15 Best Investing Affiliate Programs for the Capitalist

Posted by Coty Perry, in Affiliate Programs

Investing is a complex world filled with risks and rewards. While the potential upside can be massive, there’s always a chance you could lose money. That’s why it’s important for investors, especially beginners, to get quality education and tools to help them make wise decisions.

If you have an audience interested in investing, promoting affiliate programs in this niche can be highly lucrative. Top programs pay upwards of $100 per referral, with some offering recurring commissions or bonuses for multiple sales.

I’ve compiled this list of 15 great investing affiliate programs covering stocks, bonds, real estate, robo-advisors, retirement services, and more. With high commission rates across the board, these programs offer serious monetization potential.

1. Motley Fool

The Motley Fool is one of the web’s most popular investing resources. Since 1993 they’ve provided stock picks, market analysis, financial advice, and more to help everyday investors.

They offer a variety of premium services, from entry-level educational products all the way up to exclusive analyst access for sophisticated traders who demand intricate market insights. With stock advice and recommendations tailored to every level of investor, Motley Fool provides immense value.

With an established brand and built-in audience, The Motley Fool converts visitors exceptionally well. They pay affiliates generous recurring fees based on how long referrals stay subscribed to their premium services. You’ll earn monthly commissions for the lifetime of each referral’s subscription.

Commission Rate: $100-400 per subscription

2. TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade is one of the largest online brokers, serving over 11 million client accounts. They offer an intuitive platform packed with tools, research, education and more for savvy investors who demand sophistication.

TD Ameritrade provides access to every major exchange as well as powerful analytics like money flow indicators, volatility analysis, earnings results and more. For hands-on traders, their Thinkorswim platform is incredibly robust.

For each new account opened through your link, TD Ameritrade pays a whopping $200 bonus. On top of that, you’ll earn ongoing commissions based on your referrals’ trading activity, earning residual income from their portfolio performance.

Commission Rate: $200 new account bonus + commissions

3. E*TRADE

Another leading online broker, E*TRADE manages over $1 trillion in customer assets. They provide a full suite of investment products from stocks and ETFs to futures and forex all through an intuitive mobile app.

ETRADE stands out with its Power ETRADE Pro platform, offering portfolio analysis tools, a ratings and screening engine, options analysis and more for active traders. Every trader receives dedicated support from E*TRADE pros as well.

Like TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE offers lucrative upfront bonuses just for opening a new account. You can also earn equity, recurring revenue and more based on account balances and trading volumes from your referrals.

Commission Rate: $50-$200 new account bonus + commissions

4. Betterment

Betterment pioneered automated investing through sophisticated algorithmic portfolio management. Often called a “robo-advisor”, they build and optimize portfolios aimed at maximizing returns for any chosen risk tolerance.

Betterment develops personalized plans enhancing savings, optimizing tax efficiency and managing costs for each unique customer. Through automation and Nobel Prize-winning strategies, they simplify investing for beginners while offering advanced options for seasoned investors as well.

For each new Betterment account opened by your referral, you’ll receive $100. It’s a nice quick payout for connecting them with Betterment’s award-winning solution.

Commission Rate: $100 per new account

5. Personal Capital

Personal Capital offers free financial software for tracking investments, budgeting, retirement planning and more in one easy dashboard. For premium access it’s just $89-$269 per year.

With premium pricing so affordable, their affiliate program converts very well. You’ll earn $100 for each new paying customer plus generous recurring commissions based on subscription renewals year after year.

Subscription-based affiliate programs are great because they continue to pay you even after you’ve stopped spending time trying to acquire that lead. 

Personal Capital builds complete financial plans assessing investing approaches, retirement preparedness, fees and fund performance. Their platform syncs 24/7 with live market data so users always have current details on their financial health.

Commission Rate: $100 per sale + recurring

6. Fundrise

Fundrise makes direct real estate investing easy through innovative eREITs and eFunds. Instead of flipping houses yourself, you can invest smaller amounts into Fundrise-managed rental properties, developments and more across the country.

