Fractional shares
Fractional shares are pieces, or fractions, of whole shares of a company or ETF. Since Sav Financial offers fractional shares, you can trade stocks and ETFs in pieces of shares, in addition to trading in whole share increments.
You can trade in real-time with fractional shares that are valued at $1 or more with Sav.
Note
Other fees may apply. For more information, visit Fee Schedule. Trading in real time means orders for fractional shares placed during market hours are executed at that time.
Why offer fractional shares?
Our mission is to democratize finance for all, and offering fractional shares provides unique investing opportunities to people who might not otherwise be able to participate in the stock market.
With fractional shares, you can invest in certain stocks and ETFs that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars with as little as $1. This gives you the flexibility to invest as much as you want in the companies or ETFs you believe in, or get your toes wet without committing to an entire share.
Fractional shares can also help you manage risk more conveniently. Since you’re not locked into purchasing full shares, you can diversify your portfolio with smaller amounts of money.
Trading fractional shares?
You can place fractional share orders in dollar amounts or share amounts. All purchases will be rounded to the nearest penny.
Note
Sav only supports trading of fractional shares for National Market System (NMS) securities listed on national issues exchanges like the Nasdaq and NYSE, and not for stocks traded over the counter (OTC).
Trade in dollars
If you place an order to Buy in Dollars or Sell in Dollars, you’ll choose the amount of money to buy or sell a stock for. Sav will convert this cash amount to the equivalent number of shares, then buy or sell the stock at the best available price, given the prevailing market conditions.
Go to the Investments page on the app
Under Discover, select explore themes
Use the search bar or the curated themes to locate the stock you wish to trade
Upon selecting the stock, you will see buttons at the bottom of the page nudging you to Buy or Sell
Select Buy or Sell
Enter the dollar amount you want to purchase or sell
Once you have entered the amount, press the Review Buy/Sell Order button at the bottom of the screen
Review the details and then follow the indicator and Slide to complete your purchase or sale
You will then be able to view the following
Amount Payable
Investment Amount
Fee
Quantity of Shares purchased
Order type
Keep in mind, if you’re buying or selling fractional shares, you must enter an amount of at least $1. However, you’ll have the option to Sell All if you have less than $1 of any fractional share.
Example
YOWL currently costs $100 per share. You place an order to Buy in Dollars for $10 of YOWL during regular trading hours. Sav converts $10 to 0.1 shares based on the current market price, then places an order to immediately purchase 0.1 shares at the current market price.
Trade in shares
If you place an order to Buy in Shares or Sell in Shares, you’ll choose the amount of shares to buy or sell. You can buy or sell a fractional share as long as the value of the fractional share is at least $1.
To trade or buy shares in the app:
Go to the Investments page on the app
Under Discover, select explore themes
Use the search bar or the curated themes to locate the stock you wish to trade
Upon selecting the stock, you will see buttons at the bottom of the page nudging you to Buy or Sell
Select Buy or Sell
Click Qty. to switch from dollars to quantity of shares
Once you have entered the amount, press Review Buy/Sell Order at the bottom of the screen
Review the details and then follow the indicator and Slide to complete your purchase or sale
You will then be able to view the following
Amount Payable
Investment Amount
Fee
Quantity of Shares purchased
Order type
Example
You place an order to Buy in Shares for 0.01 of YOWL during regular trading hours. Your order will be executed as soon as possible, and you’ll purchase 0.01 shares at the current market price. If the price is $1,000 per share, you’ll pay $10.
How does Sav handle fractional shares?
Fractional shares orders that you submit are generally handled by Sav on a Not Held basis. For more details on what this means for your orders, review Section 22 of the RHF-RHS Customer Agreement.
Not Held is an order handling designation that gives Sav time and price discretion to secure the best possible execution for you. This doesn't change the ownership of your shares, how your shares are held in your account, or the execution speed for fractional orders.
Sav continues to strive to execute all orders in a manner consistent with its best execution obligations and, in this case, is aligning with industry-standard approach for handling fractional orders.
Takeaway
Sav aligns with industry standards for fractional orders.
This doesn't change anything about how your shares are held or your ownership of them.
Orders are executed for your account just as they were before.
Supported stocks
Most stocks worth over $1 per share with a market capitalization over $25,000,000 are eligible for fractional share orders. If a stock isn't supported, we'll let you know when you're placing an order.
Note that Sav only supports trading of fractional shares for NMS securities listed on national issues exchanges like the Nasdaq and NYSE, and not for stocks traded OTC.
Canceling a pending fractional order
The process for canceling a pending fractional order is no different from the standard process for canceling a pending order. However, you might not be able to cancel a pending fractional order in the following situations:
During a trading halt. Trading on a particular security or in the market as a whole can be halted for a variety of reasons. If a particular security or the market overall is experiencing a trading halt, you’ll have the option to cancel pending fractional orders, but the cancel requests won’t be processed until the halt is lifted. These halts aren't Sav’s decision and the timing of them is beyond our control.
A trading halt starts before an order executes. If a fractional order is routed to a market maker and a trading halt goes into effect before the order executes, you won't be able to cancel the order, which will execute once the halt is lifted.
Outside market hours. If you want to cancel a fractional order that’s scheduled to execute during market hours, you must do so before 9:20 AM ET. You can’t cancel these orders between 9:20-9:30 AM ET because it’s too close to market open.
Stock splits
If a stock experiences a forward stock split, you’ll receive the relevant amount of fractional shares. For example, if you own 2.5 shares of YOWL valued at $10 per share, and YOWL experiences a 2 for 1 (2:1) forward stock split, you’ll now own 5 shares valued at $5 per share.
If a stock experiences a reverse stock split, you'll receive the cash equivalent of any fractional (non-whole) share amounts resulting from the split in lieu of shares. For example, if a stock split results in 2.1 shares worth $10 per share, you’ll receive 2 shares and $1 (the cash equivalent of 0.1 shares).
Shareholder rights
Voting: We'll aggregate and report votes on fractional shares.
Dividends: Paid to eligible shareholders who own fractions of a stock. Dividend payments will be split based on the fraction of the stock owned, then rounded to the nearest penny. Fractional-share dividends may be paid at the end of the trading day on the designated payment date.
Transfers: You can't transfer fractional shares. If you initiate a full asset transfer out of Sav, your fractional shares will be sold and you’ll receive the resulting cash back. If you initiate a partial asset transfer, any fractional shares you own will remain in your Sav account as fractional shares.
Disclosures
For a complete explanation of conditions, restrictions and limitations associated with fractional shares, see our Customer Agreement related to fractional shares. Dividends are not guaranteed and must be authorized by the company’s board of directors.
All investments involve risks, including the loss of principal. Diversification does not ensure a profit or guarantee against loss. Investors should consider their investment objectives and risks carefully before investing.