Smith Barney Reviews

Smith Barney reviews, ratings, pros and cons, complaints from brokerage customers


Smith Barney Ratings


Smith Barney average user rating: brokerage firms reviews
Smith Barney BrokerageReviews.org rating: 3-star brokerage firm rating

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Smith Barney Customer Reviews


    by mf, 10/10/2011

Pros: used to be ok

Cons: exorbitant $150.00 junk fee for fma account

they stuck me with this huge fee for online access without any prior advanced notice. I do not recommend this brokerage to anyone


    by SB Customer for 20+ yrs, 4/18/2011

Pros: Stays in touch.

Cons: They put you in MSSB owned products.

Like anything, you need to be informed and state your needs and goals. They will direct your portfolio toward those goals. We have conference calls each quarter and his staff is on top of everything for my questions. The only thing I do not like is that they move you to in house future programs or mutual funds etc owned by MSSB. These may NOT be the best performing funds in their sector. Adviser gets a commission or a pat on the back for moving money to in house funds???


    by Arthur, 3/11/2011

Pros: plush offices

Cons: hi fees

Our family lost over $500,000 with Citi stock, broker never mentioned sell as it was tanking.


    by Rus Iida, 3/2/2011

Pros: They purchased Legg Mason

Cons: Our broker, Mark Murphy, did not know what he was doing.

After losing us $30,000 on a portfolio of around $100,000, Mark was apologetic and waived a few of the account fees as we liquidated accounts. Once Smith Barney became involved, they were more concerned with fee income than any customer loyalty. A full service broker should be hired for their expertise and efficiency of operations. Please save yourself some heartache and go to another brokerage.


    by Done with Smith Barney in California, 2/27/2011

Pros: None

Cons: High fees, many personnel changes, many mergers/name changes, poor service

I was with this company many years and finally am done, should have done it long ago. I would have an advisor, they would get to know my needs, only to leave the firm and try to get me to go to the new firm. This happened over and over. Fees are high and the advisors can't fully explain them. Just to transfer my money out cost me $190!!! Glad it's over!


    by gkhealthy, 8/19/2010

Pros: none

Cons:

I advised a friend who wanted to know what we were currently investing in. He is with Smith Barney out of Minneapolis. I gave him the one we were currently hot on. He decided to get his toes wet and buy 200 shares at a total cost of 1400 dollars. He sold 27,000 dollars worth of stock to free up cash. I had told him to ask what the cost would be before he did anything with his broker. He was told the broker was not sure, but it wouldn't be bad. He received a bill for 740 dollars a few days later. Simply outrageous, arrogant, and ethically bankrupt (same transaction costs me $5.90).


    by Osbornejdo, 7/12/2010

Pros: I can't think of any.

Cons: Outrageously expensive

This brokerage firm was chosen for me by the company I worked for as the processor for my stock option awards. This was convenient for my employer, but not for me. Citi Smith Barney made it all but impossible to change my mail address when I retired and moved to a different state.
When I transferred all my shares to Ameritrade, SB charged me $95 to transfer 20 shares. This is an outrageous amount! Share transfer is a simple electronic transaction, done in a few seconds. There is no need for this kind of fee.
This is the last they will get of my money.
IMHO, "full service" brokers are a huge waste of money. Anyone with some smarts can balance and diversify a portfolio, brokers are always going to be pushing you to churn your holdings, and the "advice" they give serves their goals, not yours.


    by Georgie Boy, 7/9/2010

Pros:

Cons:

Smith Barney is only interested in what they can make and not what they can do for their clients.They will place you in b shares(not a or c).B shares are the most expensive when you sell them.They do not follow orders when you ask them to sell mutual funds.One example is when i told my finical advisor to sell my IDEX funds and buy CD's.She instead bought me CD's and Bonds.I took a big loss on the bonds later on.When my finical advisor called me to sell something in my portfolio is was only for her gains and not my best interest.I have had several finical advisors and also did some on my own.They are the worst i have ever used.


    by Sweet Sue, 6/2/2010

Pros: None

Cons: Manager has all controls, churning accounts

Okay, why do people go to the full service brokerage firms, and I use that term with reservation. Well, I did it with Smith Barney, and it was quite an interesting experience that would be good to share.

When I originally contacted them about opening an account there, one of the big questions was the rate I would be charged on the margin account. The manager was more than willing to agree to my terms so we opened our account at a branch in the northwest.

The first "broker" we were given, was not any older than our children, and frankly could not follow through with anything. So, it was back to the manager, and we were pleased to have an excellent female broker, who was honest......so much so, that she quit her job because she felt that they wanted her to churn the account. So she left right after we moved to the midwest, and we transferred the account to a local office near where we were moving.

Well, you don't just transfer an account, you basically open a new one. This was quite an experience because we were not disclosed that the interest rate on the margin account just happened to go up 2% points.....that is at the decision of the manager of each branch. You would think, as we did, that going to a different office of the same company, would mean no changes to any arrangements. That was not the case.

When I confronted the middle aged manager....he basically said he was in charge, and could do anything that he wanted, but "in good faith" he would leave our margin rate the same for 6 months. Big deal! Finally after our broker, who didn't have much of a backbone, refused to intervene on our behalf, I made another fuss. We had done a lot of trading, and frankly I was beginning to feel that they had made enough money off of us.

In the end, they sent us a letter telling us to close our account, and move it somewhere else. We did, it went to Charles Schwab, and that has been most pleasant. I will write a review on that at a later date. But, beware of Smith Barney, each branch is different, and again that manager has all the control. Kind of a scarry thing! Happy investing!


    by brysontn, 4/26/2010

Pros:

Cons:

I finally took my money out and have never been happier. I was with SB when they were called E F hutton if that gives you any indication of how long i have been investing money. I never paid fees to manage a account until 2002. There fees have risen from 40 dollars to 90 dollars in the last 2 years. There explaination to me was all the other brokerage firms are doing it. So I guess that makes it right, in there eyes. they should back to there roots, When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen...


    by IXCatx, 2/15/2010

Pros:

Cons:

My account has lost value. The financial advisor is not very helpful. Told me that she was investing in one fund, but sent me a different one. The fees are outrageous. Low balance fees every quarter. When I asked the advisor about the fees, she suggested transferring to a different company because the fees are too high.
Sooo.... trying to transfer is even more headaches. They require medallion stamps, but their offices don't even have one. Of course, they want a transfer fee and a debit fee.
It's been months of hassle. I think they just drag it out to get more fees.
stay away from this company, it's only for big investors.


    by Invisible Art, 1/6/2010

Pros:

Cons:

They started charging $35 a quarter because I didn't have enough invested with them. That helped me realize that I had too much invested with them. After 20 years of declining service and higher fees, I'm jumping ship.


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Smith Barney Customer reviewed by BrokerageReview.org users. 12 customer reviews. Rating: 1.
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