Fidelity Cuts IPO Eligibility Threshold to $25,000 for Retail Customers

Fidelity Investments lowered the asset threshold for customers seeking shares in initial public offerings (IPOs) to $25,000 effective Oct. 19, expanding eligibility for retail investors at the brokerage.

The new standard also covers follow-on and secondary offerings. It is based on certain assets a customer holds at Fidelity, including retail brokerage assets. The $25,000 figure determines eligibility; it is not the amount a customer must invest in an offering.

A customer must also have at least $2,000 in a brokerage account before submitting an indication of interest to participate. That requirement is separate from the $25,000 asset threshold. Meeting the requirements allows a customer to seek shares but does not reserve any.

Fidelity may allocate no shares even after a customer confirms an indication of interest. In deciding how to distribute shares, it considers assets and revenue in retail accounts linked to the customer’s Social Security number or taxpayer identification number. The change is intended to let more customers seek access to IPOs.

The move follows a slower September for U.S. IPOs. Six offerings raised $1.9 billion that month, compared with seven that raised $1.8 billion in August. In September 2025, 13 offerings raised $8.9 billion.

For the year through Sept. 30, 83 traditional IPOs had raised more than $120.2 billion, up from more than $29.3 billion across 60 offerings in the same period of 2025. SpaceX accounted for $75 billion of this year’s proceeds. Excluding that deal, proceeds were about $45.2 billion.