Tag: Desjardins

Desjardins Bank

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – November 1, 2016

*Updated Nov. 23* Nothin’ lasts forever, even cold November rain. It seems odd yet appropriate to reference a Guns & Roses song as we head into a new month of deals and promotions coverage of Canada’s discount brokerages. Like the band, however, deals & promotions are still rocking on even as we head into the last two months of 2016.

While it may feel a bit gloomy heading into a new month with no new offers to report, in reality there are still 23 26 active offers for DIY investors interested in opening an online trading account to take advantage of. Also, several sources from across the online brokerage space have hinted that a number of deals are in the pipeline, some of which may be launching this month. No need to sing the blues after all.

Another interesting piece of news on the discount brokerage deals front, which was reported in the weekly roundup from October 14th, reveals that there is a substantial mismatch between what online brokerages are and have been offering, and what it seems that DIY investors want.

Based on our survey from September, it is clear that DIY investors on the hunt for an incentive are much more inclined towards cash-back offers instead of commission-free trades. Other than those two types of offers, there really was little to no interest in other types of discount brokerage deals.

When compared against what is being pitched to investors, however, this might explain why so many DIY investors might be feeling ‘underwhelmed’ by the offers being pitched thus far.

The results from our most recent survey will also be published soon and they promise to have some very intriguing findings.  In the meantime, check out our latest quick survey below.

New Deals

*Update Nov. 11: Virtual Brokers has relaunched their cash-back referral offer with a slight upgrade. Their latest cash-back referral offering now has three deposit tiers starting at a minimum of $5,000 $1,000 and going up to $50,000+ and they’ve increased the maximum cash-back amount from $50 to $75. See table below for more details.

Qtrade Investor has also launched an upgrade to their transfer-fee rebate offer. The threshold to qualify for this offer has been reduced from $25,000 down to $10,000 making switching to Qtrade much more accessible. See table below for details.*

Nothing to report at the moment.

Extended Deals

Two offers from BMO InvestorLine that were scheduled to conclude at the end of October have been renewed and extended. BMO InvestorLine’s commission-free/cash-back offer has been extended into January whereas their refer-a-friend program has been extended well out into 2017, ending in June. See tables below for more information.

Expired deals

Qtrade Investor promotion in which DIY investors could purchase ETFs commission-free in October officially concluded at the end of the month. That said, it appears that Qtrade has also added 40 new commission-free ETFs into its lineup bringing the total number of commission free ETFs to 100.

Survey

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Discount Brokerage Deals

  1. Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions
  2. Referral Promotions
  3. Transfer Fee Promotions
  4. Contests & Other Offers

Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Commission/Cash Offer/Promotion Type Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer Details Link Deadline
Jitney Trade A Sparx Trading exclusive offer! Use the promo code “Sparx Trading” when signing up for a new account with Jitneytrade and receive access to their preferred pricing package. n/a Discounted Commission Rates none For more details click here none
Open and fund a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) with at least $1,000 and you may be eligible to receive 5 commission-free trades. Use promo code 5FREETRADES when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $1,000 5 commission-free trades 60 days 5 commission-free trade offer December 31, 2016
Open and fund a new account at Virtual Brokers with at least $5,000 and you may be eligible to receive 3 months of commission-free equity trading and a $150 USD/mo credit towards Edge Trader Pro for 3 months. Use promo code sent at sign up to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for details. $5,000 3 months commission-free equity trading + $150 USD/mo platform fee rebate. 3 months 3 months free trading / Sign up form for promo code available here none
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage is offering new clients 1% of assets transferred into the new account in the form of commission credits (to a maximum value of $1,000). Minimum qualifying deposit is $10,000. To qualify, individuals will have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code DisnatFlex or email: [email protected]. See details link for more info. $10,000 1% of assets transferred in the form of commission-credits (max credits: $1,000) 6 months Disnat 1% Commission Credit Promo December 31, 2016
Open and fund a new account with HSBC InvestDirect with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,000; D) $250,000; E) $500,000 or F) $1,000,000+ and you may be eligible to receive a cash bonus offer of A) $88; B) $188; C) $288; D) $388; E) $688 or F) $988. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full offer details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000- $499,999 E) $500,000 – $999,999 F) 1,000,000+ Cash back bonus A) $88 B) $188 C) $288 D) $388 E) $688 F) $988 Bonus will be credited to the qualified accounts by July 31, 2017 HSBC InvestDirect Cash Bonus Promo December 30, 2016
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new account with Scotia iTRADE with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,00 or D) $250,000+ and you may be eligible to receive A) 75; B) 150; C) 200 or D) 250 commission-free trades. Use promo code F16FT when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000+ Commission-free trades 90 days 250 free trade offer November 30, 2016
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new account with Scotia iTRADE with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,00 or D) $250,000; E) $500,000 or F) $1,000,000+ and you may be eligible to receive 50 commission free trades plus A) 5,000; B) 7,500; C) 20,000; D) 35,000; E) 50,000 or F) 100,000 SCENE points. Use promo code F16SC when signing up to qualify. Be sure to read terms & conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000- $499,999 E) $500,000 – $999,999 F) 1,000,000+ A) Commission-free trades + B) SCENE reward points 90 days (for trades) SCENE points will be awarded by June 30, 2017. Free trade + SCENE points offer November 30, 2016
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine, and fund it with at least $100,000 and you may be eligible to receive $200 cash back as well as 20 commission-free equity trades. Use promo code PROMO200 when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. $100,000 $200 cash back + 20 commission-free equity trades Cash back will be deposited the week of August 7, 2017. Fall 2016 Promotion Phase 2 January 3, 2017

