the strike of $96. The put seller is responsible for buying shares of stock above the market price at their strike of $96. Assuming, the account holder closes the long stock position at $90, the net loss would be $600 for 100 shares, less credit received from selling the put originally.

Margin Deficit from the option assignment

If the assignment takes place prior to expiration and the stock position results in a margin deficit, then consistent with our margin policy accounts are subject to automated liquidation in order to bring the account into margin compliance. Liquidations are not confined to only shares that resulted from the option position.

Additionally, for accounts that are assigned on the short leg of an option spread, we will NOT act to exercise a long option held in the account. We cannot presume the intentions of the long option holder, and the exercise of the long option prior to expiration will forfeit the time value of the option, which could be realized via the sale of the option.

Post Expiration Exposure, Corporate Action and Ex-Dividend Events

We have proactive steps to mitigate risk, based upon certain expiration or corporate action related events. For more information about our expiration policy, please click here .

Account holders should refer to the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options disclosure document which is provided by us to every option eligible client at the point of application and which clearly spells out the risks of assignment. This document is also available online at the OCC's website.

interactive brokers assignment

Copyright © 2023 | Interactive Brokers LLC | All Rights Reserved

Interactive Brokers LLC Is a member NYSE - FINRA - SIPC and regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Headquarters: Two Pickwick Plaza , Greenwich, CT 06830 , USA Website: www.interactivebrokers.com

Any trading symbols displayed are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to portray recommendations.

If you are an institution, click below to learn more about our offerings for RIAs, Hedge Funds, Compliance Officers and more.

Futures Physical Options Delivery

Policies and Instructions

Delivery, Exercise and Corporate Actions

Summary of physical delivery future options policies.

  • With respect to certain commodities and options, it is the industry standard to refer to the expiration month of such commodities as the month following the actual Expiration or Delivery Date for that product. TWS may not show the correct expiration or notice date information. For specifics on IB's handling please click here . QM (Oil); QG (Gas); most government US and German bond future options are examples that use atypical dating.
  • The standard commission will be charged for the exercise or assignment of any Future Option Contract.
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Interactive Brokers Review

Sam Levine, CFA, CMT

Written by Sam Levine, CFA, CMT , Blain Reinkensmeyer Edited by Carolyn Kimball Fact-checked by Steven Hatzakis

Interactive Brokers has global reach, professional-caliber tools, investment options for any objective or market, and, to top it off, is often the least expensive in many of the categories we analyze. Now it’s focused on becoming more accessible to individual investors.

Interactive Brokers

  • Minimum Deposit: $0.00
  • Stock Trades: $0.00
  • Options (Per Contract): $0.65

Pros & Cons

thumb_up_off_alt Pros

  • An astounding array of highly customizable tools, investment choices, and research.
  • The ability to trade in foreign markets and hold multiple currencies.
  • Convenient mobile apps and a very good web portal for individual investors.

thumb_down_off_alt Cons

  • Conservative in granting trading permissions.
  • Occasionally inconvenient for plain-vanilla investing..
  • If you’re looking for a friendly companion for your investing journey, either adopt a kitten or choose another broker.

Overall summary

feed Recent news

January 2024: Crypto ETFs. Interactive Brokers now allows trading of spot bitcoin ETFs in brokerage accounts.

Investment options

Interactive Brokers provides the most diverse offering in the industry and leads by a wide margin in multiple areas, including international trading. Globally, customers in over 200 countries can trade in more than 150 markets.

I ran into two frustrations with IBKR. One probably won’t affect many retail customers, and the other will affect virtually everyone. The first is its somewhat restrictive trading permissions. If you want to trade options or leveraged trading products (such as SQQQ), be aware that IBKR has unusually high standards for granting permission to trade them.

If you’re just sticking to stocks and ETFs, you’ll likely run into another small annoyance: the need to specify a trading instrument after entering a ticker symbol. For example, entering “NVDA” into the search bar yielded around two dozen ways to take a position on the company. Happily, the common stock was the first choice, but it’s something that doesn’t happen as often at domestic-only brokers. I’d appreciate an account setting that defaults searches to certain markets.

Cryptocurrency: Interactive Brokers added cryptocurrency trading to its offerings in 2021. Traders can trade bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and bitcoin cash through their integrated account. And, whoa man, is crypto trading cheap: Commissions are 0.12% to 0.18%, with a minimum of $1.75 per order and a maximum of 1% of trade value.

Forex: Do you want to lock in a high exchange rate before traveling overseas or diversify away from a gyrating U.S. dollar? No problem. It’s easy and inexpensive to exchange currencies at IBKR, a feature you won’t find at many other brokers. (If you’re interested in trading forex, see the IBKR review on our sister site, ForexBrokers.com.)

