Summary
Discount brokerage sponsored education events are a great opportunity for Canadian retail investors to get basic levels of information about trading and investing. The biggest advantages are the low cost to attend and the great speakers discount brokerages find from within their organization, such as economists or analysts, that you would otherwise have a difficult time accessing. In addition, there is a lot of content geared towards beginner investors, so if you’re just starting out, these seminars offer a great first step.
One of the biggest downsides of discount brokerage education events is that you have to sift out which events are “product orientation” events versus those that actually give you information that help you understand how to trade or invest. In addition, you often have to hand over your information to a sales representative when you attend a ‘free’ seminar or webinar, so just be aware that a member of a sales team will likely follow up with you about becoming a client.
Overall, whether you choose to attend an event in person or online, discount brokerages are providing more and more materials for Canadian retail investors to be able to navigate investing on their own. To keep on top of educational events that are going on you can check the individual brokers’ sites or you can check our educational events listing where we collect what’s going on in the world of investor education.