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Nov. 1, 2016 13:30 PT

Referral Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Incentive Structure Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer Deposit Details Link Deadline
Refer a friend to Questrade and when they open an account you receive $25 cash back and they receive either A) $25; B) $50; C) $75; D) $100; or E) $250 depending on the amount deposited amount. Enter code: 476104302388759 during account sign up to qualify. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for eligibility and additional bonus payment structure and minimum balance requirements. A) $1,000 – $9,999 B) $10,000 – $24,999 C) $25,000 – $49,999 D) $50,000 -$99,999 E) $100,000+ $25 cash back (for referrer per referral; $50 bonus cash back for every 3rd referral) For referred individuals: A) $25 cash back B) $50 cash back C) $75 cash back D) $100 cash back E) $250 cash back Cash deposited into Questrade billing account within 7 days after funding period ends (90 days) Refer a friend terms and conditions Code Number: 476104302388759 none
Scotia iTrade If you refer a friend/family member who is not already a Scotia iTrade account holder to them, both you and your friend get a bonus of either cash or free trades. You have to use the referral form to pass along your info as well as your friend/family members’ contact info in order to qualify. There are lots of details/conditions to this deal so be sure to read the details link. A) $10,000 B) $50,000+ A) You(referrer): $50 or 10 free trades; Your “Friend”: $50 or 10 free trades (max total value:$99.90) B) You(referrer): $100 cash or 50 free trades; Your “Friend”: $100 cash or 50 free trades (max total value: $499.50) 60 days Refer A Friend to Scotia iTrade tbd
If you (an existing Virtual Brokers client) refer a friend or family member to open a new account with at least $1,000 you may be eligible to receive $25 cash per referral. For 3 or more referrals Virtual Brokers will add a $50 bonus. Referred individuals depositing either A) $1,000 – $24,999; B) $25,000 – $49,999 or C) $50,000+ may be eligible to receive A) $25; B) $50 or C) $75 cash back. Be sure to read the full terms and conditions carefully for full details. A) $1,000 – $24,999 B) $25,000 – $49,999 C) $50,000+ Referrer: $25 per referral; $50 bonus for each 3 or more referrals. Referee: A) $25 B) $50 C) $75 Cash to be deposited to VB account by March 31, 2017. Cash Referral Program January 31, 2017
BMO InvestorLine If you (an existing BMO InvestorLine client) refer a new client to BMO InvestorLine and they open an account with at least $50,000 the referrer and the referee may both be eligible to receive $50 cash. To qualify the referee must use the email of the referrer that is linked to their BMO InvestorLine account. See terms and conditions for full details. $50,000 You(referrer): $50; Your Friend(referee): $50 Payout occurs 45 days after minimum 90 day holding period(subject to conditions). BMO InvestorLine Refer-a-Friend June 30, 2017

Expired Offers
Open a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) and receive $50 commission credit . Use promo code: kdkfnbbc $1,000 $50 commission credit 30 days none none
Last Updated: Nov. 23, 2016 08:30 PT

Transfer Fee Promotions

Company Brief Description Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount Minimum Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility Details Link Deadline
Transfer $10,000 or more to Qtrade Investor from another brokerage and Qtrade Investor may cover up to $150 in transfer fees. See terms and conditions for more details. $150 $10,000 Transfer Fee Rebate December 31, 2016
Transfer $15,000 or more to RBC Direct Investing and they will pay up to $135 in transfer fees $135 $15,000 Transfer Fee Rebate Details none
Transfer $25,000 or more from another brokerage and Credential Direct will cover up to $150 in transfer fees. Use promo code SWITCHME when signing up to qualify for the transfer promotion. $150 $25,000 Credential Direct Transfer Fee Rebate none
Move your brokerage account to Questrade and they’ll cover the transfer-out fee up to $150. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee Promo none
Transfer at least $25,000 or more in new assets to TD Direct Investing when opening a new account and you may qualify to have transfer fees reimbursed up to $150. Be sure to contact TD Direct Investing for further details. $150 $25,000 Contact client service for more information (1-800-465-5463). none
Transfer $25,000 or more to Virtual Brokers and they may cover up to $150 in transfer fees. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee promo September 30, 2016
Scotia iTrade Transfer $25,000 or more to Scotia iTRADE when opening a new account and they will cover up to $150 in transfer fees. $150 $25,000 Eligible with both offers: Free trade + SCENE points offer and 250 free trade offer November 30, 2016
Transfer $25,000 or more into a CIBC Investor’s Edge account and they will reimburse up to $135 in brokerage transfer fees. Clients must call customer service to request rebate after transfer made. $135 $25,000 Confirmed with reps. Contact client service for more information (1-800-567-3343). none
Transfer $25,000 or more to a National Bank Direct Brokerage account and they will pay up to $135 plus taxes in transfer fees $135 $25,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Disnat Disnat is offering up to $150 to cover the cost of transfer fees from another institution. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code Disnat500. See details link for more info. $150 $50,000 Disnat $500 Commission Credit Promo September 30, 2016

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Nov. 16, 2016 12:30 PT

Other Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Required Details Link Deadline
Credential Direct has partnered with Trend Micro to offer 50% off Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security. Use code “TrendCF” at checkout. n/a Trend Micro Special Offer Code none
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage, in conjunction with MoneyTalks, is offering 3 months of the “Inside Edge” investor information service to Desjardins Online Brokerage clients. Use promo code DESJ2016 during checkout to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for more information. n/a MoneyTalks Inside Edge Discount none
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage is offering $50 in commission credits for new Disnat Classic clients depositing at least $1,000. See terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 Broker@ge 18-30 Promotion none
Scotia iTrade Scotiabank StartRight customers can receive 10 commission-free trades when investing $1,000 or more in a new Scotia iTrade account. Trades are good for use for up to 1 year from the date the account is funded. Use promo code SRPE15 when applying (in English) or SRPF15 when applying in French. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 StartRight Free Trade offer none
Open a new account with Virtual Brokers with a deposit of at least $1,000 (for the Classic Commission Account) or $5,000 (for the Commission Free Trading Account) and you may be eligible to receive a one-year subscription to access 5i Research. Use promo code 5iVB2016 when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 (Classic Commission Account); $5,000 (Commission Free Trading Account) 5i Research Offer March 31, 2017

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Nov. 1, 13:30 PT
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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – October 28th, 2016

Heading into the unofficial ‘Halloweekend’, just one small piece of news from the US was enough to spook the markets. Investors were left trying to figure out if the latest news on the US presidential race was more trick or treat. Of course, not everything coming out of the US this past week was doom and gloom, especially for a pair of online brokerages.

In this week’s roundup, we take a look at a major shift in the US online brokerage landscape that could offer some clues as to what might be in the cards for Canadian discount brokerages in the not-too-distant future. From there, we’ll take a look at one major Canadian online brokerage that just rolled out a feature that is sure to make some of their closest competitors have to step up their game. As usual, we’ll cap off the roundup with soundbites from Twitter and the investor forums.