Their platform offers diversified real estate exposure without the capital, leverage and hands-on work direct ownership demands. Historical returns are strong while fees are low, making Fundrise a compelling option for lucrative real estate investing.

It’s an intuitive approach open to anyone. Fundrise pays affiliates very well for sharing it. You’ll earn up to $500 per funded account depending on deposit size. Plus they offer creative contest incentives atop their already generous commissions.

Commission Rate: Variable

7. LendingClub

LendingClub operates a peer-to-peer lending marketplace connecting investors and creditworthy borrowers. It provides investors great returns from interest payments while letting borrowers access affordable financing.

Investors can build customized portfolios based on risk tolerances, returns and more. Historical net returns average between 5-7% across all product grades. Few fixed income options match LendingClub’s consistent performance coupled with low investor fees.

As an affiliate you can earn $100 for each new investor referral or 1% of every borrowed amount your referrals fund. Recurring commissions from active investors can add up quickly at a 1% ongoing rate.

Commission Rate: $100 per investor + 1% of funded loans

8. Ally Invest

Ally Invest offers a fully managed portfolio combining expert asset management with algorithmic performance optimization. For hands-on investors they provide discounted self-directed trading with a robust research library to support independent traders as well.

Getting setup with Ally Invest takes just 5-10 minutes. Balances and positions sync in real-time across web and mobile to enable management anywhere. Plus new clients get up to $3,500 in bonus cash and free trades when funding accounts.

You’ll earn $50 for each new account created through your links – not bad for quick and lucrative signups! If you have any influence in the finance niche you can help investors turbocharge returns through Ally’s managed portfolios or discounted DIY trading.

Commission Rate: $25-50 per account

9. Acorns

Acorns makes micro-investing easy by letting users automatically invest their spare change from everyday purchases. Just connect a payment method and Acorns will round up transactions and place the change into a diversified portfolio.

Portfolios provide broad exposure across 7,000 stocks and bonds optimized for customer age, goals and selected risk tolerance. Balances compound over time through automated, recurring investments into diverse assets. Hands-free long term wealth building that anyone can do.

With such a simple and intuitive product, Acorns sees strong conversion rates across affiliate partners. You’ll earn $10 for every new account created through your link.

Commission Rate: $10 per sign up

10. Robinhood

Robinhood exploded in popularity for offering unlimited commission-free trades of stocks, ETFs and cryptocurrencies. The ability to trade high frequency for free makes Robinhood very attractive to active investors.

They also provide access to options contracts, analyst ratings, real-time market data feeds and more. Users can turbocharge portfolios through margin investing as well. Regulatory requirements are minimal too – just link a bank and provide basic personal details.

They offer a generous affiliate program that pays $500 for 50 friend referrals who open and fund accounts. Plus you’ll earn $15 when new users link a bank account to start investing.

Commission Rate: $15 per bank link + $500 at 50 referrals

11. Blooom

Blooom provides automated 401(k) analysis, account consolidation and portfolio optimization. Many people have old 401(k)s from past jobs that aren’t optimized or properly allocated. Blooom fixes this with their technology.

After connecting retirement accounts to Blooom’s platform, their algorithms design and manage customized portfolios maximizing employer match benefits, optimizing fund selection and minimizing fees. Hands-free optimization for healthy nest eggs.

Simply connect your 401(k) provider and Blooom takes care of the rest. At $15 per analysis with no deposit or purchase required, blooom is a high-converting program that provides immense value.

Commission Rate: $15 per analysis

12. Credit Sesame

Credit Sesame offers free credit monitoring and tools for building your credit. Users can track changes, get their latest scores from all bureaus, analyze reports and more at no cost.

They provide personalized tips for raising credit through proper account mix, lower utilization, and responsible habits tailored for each unique scenario. Live experts are available to dispute errors, give guidance and answer credit questions as well.

