Soft Dollar Commission Program

Soft Dollars

Soft Dollars to Offset the Cost of Research Products and Services

Interactive Brokers' Soft Dollar Commission Program gives Hedge Funds, Mutual Funds and Professional Advisors the flexibility to offset the costs of purchasing approved research products and services by using soft dollars.

As defined under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 section 28(e), a portion of commission dollars can be set aside to pay research-related costs incurred by advisors and fund managers. Eligible clients can specify amounts to add to IB commissions to set aside as a pool of available money (Soft Dollars), which can be used to pay for market data and research.

Clients can then pay allowed expenses for market data and research subscriptions to external vendors. Allowed categories of expenses include:

  • Fundamental, Technical and/or Quantitative Analysis
  • Portfolio Management
  • Valuation and Asset Allocation services
  • Economic Forecasting.

Our Soft Dollars Commission Program offers the following benefits:

  • Unbundling execution and research allows money managers to seek best execution while acquiring research from virtually any source.
  • Online account management lets you view your soft dollar balances and invoices, and request disbursements at any time.
  • Specify up to five soft dollar tiers, and select a tier at the time of order submission.
  • Soft dollar amounts accumulate and are available for US stock and option products.
  • Use your accumulated soft dollars to pay for market data fees.
  • Your soft dollar balances are segregated under SEC Rule 15c3-3 and held separately from the firm’s assets.