Kind of a Big Deal

How does $4 billion sound? If you’re US online brokerage Scottrade, apparently it sounds pretty good. This past week, US-based TD Ameritrade pulled off a major purchase of another online brokerage, Scottrade, and provided an interesting window into the world and marketplace of online trading, perhaps offering some idea of the state of the industry as a whole and where things are headed.

As many value investors are aware of, it’s only when a buyer makes an offer that the ‘real’ value of an asset (in this case, an online brokerage) is known. So, with TD Ameritrade putting up an offer for 3 million accounts, it now offers some insight into what those accounts are actually worth. Like any big investment, however, it pays to look at the details.

In the case of TD Ameritrade and Scottrade, there are actually two parts to the transaction, one for the online brokerage segment ($2.7b) and one for the bank segment ($1.3b). The breakdown of what TD Ameritrade is paying is spelled out in their investor presentation but the takeaway (or at least one of them) is that TD Ameritrade is buying the 3 million or so accounts funded accounts at Scottrade along with the $170B in assets that come with them.

Source: TD Ameritrade Investor Presentation

According to the details of the transaction, some quick math puts the price per account at about $870 and the assets per account at about $57K. With various possible additional opportunities to grow “share of wallet” over time, the price per account falls even further. That said, the figure is in the ball park range of what it costs to acquire a new client, at least in the US. All told, TD Ameritrade is paying 3x revenue for the deal and is looking for the deal to be accretive (12% to 20%) within 3 years, assuming all goes to plan.

For a deal of this magnitude, the numbers have to make sense. That said, there is also the human factor that potentially drove this deal forward. According to some sources, the timing seemed right for Scottrade founder Rodger Riney to cash out. Whether it was age, health or a desire to exit on a high note, the human element likely played a factor.

Within the Canadian context, there has often been chatter and speculation about whether the Canadian marketplace can sustain the number of online brokerage providers that it does. Could a similar deal happen here? The odds would suggest probably not.

Currently, there are only a couple of choices for non-bank owned brokerages for players to purchase – JitneyTrade, Questrade or Virtual Brokers. The other online brokerages have some kind of larger financial institution, such as a bank or credit union as a parent – or in the case of Interactive Brokers Canada, a larger US online brokerage as the parent. So, for a larger player to take out one of the independent brokerages would really be an aggressive move. None of the available ‘independent’ brokerages are particularly large in terms of accounts. On the other hand, for one of the bigger financial firms to try and exit the DIY investing segment might mean ceding market share.

As the Scottrade deal shows, the banking side of the business is always looking for ways to deepen their ‘share of wallet’ not reduce it. Neither buying nor folding seem palatable for the bigger players. Nonetheless, if the asking price is right or there is a catalyst to drive an exit, then business people can usually find a way to make a deal.

For DIY investors, the elimination of some competition may not be a bad thing. In a recent investor conference call published on SeekingAlpha.com, President and founder of Interactive Brokers Thomas Peterffy had the following take on Scottrade ahead of the announced TD Ameritrade acquisition:

“…we are excited about the Scottrade news. Just like the LPL news, the fewer brokers, the easier the comparison and the starker the differences between us and them, and the easier it is to compete for the customers. Also, whenever a broker is taken over, we usually get a bunch of accounts from people who were considering coming over to us, but were reluctant to change. Now that they will have to change anyway, they think they may as well come to us and move on to a better and less expensive platform.”

While trying to put a positive spin on losing 2000 or so accounts to a competitor (Interactive Brokers previously had an agreement to service some of Scottrade’s clients’ trade executions) is basically damage control, there is a valid point that the differentiation between brands will be brought into focus and consumers could stand to benefit by seeing some very compelling offers being made.

Whatever the case, there is a lot of change on the horizon for the Canadian financial services sector. This past week National Bank (parent to National Bank Direct Brokerage) also announced that it is going to be shifting its focus to ‘going digital’, joining its peers in spending massive amounts on meeting the banking and investing needs of consumers in an increasingly online world. Thus, one of the biggest drivers of who is left standing in the online brokerage space here in Canada might very well come down to who can afford to keep innovating. With that in mind, cashing out might not seem so bad after all.

Conditions are Improving

TD Direct Investing seemed to be in the spotlight again this past week with a news release announcing the official rollout of conditional orders to their flagship platform WebBroker (even though clients started to see this feature show up last week).

Ever the savvy marketers, they also announced that they are the first ‘bank-owned’ brokerage to deploy a platform with conditional order types. While that is technically accurate, conditional orders (aka bracket orders) are already available at a number of other Canadian online brokerages, such as Questrade, Interactive Brokers and Desjardins Online Brokerage and on the thinkorswim (aka US trading platform).

Nevertheless, this latest edition to the TD Direct Investing trading platform feature set is a fairly powerful one.

Conditional orders enable traders and investors to set criteria for entering or exiting a trade and then have a trade execute if that criteria is met. Criteria could include when a price goes above or below two different levels or when a condition – such as the value of an index, goes above or below a target. Some traders refer to this as the “set it and forget it” approach, however, with all things online trading, it’s never wise to fully trust that the technology will work as promised.

While there are numerous types of bracket/conditional order types out there, TD Direct Investing has enabled the following order types:

  • One Triggers Another (OTA)
  • One Cancels Other (OCO) and
  • 1st Triggers OCO (FTO)

An example of when this might be useful is if an investor owned a stock at $15 and put in a condition to sell the stock if it hit $20 or if it dropped below $10. If one of those conditions were met, the corresponding order (in this case a sell order) would execute. This enables investors to create rules for how a particular investment or trade should be handled that go beyond the traditional limit order.

Interestingly, at the time of publication, the documentation for conditional orders on WebBroker platform was not available on the TD Direct Investing website. Fortunately, there is a webinar available that walks users through each of the order types and how they work on WebBroker.

Clever marketing aside, TD Direct Investing has continued to distance itself from its bank-owned brokerage competitors in terms of platform offering and now trading experience. And, while they may not be the first or only online brokerage to offer conditional orders, the reality is that as one of the largest and most popular online brokerages in Canada, TDDI has just given DIY investors one less reason to consider looking at competitors who also offer these order types.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

It was a fairly tame week on Twitter this week. Interestingly, technology was on the minds of investors chiming in on Twitter. Mentioned in the DIY investing conversation was BMO InvestorLine, Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing and Virtual Brokers.

