Direct indexing minimums and fees by platform: the minimum investment each provider actually requires.
Seventeen published minimums from $5,000 to $10,000,000, read from pricing pages and Form ADV filings. Including the four providers whose real minimum is not the number they advertise.
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In short
Direct indexing minimums in the US start at $5,000 and there is no single industry number. Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct and Fidelity Managed FidFolios both open at $5,000, Frec Classic at $20,000 or $50,000 depending on which index you pick, and Schwab Personalized Indexing and Wealthfront US Direct Indexing at $100,000. The adviser-channel managers start far higher: Parametric files $250,000 and Vanguard Personalized Indexing prefers $250,000, rising to $1,000,000 through a turnkey program and $10,000,000 as a direct client. Four of those minimums are not what they look like, which is the rest of this page.
Direct indexing minimum investment and annual fee by provider
Every published US direct indexing minimum
Ordered by what it takes to get in. Every figure comes from the provider's own pricing page or its Form ADV, read on September 22, 2026. Read the fourth column too: two providers set a balance you have to keep, not just one you have to reach.
| Provider | Product | Minimum to start | Ongoing balance floor | Annual fee | How you access it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wealthfront | S&P 500 Direct | $5,000 | None published | 0.09% | Open it yourself | wealthfront.com/sp500-direct |
| Fidelity | Managed FidFolios | $5,000 per strategy | $5,000. Below it the account can be removed from the program | 0.40% or 0.70% | Open it yourself | Managed FidFolios Form ADV |
| Frec | Classic, S&P 500 and large-cap strategies | $20,000 | None published | 0.03% to 0.45% | Open it yourself | frec.com/pricing |
| Frec | Classic, total market, Russell and small-cap strategies | $50,000 | None published | 0.05% to 0.20% | Open it yourself | frec.com/pricing |
| Charles Schwab | Personalized Indexing | $100,000 | None published | 0.40% to $2M, then 0.35% | Open it yourself | schwab.com/personalized-indexing |
| Wealthfront | US Direct Indexing, inside the Wealthfront Portfolio | $100,000 | None published | 0.25%, no extra charge | Open it yourself | support.wealthfront.com |
| Frec | Long short and Diversify | $100,000 to $500,000 by tier | None published | 0.50% to 1.30% plus financing | Open it yourself | frec.com/pricing |
| Fidelity | Strategic Disciplines, equity | $100,000, subject to qualifying for a dedicated representative | Typically wants $500,000 across Fidelity | 0.20% to 0.70% | Representative assisted | Managed FidFolios Form ADV |
| Parametric | Custom Core, via Morgan Stanley Select UMA | $25,000 strategy minimum | Set by the wrap program | 35 bps domestic, plus platform fees | Financial advisor only | Morgan Stanley Select UMA profile |
| Parametric | Custom Core, direct relationship | $250,000 | None filed | 35 bps domestic equity | Financial advisor only | Parametric Form ADV Part 2A |
| Aperio (BlackRock) | Tax-managed index SMA | None filed firm-wide. $250,000 via Morgan Stanley Select UMA | Set by the wrap program | 0.35% US domestic, 0.40% foreign | Financial advisor only | Aperio Form ADV Part 2A |
| Vanguard | Personalized Indexing, via your advisor | $250,000 preferred | None filed | 0.20% at the RIA tier | Financial advisor only | VPIM Form ADV Item 5.A |
| Vanguard | Personalized Indexing, via a TAMP | $1,000,000 | None filed | Set by the TAMP | Financial advisor only | VPIM Form ADV Item 5.A |
| Cache | Long-short SMA, lower tiers | $1,000,000 | $800,000 ongoing balance to stay eligible | 0.50% to 0.75% plus financing | Managed for you | usecache.com/product/long-short |
| Cache | Long-short SMA, 175/75 and 200/100 | $3,000,000 | $800,000 ongoing balance to stay eligible | 0.75% to 1.00% plus financing | Managed for you | usecache.com/product/long-short |
| Vanguard | Personalized Indexing, as a direct client | $10,000,000 | Waivable at Vanguard's discretion | 0.27% | Financial advisor only | VPIM Form ADV Item 5.A |
| Betterment | No direct indexing product | Not applicable | Not applicable | 0.25% for the robo portfolio | Open it yourself | betterment.com, checked 2026-09-22 |
The spread inside a single tier is the thing worth staring at. At $5,000 you can pay 0.09% or 0.70% for an account that tracks a US equity index and harvests losses inside it, a difference of more than sevenfold for the same job. At $100,000 the range runs 0.09% to 0.40%. Minimums have collapsed over the last three years, but pricing has not converged with them, which is why the cheapest provider at your balance is rarely the one with the lowest minimum. The full fee arithmetic, including the point at which an account stops paying for itself, is on our direct indexing fee comparison.
