How to transfer stocks from TD Ameritrade to Interactive Brokers (IBKR)

What happened?

With TD Ameritrade’s decision to close its retail trading arm and focus on its accredited business from December 2023, investors on TD Ameritrade are left with a short period of time to close their accounts before year end.

The impact of its closure will be felt soon, as retail investors will be charged a monthly maintenance fee of US$50 from 27th Oct, until their account cash balance is empty.

It is offering some respite - it will waive or refund any of the platform’s transfer fees until the end of the year for entire account transfers.

In this article, we will guide users on how to transfer their positions on TD Ameritrade to Interactive Brokers, a global low-cost brokerage offering wide market access at low fees.

How to transfer TD Ameritrade positions to Interactive Brokers

Step #1 – Open an Interactive Brokers account

First, you’ll need to open an Interactive Brokers account. 

You can find out more about Interactive Brokers with our comprehensive review on Interactive Brokers.

Step #2 – Initiate an inbound transfer

Next, you will want to head over to Interactive Brokers and initiate an inbound transfer. Head over to Transfer & Pay and then click Transfer Positions.

Select Incoming to transfer assets into Interactive Brokers.

Step #3 – Select a transfer method

Then select United States and ACATS - short for Automated Customer Account Transfer Service - which supports US cash, equities, options, fixed income and more. 

To learn more about ACATS and advantages of ACATS transfers, read our guide here.

Step #4 – Select TD Ameritrade as source broker

In the next page, you will want to select TD Ameritrade as your source broker where your assets are held.

Enter your account number and account type and then select whether you will be transferring all assets or not. 

Once done, complete the process by clicking Continue and digitally signing on the next page. 

That’s it! You have transferred your shares from TD Ameritrade to Interactive Brokers, and just have to wait patiently for the transfer to be completed. 

Where can I check the status of my transfer?

You can check the status of your transfer under Transaction Status & History.

How long will it take to complete the transfer of shares from TD Ameritrade to Interactive Brokers?

After you initiate a total brokerage account transfer request, ACATS will typically take around 5 to 8 business days to effect the transfer, according to TD Ameritrade.

However, the transfer process may take longer than usual because of the potentially higher volume of transfer requests at TD Ameritrade. 

Depending on how long TD Ameritrade takes to process the ACATS transfer, the process may take up to 15 business days. 

We recommend doing this process early to avoid a last-minute crunch.

Will there be any fees for the transfer of shares from TD Ameritrade to Interactive Brokers?

In the case of TD Ameritrade, full ACAT transfers out of TD Ameritrade Singapore will cost US$75 and will automatically result in account closure.

Are there shares that I will not be able to transfer from TD Ameritrade to Interactive Brokers?

Note that Interactive Brokers does not support certain transfers of US microcap stocks.

What would Beansprout do?

With ACATS, Interactive Brokers allows you to transfer your stock, ETF and option holdings easily rather than having to liquidate them.

Apart from Interactive Brokers, Moomoo is the other broker in Singapore which allows ACATS transfer, You can read our review of Moomoo here.

Also, check out our guide to the best brokers in Singapore to find out which is the trading platform with the lowest fees and best sign-up promos.