From the Forums

Dash for Cash

One of the platforms TD Direct Investing markets to advanced traders is their advanced dashboard. In this post on RedFlagDeals.com’s investing thread, a user looking for feedback on the experience with advanced dashboard received a few interesting suggestions for data platforms.

Low Cost Education

The stock market can be an expensive place to learn how to trade. Still the fear of not knowing how things work is something that prevents many people from even trying. In this post, also from RedFlagDeals.com, one beginner investor is contemplating using either Questrade or Virtual Brokers for the commission-free ETFs as a way to get their feet wet with investing. Worth a read to see what other forum members had to say.

Into the Close

Just when things seemed like they were on track for a smooth finish to the US Presidential election there was a monkey wrench thrown into the works. It would be a great time to get some rest this weekend because there’s every indication that next week is going to get a little wild. In the meanwhile, with hockey, baseball, basketball and football, not to mention Halloween all on deck, there are plenty of reasons to take a break. Have a spooktacular weekend!!

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – October 21st, 2016

Well it has certainly been a week to remember. Not so much for what happened in the markets but rather for what happened around them and what this weeks events may do to markets everywhere. While the presidential debate or the loss of championship run were big news, perhaps the biggest news is the major outage of some of the world’s biggest websites because of exploits in technology. Heading into the weekend, it is a stark reminder that with more of the world moving to online, technology is not without its risks.

This past week, technology is the theme for the lead story at one Canadian bank-owned online brokerage. Specifically, how one online brokerage is using video technology to try and pull ahead of its competitors in the digital landscape. From there we’ll take a quick look at the latest figures from US-based online brokerages as many of them reported their earnings this past week and also provided a snapshot of what’s happening behind the scenes at some of the world’s biggest online brokerages. Finally, we’ll check out what DIY investors were talking about in the tweets of the week and in the investor forums.

Scotia iTRADE Keeping it Reel

While it’s been somewhat quiet at several of Canada’s biggest bank-owned brokerages, Scotia iTRADE has definitely been busy working to capture the attention of DIY investors online. Specifically, over the last few weeks, we’ve noted a definite uptick in the amount and diversity of video content coming out of iTRADE’s various social media channels. During this time, they’ve launched a video-based advertising campaign, several new ‘explainer’ videos on investing (in French) on YouTube and recently held a livestream “fireside chat” with personal finance expert Evelyn Jacks.

There’s definitely lots to unpack but let’s start with video advertising. For any regular consumer scrolling through content on just about any social media channel, videos are everywhere. Knowing that video posts are almost certainly going to be more engaging than regular ol’ images, Scotia iTRADE’s latest batch of video ads have started to show up in social media feeds, such as Twitter, and people are noticing. Interestingly, there aren’t that many bank-owned online brokerages with their own Twitter handle and with the exception of Questrade, the non-bank-owned brokerages aren’t nearly as active on social media feeds as they need to be to gain a significant presence. So, for Scotia iTRADE, the fact that they’ve doubled down on Twitter by not only having an account of their own but also buying ads means they’re getting an interesting share of the spotlight with millennial users.

Another place that Scotia iTRADE appears to be moving into is the French speaking market. Case in point is the recent publishing of their market education videos on YouTube en Français. For many of the big Canadian bank-owned brokerages, building an audience within the Quebec DIY investor marketplace has been a challenge. Data from our educational event tracking showed that TD Direct Investing, for example, had a difficult time pulling in people to their in-person seminar topics in Quebec much more so than in other parts of the country. Now it appears that Scotia iTRADE is widening its net to try and provide investor education oriented content to French speaking audience. Again, this is an area in which other brokerages big and small just simply aren’t doing enough of. Add to the fact that this is being done online, and other brokerages are going have their work cut out for them to produce and deploy that kind of information. Interestingly, it is difficult to imagine either Desjardins Online Brokerage or National Bank Direct Brokerage, both of whom are fiercely competitive brands within the Quebec market, making room for Scotia iTRADE to come in and capture mindshare.

Finally, this past week, Scotia iTRADE held a ‘fireside chat’ with personal finance expert Eveyln Jacks on the topic of risk management. This interactive webinar enabled Scotia iTRADE to gather information from attendees (i.e. gather marketing leads) but also demonstrate that they are taking their seminar/webinar formats to the next level. While there are still kinks to be ironed out with the format, unlike several of their peers, Scotia iTRADE is definitely pushing forward faster and more broadly online. And, in a world where DIY investors have so many choices to consider, Scotia iTRADE is making it much harder for them to be overlooked.

Is This Thing On?

A lot of traders know the saying: the trend is your friend (until it ends). For online brokerage Interactive Brokers, there are a couple of trends that are emerging surrounding their online brokerage business, some of which are more friendly than others.

On the positive side, the latest results from Interactive Brokers shows that they continue to crush it with regards to account growth, specifically with attracting more new customers to the platform than having customers leave. It’s actually rather uncanny how long their account growth streak has continued.

On the negative side, when the founder and CEO of the company wonders out loud if the platform is broken because there was no trading activity in the market, there’s definitely something strange in the trading neighbourhood. The impact of a lapse in volatility in the marketplace had a significant negative outcome for market makers (which again continued to lose money) which just goes to show that even the pros have had a tough time trying to time and trade the market when their strategy doesn’t line up with market conditions.

For many brokerages, it will be just a few more weeks until the election is finally over and markets can once again reprice assets without having to hedge against the possibility that Trump may actually win. Until then, however, brokerages and their clients are clearly watching and waiting (except for the brave/impatient few who are already betting into the election).

Qtrade Investor Quietly Drops Fees

Late last week Qtrade Investor sent an announcement to clients stating that ECN charges, the annoying fees that chew into trading profits because of market orders, were being dropped…sort of.

Technically Qtrade Investor reserves the right to charge ECN fees however they have described the situation of when those fees would be incurred as when an individual’s trading pattern makes “repeated, high volume trades on the active side of the market.” In other words, for most low to moderately active investors, this is definitely welcomed news from Qtrade.

While the technical definitions/limits were not spelled out (e.g. how many trades within a specific time frame is too many), Qtrade Investor did go on to mention that in the event of “excessive” trading that generates ECN fees, a Qtrade client service representative will attempt to contact the client.