Other: Interactive Brokers lets U.S. investors trade spot gold in amounts as small as one ounce. There are also Micro and Small futures contracts, opening access to the futures markets to a broader audience. Small Exchange futures are only $0.08 per contract.

account_balance One of the best for high net worth

We analyzed online brokers' offerings for clients with over $1 million of liquid, investable assets. See our guide to the Best Brokerage Firms for High Net Worth Individuals .

Commissions and fees

Interactive Brokers offers two pricing plans: IBKR Pro (meant for professionals) and IBKR Lite (for casual investors).

IBKR Lite: With IBKR Lite, there are no market data fees and all U.S. stock and ETF trades are $0. Options trades are $0.65 per contract. The only caveat to IBKR Lite is slightly lower-quality order executions due to payment for order flow (PFOF). Like most other $0 commission brokers, under IBKR Lite, Interactive Brokers makes money from PFOF. Though we’re no fans of PFOF at StockBrokers.com, it only affects executions by a few pennies per $1,000 traded. Retail investors shouldn’t let it be a dealbreaker.

IBKR Pro stock trades: The tiered pricing plan starts at $.0035 per share ($0.35 minimum), unless you’re trading 300,000 or more shares monthly, which can drive it down to as low as $.0005. There’s also a fixed Pro plan that isn’t volume-dependent. Institutions will pay this for being able to route orders to dark pools in hopes of getting better executions on their gazillion share positions, something those of us trading 50 shares of Amazon or Apple shouldn’t worry about.

IBKR Pro options trades: On U.S. exchanges using Interactive Brokers SMART routing, commissions per options contract are tiered. Any premium greater than $0.10 equals $0.65 per contract with a $1 minimum and no maximum. For premiums between $0.05 and $0.10, the rate is $0.50 per contract. Finally, for premiums less than $0.05, the rate is $0.25 per contract.

IBKR Pro other benefits: Interactive Brokers does not accept payment for order flow in IBKR Pro, a key element in providing quality order execution.

Mutual funds: Interactive Brokers offers over 48,000 mutual funds globally, with over 11,000 in the U.S. Of the U.S. mutual funds, over 4,000 are ticket charge-free; otherwise, the standard fee is the lesser of 1.5% of the trade value or $14.95, which is still a good price compared to most other brokers.

Penny stocks: IBKR Pro is not a good choice for trading penny stocks, as you’ll pay a per-share commission.

Mobile trading apps

Given the flagship IBKR Mobile, Impact, and GlobalTrader apps, there’s something for everyone, unless you’re looking for a lighthearted approach or personal finance coaching. IBKR won’t hound you to quit your daily Starbucks and save $5 a day. It seeks to be a technology and price leader rather than becoming the next e-Suze Orman or e-Jean Chatzky.

There are three mobile apps available to retail investors. The two novice-focused apps, Impact and GlobalTrader, cater to different interests while sharing many elements. Clients can use any or all three apps.

IBKR Mobile: The IBKR Mobile app is the most feature-laden of IBKR’s mobile app suite. From lightning-quick streaming data to full-featured order entry and portfolio management, IBKR Mobile includes almost everything experienced investors and professionals require to trade on the go, and it’s not too heavy a lift for individual investors, either.

GlobalTrader: Beginners and foreign stock aficionados will enjoy using GlobalTrader, which allows fractional stock trades, options trading and convenient access to foreign shares. Everything is clearly laid out and easy to operate. I’d rank GlobalTrader above many apps from beginner-focused brokers.

Impact: The Impact app, which focuses on ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing, prompts you to choose values that are important to you, such as clean water or opposition to animal testing. From there, you can identify companies that support those values and even “swap” positions in your portfolio with a single trade. Your Impact dashboard will display an A-F grade for your portfolio based on the values chosen.

Charting: Charting on IBKR Mobile is robust. There’s a revamped charting package that’s a notable improvement over an already very good one. There are over 90 optional indicators, 80 drawing tools, and easy customizations. One nitpick: I wasn’t able to find stock and/or index comparisons. Customizations are saved to the cloud, so chart markups can appear on any platform.

Tap for a demo of IBKR's mobile app.

IBKR mobile apps gallery

Interactive Brokers mobile home page

currency_pound Investing in the U.K.

Interactive Brokers also made our top picks for trading apps in the United Kingdom, along with four other strong contenders. Read more on our sister site, UK.StockBrokers.com .

