The bottom line
Any way you slice it, getting a compliment is a great thing. If you are a discount brokerage, having someone call you the “best” among your peers is definitely something you want to share. The problem, however, is that being the best has now become so easy to do that what it means to people isn’t exactly clear.
There is a clear disconnect between the happiness of discount brokerage clients versus their satisfaction, and an even bigger disconnect between either of those and loyalty. Imagine, if 9 out 10 people in a relationship you spoke to reported being happy, but 8 out 10 of them were thinking of being with someone else. We are no experts, but if all of the partners that described themselves as “the best” actually lived up to the claim, people would spend more time looking at their partner instead looking for an exit.
References & Sources
The following table contains links to the data used in researching each discount brokerage:
| Company | The Claim | The Support | Timeframe Claim Applies To | Reference url |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Top Bank-Owned Online Brokerage | Globe and Mail 2012 Online Brokers Ranking | 2012 | BMO Press Release |
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Highest in Investor Satisfaction | J.D. Power and Associates Investor Satisfaction Survey | 2012 | Award info page on Disnat’s website |
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Best Discount Brokerage | Morningstar Canadian Investment Awards | 2012 | Morningstar Investment Awards Page |
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#1 online brokerage for client service in Canada | Dalbar Direct Brokerage Service Award | 2012 | Award Info Page on HSBC website |
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Canada’s top online discount brokerage | Surviscor’s Online Discount Brokerage scorCard | Q1 2013 | News Release |
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Canada’s #1 Direct Investing Brokerage | Investor Economics in the “Online/Discount Brokerage Market Share Report” | Quarter ending Sep 30, 2011 | Report is not publicly available; No news release had the information either. The following two links: Link 1 and Link 2 reference the claim/report |
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Best Canadian Online Broker | Globe and Mail 2012 Online Brokers Ranking | 2012 | Virtual Brokers’ discount broker comparison page |