They earn by recommending personalized loans and credit cards to match each user’s profile. With strong consumer demand and high approval rates, Credit Sesame converts visitors exceptionally well. They offer a variable affiliate commission ranging from $3.00 all the way up to $300 per conversion. 

Commission Rate: Varies

13. Groundfloor

Groundfloor provides fractionalized investing in short-term real estate loans with terms from 6-12 months. Investors can put as little as $10 towards loans funding new construction, rehabilitation projects and more.

Returns are mainly generated from loan interest and pay out monthly with principal returned at the end of the term. Groundfloor vets all deals, manages payments and keeps investors up to date across the process for totally passive income.

Historical returns average around 10% APR – much higher than standard fixed income products. Groundfloor pays $20-$100 per funded account depending on initial deposit amount.

Commission Rate: $10-$100 per deposit

14. Ellevest

Ellevest builds investment and retirement portfolios specifically optimized for women based on gender pay gaps and longer average lifespans. Charging just 0.25%-0.5% annually, it’s an affordable robo-advisor.

After connecting accounts, Ellevest designs custom plans maximizing tax savings via IRA and 401k contributions, optimizing asset types for lifespan and more. Ongoing performance analytics provide feedback for tuning plans further over time.

You’ll earn $50 for every woman that opens and funds an account with at least $500 through Ellevest. Help even more women take control of their financial futures!

Commission Rate: $50 per account

15. BitBond

BitBond utilizes Bitcoin and blockchain for peer-to-peer lending. Borrowers worldwide can access fast, fair loans while you earn interest from holding Bitbonds. Crypto investing and lending continues to grow quickly.

BitBond leverages blockchain data for credit scoring when traditional metrics like credit reports fail, opening access for more borrowers. Loans fund in hours instead of weeks. Plus lower overhead costs translate to lower rates for borrowers and higher returns for lenders.

For driving borrowers to the site you’ll earn 5-20% of the loan value. If you refer lenders to fund loans, you’ll make 30% of the invested amount.

Commission Rate: 5%-30% of loan or investment value

What Makes a Great Investing Affiliate Program?

With so many options on the table, what separates the very best investing affiliate programs? Here are three key factors to evaluate:

Commission Rate

You want to focus on programs paying the highest dollar amounts per referral. But also consider bonus opportunities, recurring commissions and payout frequency when comparing rates.

Keep in mind that commission rates change rapidly so some of the information you encounter in this guide may have changed since it was written. The goal is to obviously earn as much as you can for each sale you make. The higher the average commission rate, the more opportunities you have to earn. 

Cookie Duration

The cookie duration dictates how long you’ll earn commissions for referrals after initial click-through. 30-90 days is fairly standard. Anything lower means acting faster on leads. 

In the case of investment leads, I say you want as long of a cookie duration as possible because this isn’t something people impulse buy or jump on quickly without checking with friends and family first. 

High Converting Website

Affiliate links only pay if users sign up or spend money once arriving on the destination site. Choose programs likely to capture your audience based on website experience.

A lot of the affiliate programs listed in this guide will have information about their conversion rate and earnings per click. The higher EPC a website has, the more likely someone is to actually buy something when they click through to the site. 

Final Thoughts

Investing presents a lucrative niche rife with monetization potential for affiliates. You have an opportunity to provide enormous value helping everyday people gain the clarity, tools and education needed to secure their financial futures.

While risky for the uninformed, partnering with proven platforms like the above affiliate programs allows you to reap financial rewards from investing without assuming direct exposure yourself.

Compound interest and savvy diversification works miracles over long horizons. Focus on high ticket services favored by sophisticated investors and you could accumulate significant wealth over time from commissions alone!

By the way, if you’re just starting out with affiliate marketing, this niche is highly competitive and requires specialized knowledge. I recommend checking out the best affiliate niches for beginners to get started.