Other trading platforms and tools

Interactive Brokers’ flagship platform, the desktop-based Trader Workstation (TWS), supports trading almost everything under the sun. While TWS is not designed for new investors, it easily ranks among the best trading platforms in the industry, even if it does come across as being a bit long in the tooth. Luckily IBKR seems to be addressing that with a new desktop app.

IBKR Desktop: A recent addition to IBKR’s stable of platforms is the downloadable Desktop. Though it’s clearly under development (I tested version 0.04) and very skinny in features, it’s a big leap forward in design compared to Trader Workstation. I’m eagerly awaiting a fully built-out version. For now, it’s more of a feature to watch than a platform for daily use.

TWS trading tools: Tools designed for seasoned traders abound within TWS: algo trading, an Options Strategy Lab, Volatility Lab, Risk Navigator, Market Scanner, and Strategy Builder, to name a few. Watch lists can include anything from equities to individual options contracts, futures, forex, warrants – you name it. Hundreds of data points are available for column customization.

IBot: IBot, also available in IBKR Mobile, uses a foundation of artificial intelligence to quickly service customer requests via chat (or voice in the iPhone app). Portfolio information, orders, quotes, and more are all supported. Think, "What's the last price of GOOG?" or, "Chart AAPL vs. MSFT" or, "Buy 100 shares of META."

Client Portal: This platform for less-experienced traders is offered through Interactive Brokers’ website and includes all the core features necessary to trade and manage a portfolio. Portal, like IBKR Mobile, is feature-rich without trying to pack as much data as possible onto the screen, striking a good balance between utility and ease of use.

Client Portal and Trader Workstation (TWS) gallery

Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation layout view

For casual investors, sticking to Fundamentals Explorer within Client Portal is, hands down, the way to go for doing research. Trader Workstation is a better fit for seasoned traders and professionals. Interactive Brokers requires a $500 minimum balance for PDF reports from third-party providers.

Fundamentals Explorer: Built to help everyday investors perform traditional fundamental research on stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds, the Fundamentals Explorer page uses charts and graphs to visualize data. For example, the Social Sentiment analysis tab uses a slew of X (formerly Twitter) data to plot sentiment over time on a chart, which helps visualize social activity around a stock. There are also automated technical opinions from Trading Central.

Stock research: TWS research highlights include numerous screeners, extensive back-testing functionality, and portfolio analysis tools, which are all excellent. For traders looking to conduct specific research, Interactive Brokers offers third-party provider feeds a la carte. Any provider package purchased integrates straight into TWS.

However, performing even basic research on stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds on TWS is nothing like the traditional full-service brokerage experience one might find at Charles Schwab or Fidelity . It’ll take a while to learn how to navigate TWS to find the information you want and assemble a layout that works for you. Expect some frustration.

The web-based Client Portal, in contrast, is far easier to use and, while not quite as intuitive as the offerings of leaders in this arena, is a much lighter lift than TWS, and goes far deeper than many other firms’ web offerings.

ESG research: Interactive Brokers includes a variety of environmental, social and governance ratings and research across its platforms, including the abovementioned Impact tool, which lets you score your portfolio stock holdings for ESG-specific metrics.

PortfolioAnalyst: One of my favorite functions on a Bloomberg terminal was its portfolio performance reporting. I could see how my portfolio stacked up against a benchmark and what was driving the differences: The function told me whether my under/outperformance was due to stock picking, sector allocations, or market timing. Unfortunately, a Bloomberg terminal costs well over $24K a year. So you can imagine how happy I am to find that IBKR offers the same thing for free. PortfolioAnalyst provides traders with hedge fund-level reporting on their portfolio's performance and makeup. Interactive Brokers also offers a free version for non-clients where you can link all your accounts and run reports. It's a compelling tool for traders with assets spread across several brokers.

Interactive Brokers web portal commentary

Interactive Brokers offers numerous options to learn about trading and investing under the Education tab on the home page. Check out IBKR Campus and the Trader's Academy if you're getting started. There is a wide variety of well-organized written material, video content, and even some quizzes with progress tracking. Unlike some brokers that want to come across as cute and cuddly (not that there’s nothing wrong with that), IBKR’s educational material takes a professional tone. Its content will inform, not entertain. That’s fine by me.

Interactive Brokers web portal education topic

Banking services

While Interactive Brokers does not provide traditional banking services, it does offer its version of a cash management account with a debit card, bill pay, and the ability to earn interest on uninvested cash. Bill payments and ATM withdrawals are $0.50.

Your account must be denominated in a base currency that has a positive interest rate to earn interest. There are also minimum tier cutoff levels, wherein you earn a yield only on cash that exceeds those levels, which vary per currency.

