Motif Investing Brokerage Account Bonus: Up To $150 In Cash

This post is part of our series on IRA & Brokerage bonuses. Every Tuesday we share another bonus with you.

The Offer

Motif Investing is offering a tiered deposit bonus of between $50-$150 in cash for new customers who fund a Motif brokerage account with $2,000 or more and execute between 1-5 trades within the qualifying period.

Motif Investing’s pricing model is based on a customizable “motif” portfolio consisting of up to 30 stocks that are aligned with a particular motif, or theme. One motif trade is priced at $9.95. This allows you to pay one commission for the purchase of up to 30 stocks. You can buy or sell an individual stock in a motif you own for $4.95 in commission.

Up To $150 Cash

Bonus	Deposit	# of Motif Trades Executed	Receive
Up to $150 Cash	$2,000	1	$50
	$2,000	3	$75
	$2,000	5	$150

Direct link

To receive the $150 offer, you must do the following:

• Open a new Motif Investing brokerage account and fund it with at least $2,000 within 30 calendar days of account opening.
• Execute 5 motif trades within 45 calendar days of funding. A motif trade is defined as a purchase or sale of a motif at the $9.95 commission price.

Rules:

• There is no offer expiration date cited.
• Offer valid for new, approved Motif Investing accounts.
• You must maintain the qualifying funds in the account for 45 calendar days.
• Your bonus amount will be based on number of motif trades executed within 45 calendar days of funding: 1 motif trade earns you $50; 3 motif trades earn you $75; 5 motif trades earn you $150.
• Individual stock trades are not considered as part of this offer.
• The cash bonus should be credited to your account within 30 days after the end of the 45-calendar-day period.
• Commission fees may not be reimbursed as part of this offer.
• Offer not valid for retirement accounts, such as IRAs
• Offer non-transferable and cannot be combined with other Motif offers from Motif Investing
• Limit one account bonus per household.
• Offer not available not Motif associates or its affiliates or immediate family members.
• Investing involves risk.

The Verdict

Unlike other traditional tiered bonuses we have discussed in our brokerage bonus series, in the case of Motif Investing, the qualifying deposit of $2,000 is the same at all bonus earning levels. This is both good news and bad, as depositing more won’t earn you any higher a bonus. Instead, there is a little bit more complexity to this offer.

To earn the highest bonus, you must execute five Motif trades. (Remember that Motif is a portfolio of up to 30 stocks). As each Motif trade comes at the cost of $9.95, your bonus potential at each level is naturally lowered, although the $150 bonus still yields the highest net bonus in the bonus structure, pre-tax.

The spirit of the Motif concept is unique in that it allows investors to choose an investment theme of interest – for example, healthcare – and then purchase a Motif comprised of numerous relevant healthcare stocks that can then be added, deleted, or re-weighted per an investor’s liking. Certain investors will be very inclined to this cumulative investment model. Avid investors in particular may benefit in the long-term from the motif pricing model instead of paying a high commission fee for each individual trade executed. The task of re-balancing would seem to become much more streamlined in such a model.

That said, as a casual investor who is more inclined to the odd individual stock versus a bundle of stocks, if I were looking to invest a small amount, I would personally prefer the $100 optionsXpress bonus offer due to its lower qualifying deposit, its lower trade requirement, and lower standard commission fees.

Do you have experience with Motif Investing? Let us know in the comments below!