Where the published number and the real number part company
Four providers whose minimum is not what it looks like
An advertised minimum sounds like one kind of thing: a door you walk through once. Across these providers it is five different things, and only two of them are actually a door.
Frec: a menu, not a number
Frec is quoted everywhere as "$20,000". Its pricing page sets the minimum per strategy, and the split matters more than the headline. The S&P 500, large-cap, sector, dividend and ADR strategies start at $20,000. Morningstar US Total Market, all three small-cap strategies, Russell 1000, Russell 2000, Russell 3000 and MSCI EAFE ADR start at $50,000. If you came for a VTI-shaped total market index, which is what a lot of people mean by direct indexing, your minimum is two and a half times the number in the roundups.
Fidelity: a threshold your money waits behind
The Managed FidFolios Form ADV is unusually plain about this. "Clients can open a Program Account without reaching the Strategy Minimum; however, assets used to fund the account will not be invested according to the selected Strategy until the Strategy Minimum has been reached. Until the Strategy Minimum is reached, assets will be invested in the core Fidelity money market fund." So $4,000 opens an account that does not yet do the thing you opened it for. The same filing adds that accounts falling below $5,000 later "can be removed from the Program", which makes it a floor as well as a threshold.
Fidelity again: a relationship test at $100,000
Fidelity Strategic Disciplines runs strategies the same filing calls "substantially similar" to FidFolios, at the same or a lower fee. Its published minimum is $100,000 for equity strategies, but read the clause attached to it: each minimum is "subject to qualification for support from a dedicated Fidelity representative, which is based on a variety of factors (for example, a client with at least $500,000 invested in an eligible Fidelity account would typically qualify)". The dollar minimum is $100,000. The practical one is a $500,000 relationship.
Wealthfront: two products, two minimums
Search for the Wealthfront minimum and you will find $5,000 and $100,000 quoted in the same set of results, often on the same page. Both are right. S&P 500 Direct is a standalone account: "All for a low annual management fee of 0.09%, and just $5,000 to start." US Direct Indexing is a strategy inside the Wealthfront Portfolio, needs $100,000, and adds nothing to the standard 0.25% advisory fee. They are different products with different fees, and treating them as one number is the single most common error in this category.
Cache: a balance you have to keep
Cache publishes both halves, which is rarer than it should be. "Participation in the program requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000,000." Then: "Investors must maintain a minimum ongoing account balance of $800,000 to remain eligible." A long-short account is leveraged, so a drawdown can move you through that floor without you selling anything. Its two most aggressive tiers, 175/75 and 200/100, require $3,000,000 to start. The full tier-by-tier pricing is on our long-short direct indexing comparison.
The adviser channel: three numbers each
Vanguard Personalized Indexing files a preferred minimum of $250,000 through an RIA, $1,000,000 for clients introduced through a turnkey asset management program, and $10,000,000 to be a direct client. Parametric files $250,000 for a direct Custom Core relationship while the Morgan Stanley Select UMA profile for the same strategy states $25,000. Aperio files no firm-wide minimum at all, and the $250,000 attributed to it is a wrap program's number. Which one applies to you depends on how your adviser reaches the manager, not on the manager.
The Frec minimum depends on the index, not the platform
Which Frec strategies need $20,000 and which need $50,000
Frec runs 25 Classic strategies and sets the minimum on each one separately. This is the split as published on its pricing page on September 22, 2026.
| Minimum | Strategies available at that minimum |
|---|---|
| $20,000 | S&P 500, S&P 100, S&P 500 Information Technology, S&P 500 Momentum, S&P 500 Shariah, Dividend 100, Morningstar US Large Cap, Large Cap Growth, Large Cap Value, Mid Cap, Mid Cap Growth, Mid Cap Value, MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 25, S&P Developed Markets ADR, S&P Emerging ADR, MSCI World ADR, MSCI ACWI ADR |
| $50,000 | Morningstar US Total Market, Morningstar US Small Cap, Small Cap Growth, Small Cap Value, Russell 1000, Russell 2000, Russell 3000, MSCI EAFE ADR |
The practical reading is that the broader the index, the higher the minimum, and the reason is mechanical rather than commercial. A Russell 3000 or total market mandate has to spread your balance across thousands of names to track properly, so the same dollar amount buys a much thinner slice of each one. That is also why the benchmark you choose changes how much loss the account can harvest. Frec's own published harvest rates run from 16% to 55% of the portfolio across its 25 strategies, a spread driven almost entirely by benchmark breadth, which we lay out in full on our Frec direct indexing review.
What your balance can actually open today
Direct indexing options by account size
$5,000
Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct at 0.09%, or Fidelity Managed FidFolios at 0.40%.
Two real options, and the cheaper one costs about $4.50 a year. The honest caveat is that a $3,000 capital loss deduction is the federal cap, and a $5,000 account will not get near it.