Customer service

To score Customer Service, StockBrokers.com partners with customer experience research firm Confero to conduct phone tests from locations throughout the United States. For this year's testing, 135 customer service tests were conducted over six weeks, with wait times logged for each call.

Customer service representatives were asked for assistance or details for prospective customers in several areas of broker services, including account opening, trading tools, apps, rollovers, active trading, and more. Here are the results for Interactive Brokers.

  • Average Connection Time: 1-2 minutex
  • Average Net Promoter Score: 4.2 / 10
  • Average Professionalism Score: 3.7 / 10
  • Overall Score: 7.7 / 10
  • Ranking: 12th of 13 brokers

Final thoughts

With industry-leading commission rates for professional traders, more than 100 optional order types (and that’s not counting third-party offerings), trading in over 150 markets, and platforms suitable for beginners or professionals, Interactive Brokers is an excellent choice for sophisticated investors and the professionals who serve them. I also like IBKR for beginner investors looking for fractional shares, paper trading, easy mobile apps and trustworthy educational content, but some other brokers do offer a friendlier novice experience.

Here are our three top takeaways for Interactive Brokers for 2024.

  • Interactive Brokers is best known for offering traders access to global markets. Additionally, professionals can take advantage of industry-leading commissions, including the lowest margin rates across all balance tiers.
  • Interactive Brokers is an excellent choice for day trading, mobile trading, options trading, futures trading and professional trading.
  • IBKR is also a great choice for beginners, but a bit more, well, pizzazz would go a long way.

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Popular stock broker reviews, is my money safe with interactive brokers.

Interactive Brokers is well-capitalized and is licensed and regulated in nearly a dozen major jurisdictions, making it a safe broker to hold your money. Interactive Brokers is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: IBKR) with a market capitalization of over $34 billion as of October 2023.

Money held in an investment account with Interactive Brokers in the U.S. is protected by SIPC insurance, which covers up to $500,000 in securities and up to $250,000 in cash. If you hold more than $250,000 in cash, Interactive Brokers offers a Insured Bank Deposit Sweep Program, which provides up to $2.5 million in FDIC insurance in addition to the SIPC insurance. There’s additional account coverage through Lloyd’s of London. This coverage, of course, doesn’t extend to investment losses.

The degree of security may depend on the specific country you are located in and the related regulatory requirements that Interactive Brokers follows in countries where it holds client funds, such as the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Singapore, India and Japan.

Is Interactive Brokers FDIC insured?

Interactive Brokers does not carry FDIC insurance, because it is not a bank. Instead, IBKR is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, which insures clients against losses due to broker insolvency, and IBKR carries additional protection through Lloyd’s of London. It can, however, sweep cash balances into FDIC-insured banks.

Is Interactive Brokers good for beginners?

IBKR has many beginner-friendly features, such as fractional shares, paper trading, and simplified mobile apps. The broker’s investor education covers a broad range of topics and lets you test your newly acquired knowledge through quizzes. Other brokers might come across as friendlier, but IBKR delivers on substance.

Is there a disadvantage to using Interactive Brokers?

Interactive Brokers is one of our top-rated brokerage firms due to its comprehensive tools, great choice of platforms, and very attractive pricing. It also has excellent educational content and continues to be an industry innovator. That said, some investors might prefer a simpler experience over the global capabilities and impersonal presentation of IBKR.

Why is Interactive Brokers so cheap?

Interactive Brokers is cheap because it leverages technology efficiently and competes as a low-cost provider. According to CSI Markets, Interactive Brokers’ revenue per employee was recently over $3.8 million, which compares favorably to competitor Charles Schwab’s figure of $621,826.

Does IBKR have fees?

IBKR Lite is the zero-commission tier for retail brokers at Interactive Brokers. There’s also a pro version that charges commissions. Like all brokers, IBKR has incidental charges. One of the most unusual is a fee of $1 or more per withdrawal, if you exceed one withdrawal per calendar month.

Are Interactive Brokers’ fees high?

IBKR competes aggressively on price and is often among the lowest-cost brokers in several areas, especially in margin rates and cryptocurrency trading.

Does Interactive Brokers trade crypto?

Does Interactive Brokers trade crypto? Yes, Interactive Brokers customers can trade bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum, and litecoin.

What is the difference between IBKR Pro and Lite?

Interactive Brokers’ Lite tier is intended for individual investors and provides commission-free stock and ETF trades in exchange for IBKR receiving payment for order flow. IBKR Pro is for larger trades and higher volume traders and also charges lower margin rates. Most individuals will likely be better off choosing IBKR Lite, but it’s easy to switch between them as your needs evolve.