Undoubtedly, the recent introduction of youth-focused pricing, some commission-free ETF trading and now removal of ECN fees will bode well for Qtrade in Rob Carrick’s online brokerage rankings. With the landscape for DIY investing clients being so competitive, however, there’s a fairly decent chance this news gets broadcast much more loudly before and after those rankings.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

It was a relatively tame week across Twitter for Canadian discount brokerages. Nonetheless there are some interesting client service moments that highlight why Twitter is a must-have for DIY investing clients looking to get traction on customer service issues with certain online brokerages. Mentioned this week were BMO InvestorLine, Questrade, Scotia iTrade & TD Direct Investing.

From the Forums

How Smart is Your Folio?

Seems like there aren’t many places investors can go online these days without bumping into a BMO Smartfolio advertisement.  In this post from RedFlagDeals.com’s investing thread, one curious investor took the marketing to the market to find out what others had to say about BMO’s robo-investor service.

Snug as a Bug

This was an interesting post from a Questrade user also posted on RedFlagDeals.com that highlights the importance of actually keeping tabs on a portfolio. Yes, even technology can fail, however as the author of the post suggests, staying on top of the details helped prevent a potentially bad trade.

Into the Close

TGIF. It’s been a bumpy ride to land the work week. If you still aren’t sick of the debate coverage yet and you want a great chuckle courtesy of the fine folks on Twitter, enjoy the hashtag #trumpbookreport.

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – October 14, 2016

Like the Toronto Blue Jays’ bats, fall colours are also in full swing.  As we head into the halfway point in October this edition of the roundup has an equally interesting feature – something that all Canadian online brokerages are going to want to tune into.

In this week’s roundup, we lead off with a spotlight piece on deals and promotions – specifically we present the findings from our reader survey from September that shows that DIY investors and Canadian online brokerages are out of sync and a suggestion on how to make it better. As with our usual menu, we’ll also be covering reactions from DIY investors this week on Twitter and what investors are chatting about on investor forums. For good measure, we’ve also included some of the interesting upcoming investor education events DIY investors might want to check out as the weather gets colder.

Let’s make a deal

Even though RRSP deadline season is months away, it’s already clear that Canadian discount brokerages are collectively ramping up efforts to attract new clientele. And while it’s one thing to work hard, it’s certainly also important to work smart.

As part of our coverage of the Canadian online brokerage landscape, one of the areas we analyze are the deals and promotions offered by discount brokerages to incentivize DIY investors to open a new online trading account.

Last month, we ran an informal one-question poll of visitors to SparxTrading.com that asked: “what is your preferred deal or promo?” and found some fascinating results about what Canadian DIY investors actually want and what they’re being offered.

Before jumping into the results of our deals and promotions survey from last month, it is useful to take a quick look at the deals & promotions that are currently in play.

As of the first week in October, we’ve uncovered 27 live advertised promotions with transfer offers representing and cash back/commission-free trades tied for the largest portion (31% or 8 offers), followed by (contest/other (7 offers) with referrals rounding out the group (three offers). Currently, Desjardins Online Brokerage, Questrade and Scotia iTRADE are tied with the most number of offers (four apiece) while Interactive Brokers Canada is the only brokerage not currently advertising a promotional offer of some sort (note their referral program is not counted because it only offers the individual making the referral a bonus, not the new account holder). Transfer fee coverage offers may be underreported in this count because certain firms may offer it but have not advertised this on their website.

For a bit of background on the poll itself, respondents could choose between the following options:

  • Cash back deals (for just the individual)
  • Commission-free trades (for just the individual)
  • Referral bonuses (me & a friend)
  • Transfer fee coverage
  • Technology items
  • Contest entry/prizes

These choices were selected as they represented the most popular or prevalent promotional offers typically put forward by Canadian discount brokerages. A total of 59 respondents from across Canada participated.

Results

Our poll showed that the overwhelming majority of DIY investors (68%) surveyed stated that they were interested in cash back promotions while commission-free trades came in a distant second at 27%. Transfer fee deals (3%) and technology items (2%) rounded out which offers DIY investors preferred.

What is fascinating to see is just how far off many online brokerage offers are from what investors are actually interested in. Of the 27 deals currently offered by Canadian discount brokerages, only two (which translates into 7%) offer cash back promotions: HSBC InvestDirect and BMO InvestorLine. That is certainly a major disconnect in the marketplace, one that, upon further reflection, just doesn’t quite make sense.

Considering that at least 9 brokerages are prepared to cover transfer fees from accounts from other institutions, it stands to reason that they would offer up as much (perhaps more) for a new client that didn’t put them through the hassle of having to transfer an account. A simple look at some forum comments or on Twitter would show that there are all kinds of issues that can arise that delay a transfer of accounts.

Another interesting finding was that referral or affiliate programs aren’t popular as a first choice. Ironically, all of the referral offers in the market right now actually offer cash back for the person referring and the individual signing up for the account, so it really is a win-win option.

One interpretation of this data suggests that individuals who are looking for a cash back offer don’t necessarily want to go through the effort of finding a referral source. Fortunately for Questrade, for example, they not only have the most competitive offer for referral based deposits, but they also have the easiest system in place for these referrals to be generated. Conversely, Scotia iTRADE and BMO InvestorLine require a bit more effort for each referral.

Finally, it was made abundantly clear that DIY investors were just not that into contests among those who are looking to open an online trading account. It is probably understandable that getting a “chance” at something is akin to playing the lottery except in this case, the payout is far lower and the price of participation astronomically higher. Nonetheless, looking back over the past year, there are numerous examples of Canadian discount brokerages offering up contest entries as a way in which to encourage users to deposit more.

For Canadian discount brokerages, the lesson here seems to be that the market is clearly communicating one thing while most providers are doing another. Like all businesses, online brokerages need to make sensible decisions around adding to their client base, however the results of our survey certainly suggest that a very sensible decision to get attention of new clients is to offer cash back promotions. For those that do offer cash back promotions, even in the affiliate or referral program, that is something that more DIY investors should probably be better aware of.

And, just to show that we’re also into the giving spirit, any Canadian discount brokerage that wants to advertise its cash back offer to visitors of SparxTrading.com may receive up to $250 cash back* for doing so (*conditions apply). Contact us for full terms and conditions.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

Whether you blame it on the rain, or some other stranger things, this past week there was plenty of blame being tossed around on Twitter, mainly due to outages on trading platforms. It’s a great example that shows, whatever the size of the brokerage, online trading can get interrupted. Mentioned this week were BMO InvestorLine, Questrade, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing and Virtual Brokers.