$20,000
Everything above, plus Frec Classic on any of its S&P 500, large-cap, sector or ADR strategies.
This is where a real index of individual stocks becomes cheap. Frec's S&P 500 strategy is 0.09%, the same headline rate as Wealthfront and the same as SPY's expense ratio.
$50,000
Everything above, plus Frec's total market, Russell and small-cap strategies.
The threshold that matters if you want a VTI-shaped index rather than an S&P 500 one. Frec puts its Morningstar US Total Market strategy behind $50,000, not $20,000.
$100,000
Everything above, plus Schwab Personalized Indexing at 0.40% and Wealthfront US Direct Indexing inside the 0.25% Wealthfront Portfolio. Frec Long short and Diversify open here too.
The most crowded tier, and the one where the fee spread is widest: 0.09% to 0.40% for broadly the same job.
$250,000
Everything above, plus the adviser channel: Vanguard Personalized Indexing at its preferred minimum, Parametric Custom Core direct, and Aperio through a wrap program.
You are now paying an adviser fee on top of the manager fee. That stack is what the self-serve platforms are priced against.
$1,000,000
Everything above, plus Cache long-short and Vanguard Personalized Indexing through a TAMP.
Cache also sets an ongoing floor of $800,000, so this is the one tier where falling in value can cost you the strategy.
Clearing the minimum and the account paying for itself are different questions
Being allowed in is not the same as it being worth it
Minimums fell a long way between 2022 and now, and the marketing followed. What did not change is the thing that actually decides whether a direct index earns its fee, which is not your balance at all. It is how much realized capital gain you have to offset.
Harvested losses offset realized capital gains dollar for dollar with no ceiling. Past that, only $3,000 of net capital loss can be deducted against ordinary income in a year, and the remainder carries forward. So the arithmetic that matters is not "is $50,000 enough" but "am I realizing gains this year". Someone with a $50,000 index and no gains is chasing a deduction capped at $3,000, worth about $1,110 at a 37% federal rate. Someone selling a business, exercising options or unwinding a concentrated position the same year can use every dollar of loss the account produces, and at that point the fee difference between 0.09% and 0.40% on $50,000 is $155 a year against a benefit measured in thousands.
This is why the tier where most people land, $100,000, is also the tier where the choice is hardest: the fee range is at its widest and the benefit depends entirely on facts about your tax year that no platform page can know. If you are weighing that decision at exactly that balance, we worked it through for a single number in our guide to the best direct indexing platform for a $100K account, and one tier lower in the $50,000 comparison.
There is also a step that costs nothing and comes before any of it. Build the index you are considering in the studio at the top of this page, weight it the way the provider would, and backtest it against what you already hold. A minimum tells you whether a provider will take your money. A backtest tells you whether the exposure you are buying is different enough from your current holdings to be worth the fee and the lock-in.
Direct indexing minimum questions
What people ask before they pick a provider
What is the minimum investment for direct indexing?
It starts at $5,000 and there is no single industry number. Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct and Fidelity Managed FidFolios both open at $5,000, Frec Classic at $20,000 or $50,000 depending on which index you pick, and Schwab Personalized Indexing and Wealthfront US Direct Indexing at $100,000. The adviser-channel managers sit far higher: Parametric files $250,000 and Vanguard Personalized Indexing prefers $250,000, rising to $1,000,000 through a turnkey program.
What is the Wealthfront direct indexing minimum?
Wealthfront has two direct indexing products with two different minimums, which is why you see both numbers quoted. S&P 500 Direct is a standalone account that starts at $5,000 and charges 0.09%. US Direct Indexing is a strategy inside the Wealthfront Portfolio, needs a $100,000 balance, and costs nothing beyond the standard 0.25% advisory fee. If you read "the Wealthfront minimum is $100,000" somewhere, it is describing the second one.
What is the Fidelity direct indexing minimum?
Fidelity Managed FidFolios sets a $5,000 per-strategy minimum, but the filing is more specific than the marketing. Its Form ADV says you can open the account below $5,000 and your money will sit in the core Fidelity money market fund, unmanaged, until the balance reaches the minimum. It also says accounts that later fall below $5,000 can be removed from the program, so it is a floor to maintain and not just a door to get through.
What is the Schwab direct indexing minimum?
One hundred thousand dollars. Schwab states it plainly on its own product page: "Fees start at 0.40% with a minimum investment of $100K." The published cost table pairs that $100,000 minimum with 0.40% on the first $2,000,000 and 0.35% above it. There is no lower Schwab Personalized Indexing tier, and the $5,000 figure that circulates for Schwab belongs to Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, a different product.
What is the Frec direct indexing minimum?