About Interactive Brokers

Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR) was founded in 1978 by Thomas Peterffy, who is respected as "an early innovator in computer-assisted trading." Interactive Brokers is most widely recognized for its extensive international reach. The firm places almost 2 million trades per day and services over 1.5 million client accounts with over $296 billion in customer equity.

Interactive Brokers 2024 Results

For the StockBrokers.com 2024 Annual Awards , announced on Jan. 23, 2024, all U.S. equity brokers we reviewed were assessed on over 200 different variables across eight areas: Commissions & Fees, Investment Options, Platforms & Tools, Research, Mobile Trading , Education, Ease of Use, and Overall.

StockBrokers.com also presented “Best in Class” awards to brokers for additional categories Beginners , Options Trading , Futures Trading , Day Trading , IRA Accounts , Investor Community, Penny Stock Trading , Bank Brokerage , High Net Worth Investors , and Customer Service. A “Best in Class” designation means finishing in the top five brokers for that category.

For more information, see how we test .

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StockBrokers.com Review Methodology

Our mission at StockBrokers.com is simple: provide thorough and unbiased reviews of online brokers, based on an extraordinary level of hands-on testing and data collection. Our ratings and awards are based on this data and our in-house experts’ deep authority in the field; brokers cannot pay for preferential treatment. Here’s more about trustworthiness at StockBrokers.com.

Our research team conducts thorough testing on a wide range of features, products, services, and tools for U.S. investors, collecting and validating thousands of data points in the process; this makes StockBrokers.com home to the largest independent database on the web covering the online broker industry. We test all available trading platforms for each broker and evaluate them based on a host of data-driven variables. All research, writing and data collection at StockBrokers.com is done by humans, for humans. Read our generative AI policy here .

As part of our process, all brokers had the annual opportunity to provide updates and key milestones and complete an in-depth data profile, which we hand-checked for accuracy. Brokers also were offered the opportunity to provide executive time for an annual update meeting.

Our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .001% each year, providing site visitors quality data they can trust. Learn more about how we test .

Interactive Brokers fees and features data

The data collection efforts at StockBrokers.com are unmatched in the industry. The following tables show a deeper dive into the offerings available at this broker. You can also compare its offerings side-by-side with those of other brokers using our Comparison Tool .

In addition to meticulous annual data collection by our in-house analyst, every broker that participates in our review is afforded the opportunity to complete an in-depth data profile. We then audit each data point to ensure its accuracy.

Trading fees

Account fees, margin rates, order types, stock trading apps, stock app features, stock app charting, trading platforms overview, trading platform stock chart features, day trading features, investment research overview, stock research features, etf research features, mutual fund research features, options trading overview, banking features, customer service options.

Interactive Brokers' Wikipedia

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About the Editorial Team

Sam Levine has over 30 years of experience in the investing field as a portfolio manager, financial consultant, investment strategist and writer. He also taught investing as an adjunct professor of finance at Wayne State University. Sam holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and the Chartered Market Technician designations and is pursuing a master's in personal financial planning at the College for Financial Planning. Previously, he was a contributing editor at BetterInvesting Magazine and a contributor to The Penny Hoarder and other media outlets.

Blain Reinkensmeyer

Blain Reinkensmeyer has 20 years of trading experience with over 2,500 trades placed during that time. He heads research for all U.S.-based brokerages on StockBrokers.com and is respected by executives as the leading expert covering the online broker industry. Blain’s insights have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune, among other media outlets.

Carolyn Kimball

Carolyn Kimball is managing editor for Reink Media and the lead editor for the StockBrokers.com Annual Review. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.

Steven Hatzakis

Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.

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Commissions sectoin hero

Minimize Your Costs to Maximize Your Returns 1

Low commissions on products across 150 global markets No added spreads, ticket charges, platform fees, or account minimums

Commissions below are for U.S. markets. Click each product for full global commissions.

Stocks/etfs.

$0 per share 2

For U.S. residents only

USD 0.0005 to 0.0035 per share

USD 0 on No Transaction Fee ETFs

USD 0.005 per share

IBKR Lite or IBKR Pro — Pick the Pricing Plan Best for You.

USD 0.15 to 0.65 per contract

USD 0.65 per contract

USD 0.25 to 0.85 per contract

USD 0.85 per contract

Fixed: US-Future and Future Options

Spot Currencies

0.08 to 0.20 basis points × Trade Value per order

Tight spreads as narrow as 1/10 PIP

10 basis points × Face Value per order

Mutual Funds

3% x Trade Value up to $14.95 per transaction

USD 0 on No Transaction Fee Funds

View commission details for more information on transaction fees, minimums and maximums.