Event Horizon

Fall’s in full swing, and it’s a colourful week ahead for discount brokerage-sponsored investor education events. Here are some upcoming sessions that may be of interest to those curious about technical analysis and trading strategies. A pair of special events for options enthusiasts rounds out this week’s selection.

October 15

Options Education Day Vancouver – Autumn 2016

October 16

Options Education Day Calgary – Autumn 2016

October 18

Scotia iTRADE – Understanding Price Action To Make More Informed Trading Decisions

From the Forums

The price of advice

Everyday there are Canadians who are faced with decisions about where and how they should invest their money. With a crowded landscape, it is interesting to see how first time investors have to navigate the choices given to them by financial services firms. In this post from reddit’s Personal Finance Canada thread, there are lots of interesting suggestions for a novice investor looking for a little help in figuring out how/where to park some capital.

Into the Close

Even though it was a short week, there was certainly no shortage of excitement. While folks in Vancouver and Calgary will be able to learn about options, some other options include hunkering down for a serious weekend of sports watching. For those in Vancouver and other parts of BC – stay safe and dry (as much as you can anyway)! Have a great weekend!

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – October 7, 2016

It’s been a tough week for some birds. Turkeys have seen their number come up, the blue bird of Twitter has seen its number go down, and for Orioles, orange was the new eliminated. Of course, there’s still one cuckoo left set to take the stage on Sunday. Thankfully, the Canadian online brokerage space hasn’t gone to the birds – in fact, far from it. There have been lots of (good) surprises to chirp about.

In this week’s roundup we take a look at how one online brokerage is making 1% make waves with DIY investors and other discount brokerages. Next, we speed through several important developments highlighting trading platforms, security and options training. From there we’ll showcase the latest tweets from DIY investors about Canadian discount brokerages and finally round out with comments from investor forums.

Redefining the Art of the Deal

After watching the Canadian online brokerage space evolve over the past several years, every so often someone makes a bold move that forces the industry as a whole to respond.

This past week, Desjardins Online Brokerage appeared to be that catalyst by launching a new promotional offer that is bound to create waves across the Canadian discount brokerage industry and may ultimately force a re-thinking of how deals are offered at many brokerages.

The latest promotion from Desjardins Online Brokerage offers 1% back (in the form of commission credits) of qualifying deposits into a new account. Qualifying deposits range from $10,000 to $100,000+ which roughly translates into between 10 and 100 commission-free trades at $9.95 per trade.

While they are not the first to offer a 1% rebate (RBC Direct Investing offered a very popular 1% cash back bonus back in 2008), Desjardins Online Brokerage is currently the only brokerage doing so in a very competitive promotional offer field. Unlike the situation just over 8 years ago, competition is much fiercer, commissions are generally lower and there are new players, such as robo-advisors, that are attracting a lot of attention. Clearly Desjardins has opted to “go big” instead of “go home”.

What is likely to make this promotion stand out is the fact that rewards are proportional to the assets deposited. This is in stark contrast to what most discount brokerages typically do which is to reduce the amount of the reward (on a percentage basis) as the amount of money invested increases. Thus, Desjardins’ has put forward a compelling offer for many investors who feel like they get a worse offer the more money they bring with them.

Their choice of an athletic-themed image for this offer is appropriate in more way than one. In the case of Desjardins Online Brokerage, despite their popularity in Quebec, in other regions there is an uphill climb for DIY investors to find out about them.

Previously, their wider marketing efforts, partnership with Stockscores, as well as wins with the JD Power & Associates Investors Satisfaction award had helped make in-roads, especially in Western Canada. Without those visible marketing efforts in play, this promotion may be a signal that they’re preparing to take a run at their more visible counterparts. Based on the year-end expiry dates of the offer, it certainly seems like this may shape up to be a marathon rather than a sprint.

Lightning Roundup

In the early days of October there is no shortage of news to report across the Canadian discount brokerage space. Here are some of the highlights:

WebBroker Doesn’t Look Back

For many users of TD Direct Investing, it seems like this week spelt the end of being able to use the previous interface/layout of their main trading platform WebBroker. In an announcement shared with clients, TD Direct Investing stated that they were officially pulling the plug on the option to use the old WebBroker interface and steering clients into the new layout.

Like any major website change, there were mixed reactions to the new layout and orientation.

And, while the new trading platform interface has been around for several months, this latest announcement from TD Direct Investing also signaled new feature capabilities on the platform, most notable among them being conditional orders. Unlike many of their bank-owned peers, TDDI is moving faster than they have previously to start rolling out new technology, new features and respond to feedback from users. Those who may not like change had better start getting used to more of it, as it seems like change is soon to be the new normal.

Questrade says: ‘If You Like It, Then You Better Put a PIN on It”

Ok so they didn’t actually but arguably Beyoncé’s famous line seems to capture the spirit of Questrade’s latest security feature. Account protection at Questrade account got a little stronger and perhaps more convenient with a new PIN code feature that can be used when interacting with client service agents.

Of course what was much more revealing than the rollout of the PIN system was the passionate response about security at Questrade, notably on two-factor authentication, found in the comments below the post on their company blog.

While catching a bit of heat for rolling out a new security feature is somewhat interesting, it is clear that Questrade has a loyal and active enough client base that is engaging with them on their company blog (as well as across other social media sites). It is a mixed blessing but ultimately having passionate fans means Questrade has to deliver because their users will let the world know one way or another how irreplaceable Questrade is or isn’t.

Options Education Day Vancouver

For those who are interested in learning about all things options, meeting some new contacts and getting a couple of good meals, the Options Education Day Vancouver event will be taking place on October 15th. Sponsors of the event include Desjardins Online Brokerage, TD Direct Investing and Virtual Brokers. More information on the event is available here.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

This week the Blue Jays were not nearly as busy at the blue bird on Twitter. DIY investors were letting a handful of Canadian discount brokerages know just how they were feeling this week. Mentioned were Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing & Virtual Brokers.

From the Forums

Who Cares

It’s not actually a question so much as it is a statement. In the case of this post on reddit’s Personal Finance Canada section, it indicates that Questrade has, through its constant effort of interacting with clients and prospective clients online, earned a much more vocal and passionate following. The post being referenced is about 2 factor authentication vs the PIN system (mentioned above) that rolled out this week. More telling is not so much the topic of security but that Questrade has clearly built a passionate user base.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap on what has been a crazy week across the markets. Of course it won’t be anywhere near as crazy as the US presidential debate (more specifically one of those candidates) on Sunday. Canadian markets are closed on Monday but lookout for some very turbulent trading next week. In the meantime, have a safe, happy and thoroughly enjoyable Thanksgiving!!

