Posted on Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – July 11, 2014

The word heading into the end of this week: Drama. This weekend it seems no matter where you look there is some source of incredible drama. An Argentinian team playing for the World Cup final in Brazil, LeBron ‘going home’ to Cleveland and rumours of Eva Mendes having Ryan Gossling’s baby – wait what?

Not to be outdone by rivalry, homecomings, and bundles of joy, Canadian discount brokerages had their fair share of news making to do. In this week’s roundup we take a look at a major commission price announcement that takes one online broker out of the shadows and back into the spotlight. Next we highlight the competition between brokerages as July deals and promotions start to show up in droves. We then take a quick look at the next trillion-dollar idea brokerages are trying to position themselves for. Of course no roundup would be complete without a healthy dose of investor commentary from the investor forums.

Don’t H8 The Player

Although they’ve been out of the spotlight for quite some time, Credential Direct stepped up their game by announcing a major commission drop and pricing structure overhaul.

Gone are the convoluted pricing tiers and the separation between ‘active’ and ‘non-active’ traders. In their place: one price, $8.88, is now applicable to all online equity trades. While it is a significant internal shift, the pricing move also is bound to generate quite a bit of buzz with other Canadian brokerages who have recently lowered their trading fees to $9.95/$9.99. Read more in a special feature post on the new Credential Direct offer here.

Save the Dates

There’s something about calendars that have got two Canadian online brokerages inspired.

In the first instance, Questrade has just rolled out a very unique set of offers in a bid to win new clients/assets. As part of their latest promotion (among several already ongoing ones), Questrade is offering new clients the option of receiving a free trade a month for 12 (for deposits of at least $12,000) or 24 months (for deposits of $20,000 or more).

The next calendar inspired promotion is from RBC Direct Investing as part of a lead up to its 25th anniversary. Specifically RBC Direct Investing is holding a weekly giveaway of $1,000 for 12 weeks (between July 24th and October 9th) for individuals that are a part of its “community”. Existing members of the RBC Direct Investing community are automatically registered. To become a member of the community one has to either be an RBC Direct Investing client or be an RBC Royal Bank Online Banking client and have a practice account. For more information including contest terms and conditions, click here.

Paying it Forward

While many people get excited about the prospect of new bundles of joy, the conversation about the other end of the circle of life is understandably less enthusiastic – unless you happen to be a financial adviser. The notion of inheritance and passing along wealth to subsequent generations has got lots of financial institutions trying to position themselves for nearly a trillion dollar’s worth of wealth to be passed on. This past week, BMO InvestorLine released the results of a study it had commissioned on inheritance and what that might mean for individuals and their investment decisions.

From the Forums

 Symbolic Gestures

Ticker symbols can seem like a language unto themselves. Part of the process of learning to invest on one’s own means having to get comfortable with learning the different ways in which ticker symbols get entered and the different exchanges that exist to look for stocks to trade. In this post from RedFlagDeals’ investing thread, one user shares their confusion with making sense of the symbols and the markets that they refer to.

More Potato Skin in the Game

In this interesting post from the Reddit Personal Finance Canada thread, a community member shares their journey of getting a Couch Potato inspired ETF portfolio set up within their RBC Direct Investing account. The other members chimed in to provide some great tips on the finer points of building a low maintenance portfolio.

That brings us to the end of the roundup. Regardless of what or who you’re cheering for this weekend, there will most certainly be lots to chat about around the water cooler next week. Have a fantastic weekend!

Leave a Reply