Disclosures

  • Lower investment costs will increase your overall return on investment, but lower costs do not guarantee that your investment will be profitable.
  • IBKR Lite provides commission-free trades in US exchange-listed stocks and ETFs. For trades in non-exchange-listed US stocks (e.g. Pink sheet and OTCBB), ETFs, warrants, and other non-qualifying products, IBKR Lite accounts are subject to Fixed Pricing. IBKR Lite is available to US residents with the following account types: Individual, Joint, IRA and Trusts when the beneficiary and trustee are natural persons. In addition, US financial advisors can offer IBKR Lite to their clients.
  • 1 basis point=0.0001.

Which Plan is Best for You?

  • IBKR Lite is meant for retail investors, including financial advisors trading on behalf of their retail clients. IBKR reserves the right to reject any IBKR Lite order or series of orders if IBKR determines the order(s) appear to show non-retail trading behavior. At the time an order is rejected, the client will be automatically presented the option to resubmit the rejected order on a Fixed commission basis.
  • Where available in North America.
  • Accounts with a NAV of less than USD 100,000 (or equivalent) will be paid at a rate proportional to accounts with a NAV of USD 100,000 (or equivalent) or more. The proportion is determined by the ratio of the account's NAV to USD 100,000 (or equivalent). This does not apply to currencies with negative interest rates, where the negative rate applied will be the same regardless of account size. See our Interest Rates for details.
  • See our Margin Rates for details.
  • Standalone trust accounts with legal entity trustees are not eligible for IBKR Lite
  • Institutional Accounts are defined as any hedge funds, proprietary trading group or organizational type accounts
  • Advisors include all registered financial advisors and non-registered financial advisors.
  • Less than 15% of client accounts outside the US
  • Less than 15% of client equity outside the US
  • Less than 15% of client accounts as organization accounts
  • No client accounts from Israel
  • No partitioned client accounts
  • No Separate Trading Limits (Proprietary Trading) accounts
  • Brokers require special approval from IBKR before opening an IBKR Lite account. Brokers cannot have both IBKR Lite and IBKR Pro clients under the same account structure. Separate accounts structures are required to facilitate.
  • Israel is the country of legal residence of the account holder
  • Partitioned client accounts
  • Three-tier hierarchies (no advisor or STL proprietary trading accounts)
  • OMS clients
  • Regular trading hours for IBKR Lite and IBKR Pro are 09:30 – 16:00. Market orders placed prior to regular trading hours will be treated as MarketOnOpen orders and count towards client threshold.
  • At the end of each month, IBKR will review the total monthly trading volume of US listed stock orders. If the combined volume of OnClose, OnOpen, Outside Regular Trading Hours ("Outside RTH") or sub-USD 1.00 NMS exceeds 10% of an account's monthly US stock trading volume, a commission of the lesser of USD 0.005 per share or 1% of trade value will be charged.
  • * Excludes pink sheet data.
  • **Trader Workstation (TWS) is not available to Brokers' clients enrolled in IBKR Lite .
  • † Fees may apply.

We understand your investment needs change over time. You can switch between the IBKR Lite and IBKR Pro plan at any time. Your first three reclassifications are processed on a daily basis while subsequent reclassifications happen on a quarterly basis.

Finance Training in the Classroom

Develop a simulated trading competition for your class.

Student Trading Lab Competition

Why Use Interactive Brokers for a Simulated Trading Competition?

  • The Student Trading Lab is free to use.
  • Access a powerful and award winning trading platform , use Student Trading Lab resources to supplement your competition, and use live, simulated paper trading to help teach students about global markets.
  • Student accounts are funded with a simulated equity of USD 1,000,000 and configured with global trading capabilities, including cryptocurrency.
  • Students can develop programming, trading, risk analysis, and portfolio management skills by using a simulated trading account to trade live markets.
  • Students can use their Student Trading Lab experience as a point of differentiation with prospective employers.

Create a Simulated Trading Competition

  • Open a Professor account
  • For example, ask your students to only trade stocks or derivatives.
  • Ask your students to trade using at least two or three different order types.
  • Instruct the students to compete against a benchmark such as S&P 500.
  • Define a period for the competition.
  • Use the Professor account to invite your students to create their own accounts.
  • Request that students provide a trading plan outlining their strategy, encourage students to develop their own algo trading apps in Python, Java, C++, or use our Excel sample spreadsheets for market data and data science analysis.
  • Use your Professor account's reporting capabilities to monitor student performance.

Student Trading Lab Participant

Sample Trading Plan

A student's plan should be about a page in length and discuss the product(s) (i.e., stocks, options, bonds, etc.), markets (i.e., CME, NYSE, CBOE, etc.) and strategy they will employ when trading (i.e., my strategy utilizes 30-day implied volatility and will buy 1,000 shares of all symbols when the annualized volatility exceeds 100%).

