Webull Review for IPO Investing

Why Webull?

Zero-commission isn’t so enticing these days after Charles Schwab dropped its commission rates to zero, triggering a waterfall effect in the entire brokerage industry:

• Etrade
• TradeStation
• Fidelity and
• Interactive Brokers

all followed the lead.

Charles Schwab made a brilliant move. The real intent was to devalue its competitors, ultimately leading to the acquisition of one of the best brokers of the bunch: TD Ameritrade.

Of course, Robinhood, M1 Finance, and Webull have all offered commission-free trades for years now. Since the rest of the industry has caught up, brokers now need to differentiate themselves.

Webull has chosen to differentiate themselves by integrating IPO and secondary access into their platform to empower ordinary investors, while the largest brokers continue to reserve IPO access for their wealthiest clients.

As a mobile-first platform, you can invest in IPOs from your smartphone with a few taps. Here’s how it works.

Webull Review for IPO Investing

I’ve had a Webull account for the past few months now and tested out the interface. It’s the simplest way to invest in IPOs I’ve seen so far.

You’re still never guaranteed an allocation, and the number of deals is limited, but you can participate in IPOs for as little as $100.

That said, the functionality is more of an add-on than a feature. The app is not the most user-friendly experience overall, but it is highly functional.

To get started with IPO investing in the Webull app, tap the Markets tab on the bottom. Then Explore at the top. Scroll down to see the IPO Center.

If you tap “View All”, you’ll see three tabs at the top: Offering, Filed, and Listed.

Here is where you can place orders, look at new filings, and see when expected deal dates and prices.

 

From the Offerings tab, tap on any deal to get more information.

Upcoming IPOs have a timeline and some basic data.

Secondaries to directly to the stock quote page where you can choose to place an open market order or invest in the secondary.

And finally, from the Offering tab, if you tap Order Now, you’re taken to an order page. Type in how much money you want to request, acknowledge some fine print, then place your order.

You must have cash in your account to place an order. The minimum is $100.

Once you get to the IPO Center, it only takes two screens to place an order. Placing an order is an indication of interest. You are not guaranteed to get an allocation.

About Webull

Webull Financial LLC was founded in 2016. It’s a registered broker-dealer with the SEC and a member of FINRA and the SIPC. Like all SIPC broker-dealers, accounts are protected up to $500,000.  The company uses Apex Clearing Corp as its clearing firm.

Webull’s parent company is Fumi Technology, a Chinese fintech startup that was incubated by a large mobile phone company called Xiaomi. The technology team is based in Hunan, China, while it’s customer-facing and brokerage teams are based in New York, according to CEO Anthony Denier.

Now that Schwab and the rest of the online brokers have gone commission-free, these no-fee trading apps face much greater competition. Since Webull is the only Chinese deep-pocketed venture-backed online broker making headwinds in the United States, I expect it to keep aggressively taking market share.

Note: Access IPOs is an affiliate partner with several online brands, including Webull. If you sign up through a link on this website, Access IPOs may be compensated at no additional cost to you. Joining a broker that offers access to IPOs does not guarantee a share allocation, especially in high-demand IPOs.