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – October 1, 2016

*Updated Oct. 7* For DIY investors, October is shaping up to be a great month for treats. After a quiet start to September it wasn’t too long before deals and promotions from Canadian discount brokerages started to pop up.

With names such as HSBC InvestDirect stepping into the deals pool mid-September and other more familiar players such as Scotia iTRADE and Virtual Brokers coming back onto the field, heading into October there are now 26 live offers for DIY investors to choose from, and several of them are quite compelling.

All in all, more offers came in than left and with more activity predicted on the horizon, it is a great time to be in the market for an online brokerage even if the markets themselves may be a bit wobbly.

As always, we will continue to monitor the deals and promotions but if there are offers that readers may benefit from knowing about, let us know.

Also thanks to everyone who completed our survey last month, we’ll be publishing the results later this month. We have a new quick survey this month so be sure to check it out below.

Expired Offers

Desjardins Online Brokerage commission credit is listed as expired heading into the beginning of October. It will be interesting to see if this offer, which has been running since April of 2015, will finally come to an end or if this offer continues to live on. Also technically expired is the Virtual Brokers transfer fee offer.

Extended Offers

There were no offers that were listed as extended as of the beginning of the month.

New Offers

*Updated Oct. 7 – Desjardins Online Brokerage launched a potentially game changing offer this week. They’re offering a 1% of assets transferred deal in which they are giving 1% of assets transferred (up to $1,000 in commission credits) for deposits of at least $10,000. Unlike many other offers which offer less on a percentage basis the higher the amount the client deposits, Desjardins’ latest offer is a fixed 1% commission-credit. See table below for more details.*

There were a number of offers that crossed our radar in late September however the first official promotion to launch in October is Qtrade Investor’s commission-free ETF buying program for October. As part of this promotion, new and existing clients are eligible to purchase ETFs commission-free all through the month of October. Selling an ETF still incurs a regular trading commission charge. This applies to both US and Canadian ETFs.

Although it technically launched in the last few days of September, Virtual Brokers’ latest offer is likely to pick up steam heading into October. Their latest deal is a relaunch of a previous promotion (which was only offered to existing clients) that offers new Virtual Brokers clients access to 5i Research’s investment/equity analysis for one year. For many DIY investors, getting access to good research and ideas about where with whom to invest is typically a challenge. Perhaps the biggest challenge, however, will be building the awareness and profile of 5i Research products so that DIY investors can gauge whether this deal is enough to drive opening an account with Virtual Brokers.

Survey

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Discount Brokerage Deals

  1. Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions
  2. Referral Promotions
  3. Transfer Fee Promotions
  4. Contests & Other Offers

Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Commission/Cash Offer/Promotion Type Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer Details Link Deadline
Jitney Trade A Sparx Trading exclusive offer! Use the promo code “Sparx Trading” when signing up for a new account with Jitneytrade and receive access to their preferred pricing package. n/a Discounted Commission Rates none For more details click here none
Open and fund a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) with at least $1,000 and you may be eligible to receive 5 commission-free trades. Use promo code 5FREETRADES when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $1,000 5 commission-free trades 60 days 5 commission-free trade offer December 31, 2016
Open and fund a new account at Virtual Brokers with at least $5,000 and you may be eligible to receive 3 months of commission-free equity trading and a $150 USD/mo credit towards Edge Trader Pro for 3 months. Use promo code sent at sign up to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for details. $5,000 3 months commission-free equity trading + $150 USD/mo platform fee rebate. 3 months 3 months free trading / Sign up form for promo code available here none
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage is offering new clients 1% of assets transferred into the new account in the form of commission credits (to a maximum value of $1,000). Minimum qualifying deposit is $10,000. To qualify, individuals will have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code DisnatFlex or email: [email protected]. See details link for more info. $10,000 1% of assets transferred in the form of commission-credits (max credits: $1,000) 6 months Disnat 1% Commission Credit Promo December 31, 2016
Open and fund a new account with HSBC InvestDirect with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,000; D) $250,000; E) $500,000 or F) $1,000,000+ and you may be eligible to receive a cash bonus offer of A) $88; B) $188; C) $288; D) $388; E) $688 or F) $988. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full offer details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000- $499,999 E) $500,000 – $999,999 F) 1,000,000+ Cash back bonus A) $88 B) $188 C) $288 D) $388 E) $688 F) $988 Bonus will be credited to the qualified accounts by July 31, 2017 HSBC InvestDirect Cash Bonus Promo December 30, 2016
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new account with Scotia iTRADE with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,00 or D) $250,000+ and you may be eligible to receive A) 75; B) 150; C) 200 or D) 250 commission-free trades. Use promo code F16FT when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000+ Commission-free trades 90 days 250 free trade offer November 30, 2016
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new account with Scotia iTRADE with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,00 or D) $250,000; E) $500,000 or F) $1,000,000+ and you may be eligible to receive 50 commission free trades plus A) 5,000; B) 7,500; C) 20,000; D) 35,000; E) 50,000 or F) 100,000 SCENE points. Use promo code F16SC when signing up to qualify. Be sure to read terms & conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000- $499,999 E) $500,000 – $999,999 F) 1,000,000+ A) Commission-free trades + B) SCENE reward points 90 days (for trades) SCENE points will be awarded by June 30, 2017. Free trade + SCENE points offer November 30, 2016
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine, and fund it with at least $100,000 and you may be eligible to receive $200 cash back as well as 20 commission free trades. Use promo code Fall200 when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. $100,000 $200 cash back + 20 commission-free equity trades Cash back will be deposited the week of June 5, 2017. Fall 2016 Promotion October 31, 2016