However, all strategies listed as part of their trading plan and should include a profile.

Sample Outline:

  • Trader Workstation (TWS)
  • Client Portal
  • IBKR Global Trader
  • IBKR Mobile
  • IBKR API (describe the Intended API Method and how it will connect to IBKR platform).
  • Products: Students should predetermine which instruments their strategy will trade. For example, if a student’s trading plan relies on trading equity indexes, the student should detail ALL indexes that the strategy will trade. If a trade on a random index appears, the professor reserves the right to eliminate student’s placing.
  • Markets: Students are free to choose any number of markets to trade, but all markets must be identified from the outset. For example, if a student intends to trade equity-based products, the student must specify whether this activity will apply to specific underlying equity securities, options on securities, ETFs, index futures or otherwise.
  • Trading Strategy: Students should be thorough in their description. The professor needs to understand how the student’s trading strategy works so that the professor can see whether it is trading as designed. Students should detail ALL strategies if more than one is submitted. If strategies are linked, this should be detailed. Each description should be a plain and simple explanation of what the strategy is designed to do and how it intends to enter and exit markets to control risk and maximize return.

Contact the Student Trading Lab

If you have questions about educational resources, applying for a Student Trading Lab account or setup for student trading accounts, please submit this form.

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IBKR LLC (U.S.)

We are redirecting you to the Interactive Brokers LLC (U.S.) Website. Should you decide to open an account, you will be redirected to the account application for your region. You can also find the website of the IBKR entity for your region at the bottom of this page.

IMAGES

  1. Interactive Brokers Tutorial- Options trading with IB

    interactive brokers assignment

  2. How to plot studies in Interactive Brokers

    interactive brokers assignment

  3. Interactive Brokers Review: 3 Key Findings for 2020

    interactive brokers assignment

  4. Interactive Brokers review: Fees, features, pros and cons

    interactive brokers assignment

  5. How to setup Interactive Brokers for Options Trading

    interactive brokers assignment

  6. Interactive Brokers Review

    interactive brokers assignment

VIDEO

  1. Interactive Assignment #3

  2. INTERACTIVE BROKERS Gráfica avanzada

  3. Interactive Assignment 2

  4. GROUP ASSIGNMENT INTERACTIVE VIDEO ( INS 200 )

  5. Introduction to Interactive Programming_Final assignment

  6. Academic Insight Interactive video

COMMENTS

  1. Delivery, Exercise and Corporate Actions

    The broker does not support option exercises, assignments, deliveries or other effects of settlement that the broker determines may result in undue risk or operational risks/concerns.

  2. Stock Trading Sample Assignments and Resources

    Assignment Basic Orders Place at least three different basic stock order types. For example, market, limit and stop orders. Resources Order Types page Order Types Sort by "stocks" to view all stock order types. Market Order Limit Order Stop Order Documentation Market Order Limit Order

  3. Other Fees

    IBKR does not charge an option exercise or assignment fee. Certain transactions are subject to the standard commissions for the applicable product. The transaction fees listed represent allocations of costs charged to IBKR by third-parties. IBKR does not assess a separate option exercise/assignment fee. Cancel/Modify Orders

  4. Option Exercises, Assignments and Expirations

    The Option Exercises, Assignments and Expirations section includes any exercise, assignment and expiration activity for stocks, options, futures, futures options and structured products; as well as cash settlement for index options and structured products. Note: This section appears in the Default Statement and Legacy Full Default Statement.

  5. Commissions Options

    Commissions are not charged for US exercise and assignment. Commissions are not charged for US cabinet buy-to-close trades. This is applicable only when the option minimum tick is > $0.01. Complex orders are excluded. IBKR considers exchange fees and/or rebates in determining where to route an order.

  6. Options Assignment Prior to Expiration

    If the assignment takes place prior to expiration and the stock position results in a margin deficit, then consistent with our margin policy accounts are subject to automated liquidation in order to bring the account into margin compliance. ... Interactive Brokers LLC Is a member NYSE - FINRA - SIPC and regulated by the US Securities and ...

  7. Money Manager Assignment

    Money Manager Assignment. All Professional Financial Advisors are considered to be Wealth Managers. As a Wealth Manager, you can optionally add Money Managers to trade for your client accounts. ... Interactive Brokers LLC Is a member NYSE - FINRA - SIPC and regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading ...

  8. Futures Physical Options Delivery

    The standard commission will be charged for the exercise or assignment of any Future Option Contract. Summary of Physical Delivery Future Options Policies.

