We’re officially in the home stretch to start of summer and like temperatures, we believe that online brokerage deals activity is slated to rise as the month progresses. For the moment, however, most Canadian online brokerages continue to take it easy.
Just because we’re not seeing a flood of online brokerage deals coming to market yet, however, does not mean that activity isn’t taking place behind the scenes.
In a world where unusual is the new normal, signals abound that the wave of investor enthusiasm that started the year (and that has characterized the past 12 months) is continuing to recede taking with it the volume of activity of new account opening at Canadian online brokerages. This is a net-positive for deal-seeking online investors because as investor supply decreases, online brokerages will necessarily look to new promotions as an option to attract new customers.
Another unusual development heading into the new month is deals activity at one of Canada’s newer online brokers – Wealthsimple Trade.
Having garnered a massive early interest based on zero-dollar commissions, this rapidly growing online broker has dialed up its affiliate promotion structure as well as using free stock and cash back offers (see below for more details). The result is armies of affiliate-revenue seeking amplifying Wealthsimple Trade to the broader public at a fraction of the cost that the competitors to Wealthsimple Trade are paying.
Thus, the costs of standing still on the deals and promotions front are not only starting add up for those online brokerages without some kind of campaign in place, they’re actually beginning to compound.
As we launch into a new month, it is worth pointing out that two promotions are set to expire at the end of June. National Bank Direct Brokerage’s huge commission-free trade offer as well as a commission-free trade promo by HSBC InvestDirect are both scheduled to conclude by month’s end.
Head over to the deals and promotions section to review the latest online brokerage offers and as always if there are any promotions for DIY investors that we’ve missed, let us know and we can update our deals section.
Expired Deals
As of the publication of the deals update, the only promotion that had technically expired was the spring cash back promotion from BMO InvestorLine. While it is often the case that BMO InvestorLine has offers for new accounts running throughout the year, they also just launched a slate of commission-free ETFs that is only beginning to be advertised. We’ll keep watching for updates to their promotional offers for any new offers that show up.
Extended Deals
No deal extensions to mention at this time
New Deals
Wealthsimple Trade added a “free stock” bonus promo to new users of the platform. This offer randomly selects stocks valued between $5 and $4,500 and new users are eligible to receive a cash bonus equal to the value of the stock from the pool of eligible stocks when they open a new non-registered account. According to the terms and conditions of the offer, about 90% of new clients receive a cash bonus offer worth less $50. There is no expiry date stated for this promotion.