Either $20,000 or $50,000, and it depends on which index you choose rather than on Frec. Its pricing page sets the minimum per strategy: $20,000 covers the S&P 500, the large-cap, sector, dividend and ADR strategies, while $50,000 is required for Morningstar US Total Market, all three small-cap strategies, Russell 1000, Russell 2000, Russell 3000 and MSCI EAFE ADR. Roundups that quote a flat $20,000 are right for the S&P 500 and wrong for total market.
What is the Vanguard direct indexing minimum?
Three different numbers, all from the same Form ADV, depending on how you reach it. Vanguard Personalized Indexing states a preferred minimum account size of $250,000 through an RIA, a higher minimum of $1,000,000 for clients introduced through a Turnkey Asset Management Program, and a $10,000,000 minimum to be a direct client of the manager, waivable at its discretion. None of the three is available without going through an advisor.
What is the Parametric direct indexing minimum?
Two published numbers that apply to the same strategy. Parametric's Form ADV lists a $250,000 account minimum for Custom Core equity, which is the direct relationship. The Morgan Stanley Select UMA profile for Parametric Custom Core S&P500 lists a Strategy Minimum of $25,000, which is the same portfolio bought through the wrap platform. The $25,000 route adds Morgan Stanley platform fees on top of Parametric's 35 basis points.
What is the Aperio direct indexing minimum?
Aperio does not publish one. Its Form ADV says only that it "requires a minimum account size for certain of its investment strategies, which varies among Wrap Programs", and no dollar figure appears in the filing. The $250,000 widely quoted as Aperio's minimum is the Morgan Stanley Select UMA Strategy Minimum for one Aperio strategy, so it is a program minimum rather than a firm one.
Can I do direct indexing with less than $100,000?
Yes, and the options below $100,000 are now the cheapest ones on the market. Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct opens at $5,000 for 0.09%, Fidelity Managed FidFolios at $5,000 for 0.40%, and Frec Classic at $20,000 for as little as 0.03% on some strategies. The old "direct indexing starts at $100,000" rule described the adviser channel, and the self-serve platforms broke it. Whether it is worth doing at that size is a separate question from whether you are allowed to.
What minimum balance makes direct indexing worth it?
The fee is not the binding constraint; the $3,000 federal capital loss deduction is. Harvested losses first offset realized capital gains without limit, and only $3,000 of any excess can be deducted against ordinary income each year, with the rest carried forward. So the account size that makes it pay is the one that harvests enough loss to cover gains you are actually realizing. Someone with no gains and a $50,000 index is chasing a deduction capped at $3,000, while someone selling a business the same year can use every dollar of loss a $50,000 account produces.
Which direct indexing platforms have the lowest minimums?
Wealthfront and Fidelity, both at $5,000, and they are opposite ends of the price range at that size: 0.09% for Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct against 0.40% or 0.70% for Fidelity Managed FidFolios. Frec is next at $20,000 for its S&P 500 and large-cap strategies. Every other US provider either starts at $100,000 or requires a financial advisor.
Do direct indexing platforms have an ongoing minimum balance?
Most do not publish one, but two of the most-quoted providers do and it is worth knowing before you fund an account. Fidelity states that accounts falling below the $5,000 Strategy Minimum can be removed from the program. Cache requires a $1,000,000 initial investment and says investors "must maintain a minimum ongoing account balance of $800,000 to remain eligible". Wealthfront, Schwab and Frec publish an entry minimum only.
Which SMA platforms offer true direct indexing for retail investors with low minimums?
Only three separately managed account programs in the US let a retail investor open a genuine direct index without an advisor: Wealthfront from $5,000, Fidelity Managed FidFolios from $5,000 and Frec Classic from $20,000, with Schwab Personalized Indexing joining at $100,000. Everything else with a low headline minimum, including the $25,000 Parametric route, reaches you through a wrap program and an advisor relationship, which adds a fee layer the four self-serve platforms do not have.
Sources
Frec minimums and fees from the strategy table at frec.com/pricing. Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct from wealthfront.com/sp500-direct and US Direct Indexing from the Wealthfront support center. Schwab from schwab.com/personalized-indexing. Fidelity from the Fidelity Managed FidFolios Program Fundamentals brochure, its Form ADV Part 2A, which is also the source for the Fidelity Strategic Disciplines minimums. Cache from usecache.com/product/long-short. Vanguard Personalized Indexing minimums from Item 5.A of the Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management Form ADV Part 2A. Parametric from its Form ADV Part 2A and the Morgan Stanley Select UMA strategy profile for Parametric Custom Core S&P500. Aperio from the Aperio Group, LLC Form ADV Part 2A. Betterment checked on betterment.com. Every source was read on September 22, 2026. Minimums and fees change, so confirm the figure with the provider before you fund an account. Indexes is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any firm named here. We make index construction and backtesting software: we do not manage money, place trades, custody assets or give tax or investment advice.
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