  9. Educators

    Use our trading platform to enhance classroom content or use our sample assignments and resources to develop student trading skills. ... Interactive Brokers LLC. Is a member NYSE - FINRA - SIPC and regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Headquarters: One Pickwick Plaza, Greenwich, CT ...

  10. PDF Disclosure Regarding Interactive Brokers' Procedures for Allocating

    Upon assignment, customers whose accounts are carried by IB LLC shall be required: (1) in the case of an equity option, to deliver or accept the required number of shares of the underlying security, or (2) in the case of an equity index option, to pay or receive the settlement price, in cash.

  11. Options Exercise

    The broker does not support option exercises, assignments, deliveries or other effects of settlement that the broker determines may result in undue risk or operational risks/concerns. To protect against these scenarios as expiration nears, the broker will simulate the effect of expiration assuming plausible underlying price scenarios and ...

  12. Interactive Brokers Review 2024: Pros & Cons

    Interactive Brokers is a go-to choice for professionals because of its institutional-grade desktop trading platform, high-quality trade executions and rock-bottom margin rates. ... Options Assignment Fee $0.00 Margin rates. Feature Interactive Brokers: Margin Rate Under $25,000 7.83% info: Margin Rate $25,000 to $49,999.99 ...

  13. Interactive Brokers Review: Great for Large Balances, Low Margin Rates

    4.5/5. Bottom Line. A great low-cost option for small trade volume. While the interface isn't as clean or modern as other brokers, it gets the job done. Interactive Brokers is also a great choice ...

  14. Option Trading Sample Assignments and Resources

    Strategy Builder OptionTrader OptionTrader is a robust trading tool in TWS that lets you view and trade options on an underlying. Instruct your students to use OptionTrader to perform the tasks listed. Assignment Load option chains Establish straddles on historically volatile stocks Create and manage options orders Resources TWS Users' Guide

  15. Credit spreads early assignment behavior : r/interactivebrokers

    r/interactivebrokers • 6 mo. ago dan-cretu Credit spreads early assignment behavior General Question I am researching converting my cash account to margin account in order to trade credit spreads on us stock options. I am based in Europe using EUR as my base currency.

  16. Futures Trading Sample Assignments and Resources

    SpreadTrader SpreadTrader helps you quickly and easily manage futures spreads from a single screen. Assignment Create and manage calendar spreads for futures from a single screen. They can check the margin impact of any order before it is placed. Resources Documentation Check Margin Pre-Order Trading Futures

  17. T+1 Early Stock Settlement

    This strategy may be appropriate if you wish to continue to hold shares in your account that were subject to the option assignment. Tag US stock shares for early settlement, allowing you to purchase shares after the assignment notice and still have these new shares in your account before the option assignment settles.

  18. Option Exercises/Assignments/Expirations

    The Option Exercises, Assignments and Expirations section includes any exercise, assignment and expiration activity for stocks, options, futures, futures options and structured products; as well as cash settlement for index options and structured products. Note: This section appears in the Default Statement and Legacy Full Default Statement.

  19. How does IBKR handle assignment on diagonal spreads?

    hex17or How does IBKR handle assignment on diagonal spreads? So I have a question whether IBKR will help me settle a diagonal spread automatically or would I need to contact the support centre to request it in case I am assigned. The hypothetical situation is as follows - I do not hold any $AAPL shares.

  20. Option Early Exercise and Assignment

    Option Early Exercise and Assignment - IBKR Campus Aired On Nov 14 2023 2:00 pm - EST Option Early Exercise and Assignment Download Presentation Discover the why and how of option early exercise and assignment. Learn how to benefit from early exercise and anticipate potential assignments. Contributed By: Presented By: Dmitry Pargamanik

  21. Client Agreements

    IB LLC, Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited The following forms are samples of the documents presented in our Account Registration System and may not be submitted to Interactive Brokers.

  22. Commissions

    USD 0.0005 to 0.0035 per share USD 0 on No Transaction Fee ETFs Tiered USD 0.005 per share USD 0 on No Transaction Fee ETFs Fixed IBKR Lite or IBKR Pro — Pick the Pricing Plan Best for You. Compare Options USD 0.15 to 0.65 per contract Tiered USD 0.65 per contract Fixed Futures USD 0.25 to 0.85 per contract Tiered USD 0.85 per contract

  23. Develop a Simulated Trading Competition for Your Class

    Why Use Interactive Brokers for a Simulated Trading Competition? The Student Trading Lab is free to use. Access a powerful and award winning trading platform, use Student Trading Lab resources to supplement your competition, and use live, simulated paper trading to help teach students about global markets.