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2018 Canadian Discount Brokerage Review & 2019 Preview

TD Direct Investing

By Tony Ierullo, VP, TD Wealth

After almost 25 years in the online brokerage industry, 2018 will go down as one of the most exciting years on record. As more investors migrated to do-it-yourself platforms like, TD WebBroker, and emerging industries gained unprecedented momentum, Canadians drove TD Direct Investing new account openings up by 48 per cent, with a 41 per cent spike in year-over-year trading volumes. For context, in 2017, new account openings were up 18 per cent; this past year was more than doubled that.

Online Account Opening

With more investors using their mobile phones to trade, check stock prices and monitor their investments, it’s critical for online brokerages to provide a smooth, end-to-end account opening experience. In March of 2018, TD completely reimagined the process for opening a self-directed investing account. New clients can now be fully onboarded online or through the TD mobile app in as little as 10 minutes, and trading can usually start within 24 hours. This new account opening process incorporates intuitive capabilities, like smart fill address and identification verification, as well as instant access to WebBroker. And one of its best features is mobile responsive design — which means the experience is optimized regardless of which mobile device clients prefer to open an account on.

Hydrogen Agreement

In September, TD announced its agreement with The Hydrogen Technology Corporation, a leader in the design of financial technology platforms. TD will use Hydrogen’s technology to offer clients a complete, end-to-end, goals-based investing experience. This agreement is the first of several significant building blocks designed to improve investing services at TD. Our initial focus will be to help improve the self-directed investor experience, culminating in more sophisticated goal planning and investing solutions for all TD clients, at every stage of their financial journey.

What’s ahead

TD Direct Investing has a lot of exciting things on the horizon. In the first half of 2019, we’ll be launching a new tool to provide clients with the ability to create a financial plan on WebBroker. This do-it-yourself planning tool will allow clients to track their financial progress against personal financial goals — for free. Whether clients are saving for retirement, a major purchase, or educational fees, TD is committed to helping investors achieve what truly matters to them.

In addition to technology enhancements, we will extend our wide-range of educational resources, tools and support to help investors make informed, confident financial decisions.

At TD, our clients will always be our first priority. We look forward to assisting and empowering more Canadians on their investment journey in 2019.

To learn more about TD Direct Investing visit the website or view TD Direct Investing’s profile here.

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