Scottrade, Inc., an online investing firm, recently announced in a press release that it has been ranked second in the "Commissions and Fees" and "Banking Services" categories in the 2012 Online Broker Survey from ‘SmartMoney’, The Wall Street Journal personal finance magazine.

Scottrade has been recognized for its full line of investment products, online trading and market research tools to help investors take control of their financial future. The company offers $7 trades, no maintenance fees, no account closing / transfer out fees, and superior trade execution quality. Moreover, the stocks and other online stock trading products, support services and tools empower the customers to find stocks that align with their investment objectives. A customer can open a new account by depositing just $500, funding it quickly and securely through the electronic Money Direct funding tool.

"Today, as we continue to carry out our vision of offering engaging experiences and evolving solutions to our clients, we stay committed to providing an exceptional value to help overcome barriers to financial success," Scottrade's CEO Rodger Riney said.

"We have continuously worked to provide fast and reliable trading services to give self-directed investors and traders the best customer experience possible," said Derrick Brooks, Scottrade's director of online investor solutions. "Scottrade understands that people have their own investment strategies and goals, and we have been and will continue to work relentlessly to build the products our clients want so they can react to the market whenever and wherever they need to. We work to do all this while maintaining our trademark $7 online trades that we introduced in 1998."

In related news, Scottrade Advisor Services, a provider of custodial and institutional trading services for independent registered investment advisors (RIAs), has signed an enterprise agreement with PIEtech, Inc. to offer its financial planning software, MoneyGuidePro, to advisors at a 50 percent discount, a significant cost savings to many RIA firms. MoneyGuidePro is the first collaborative Internet-based financial planning software to help financial advisors motivate each client to create, implement and maintain an investment strategy that best meets their financial goals.