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Oct. 7, 2016 22:30 PT

Referral Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Incentive Structure Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer Deposit Details Link Deadline
Refer a friend to Questrade and when they open an account you receive $25 cash back and they receive either A) $25; B) $50; C) $75; D) $100; or E) $250 depending on the amount deposited amount. Enter code: 476104302388759 during account sign up to qualify. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for eligibility and additional bonus payment structure and minimum balance requirements. A) $1,000 – $9,999 B) $10,000 – $24,999 C) $25,000 – $49,999 D) $50,000 -$99,999 E) $100,000+ $25 cash back (for referrer per referral; $50 bonus cash back for every 3rd referral) For referred individuals: A) $25 cash back B) $50 cash back C) $75 cash back D) $100 cash back E) $250 cash back Cash deposited into Questrade billing account within 7 days after funding period ends (90 days) Refer a friend terms and conditions Code Number: 476104302388759 none
Scotia iTrade If you refer a friend/family member who is not already a Scotia iTrade account holder to them, both you and your friend get a bonus of either cash or free trades. You have to use the referral form to pass along your info as well as your friend/family members’ contact info in order to qualify. There are lots of details/conditions to this deal so be sure to read the details link. A) $10,000 B) $50,000+ A) You(referrer): $50 or 10 free trades; Your “Friend”: $50 or 10 free trades (max total value:$99.90) B) You(referrer): $100 cash or 50 free trades; Your “Friend”: $100 cash or 50 free trades (max total value: $499.50) 60 days Refer A Friend to Scotia iTrade tbd
If you (an existing Virtual Brokers client) refer a friend or family member to open a new account with at least $5,000 you may be eligible to receive $25 cash per referral. For 3 or more referrals Virtual Brokers will add a $50 bonus. Referred individuals depositing either A) $5,000 – $50,000 or B) $50,000+ may be eligible to receive A) $25 or B) $50 cash back. Be sure to read the full terms and conditions carefully for full details. Be sure to read the terms and conditions to this offer carefully for full details. A) $5,000 – $50,000 B) $50,000+ Referrer: $25 per referral; $50 bonus for each 3 or more referrals. Referee: A) $25 B) $50 Cash to be deposited to VB account by August 15, 2016. Cash Referral Program May 31, 2016
BMO InvestorLine If you (an existing BMO InvestorLine client) refer a new client to BMO InvestorLine and they open an account with at least $50,000 the referrer and the referee may both be eligible to receive $50 cash. To qualify the referee must use the email of the referrer that is linked to their BMO InvestorLine account. See terms and conditions for full details. $50,000 You(referrer): $50; Your Friend(referee): $50 Payout occurs 45 days after minimum 90 day holding period(subject to conditions). BMO InvestorLine Refer-a-Friend October 31, 2016

Expired Offers
Open a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) and receive $50 commission credit . Use promo code: kdkfnbbc $1,000 $50 commission credit 30 days none none
Last Updated: Oct. 1, 2016 17:15 PT

Transfer Fee Promotions

Company Brief Description Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount Minimum Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility Details Link Deadline
Transfer $15,000 or more to RBC Direct Investing and they will pay up to $135 in transfer fees $135 $15,000 Transfer Fee Rebate Details none
Transfer $25,000 or more from another brokerage and Credential Direct will cover up to $150 in transfer fees. Use promo code SWITCHME when signing up to qualify for the transfer promotion. $150 $25,000 Credential Direct Transfer Fee Rebate none
Move your brokerage account to Questrade and they’ll cover the transfer-out fee up to $150. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee Promo none
Transfer at least $25,000 or more in new assets to TD Direct Investing when opening a new account and you may qualify to have transfer fees reimbursed up to $150. Be sure to contact TD Direct Investing for further details. $150 $25,000 Contact client service for more information (1-800-465-5463). none
Transfer $25,000 or more to Qtrade Investor from another brokerage and Qtrade Investor may cover up to $150 in transfer fees. See terms and conditions for more details. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Transfer $25,000 or more to Virtual Brokers and they may cover up to $150 in transfer fees. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee promo September 30, 2016
Scotia iTrade Transfer $25,000 or more to Scotia iTRADE when opening a new account and they will cover up to $150 in transfer fees. $150 $25,000 Eligible with both offers: Free trade + SCENE points offer and 250 free trade offer November 30, 2016
Transfer $25,000 or more into a CIBC Investor’s Edge account and they will reimburse up to $135 in brokerage transfer fees. Clients must call customer service to request rebate after transfer made. $135 $25,000 Confirmed with reps. Contact client service for more information (1-800-567-3343). none
Transfer $25,000 or more to a National Bank Direct Brokerage account and they will pay up to $135 plus taxes in transfer fees $135 $25,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Disnat Disnat is offering up to $150 to cover the cost of transfer fees from another institution. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code Disnat500. See details link for more info. $150 $50,000 Disnat $500 Commission Credit Promo September 30, 2016

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Oct. 1, 2016 17:15 PT

Other Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Required Details Link Deadline
Credential Direct has partnered with Trend Micro to offer 50% off Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security. Use code “TrendCF” at checkout. n/a Trend Micro Special Offer Code none
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage, in conjunction with MoneyTalks, is offering 3 months of the “Inside Edge” investor information service to Desjardins Online Brokerage clients. Use promo code DESJ2016 during checkout to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for more information. n/a MoneyTalks Inside Edge Discount none
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage is offering $50 in commission credits for new Disnat Classic clients depositing at least $1,000. See terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 Broker@ge 18-30 Promotion none
Scotia iTrade Scotiabank StartRight customers can receive 10 commission-free trades when investing $1,000 or more in a new Scotia iTrade account. Trades are good for use for up to 1 year from the date the account is funded. Use promo code SRPE15 when applying (in English) or SRPF15 when applying in French. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 StartRight Free Trade offer none
Open a new account with Virtual Brokers with a deposit of at least $1,000 (for the Classic Commission Account) or $5,000 (for the Commission Free Trading Account) and you may be eligible to receive a one-year subscription to access 5i Research. Use promo code 5iVB2016 when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 (Classic Commission Account); $5,000 (Commission Free Trading Account) 5i Research Offer March 31, 2017
For the month of October, Qtrade Investor is offering commission-free ETF purchasing on all Canadian and US ETFs. This offer is open to new and existing clients. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details, including minimum purchase amounts. $1,000 (minimum purchase amount) Commission-free ETF Purchase Promotion October 31, 2016

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Oct. 1, 17:15 PT
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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – September 9, 2016

A famous football movie said sometimes life is a game of inches. As the busy season for investors and brokerages kicks off, it looks like there are lots of interesting changes, big and small, that are taking place in and around the brokerage industry, to win over new clients. From growing a client base to new leadership to new products or services, this week has a little bit of everything thrown in.

On the docket this week, we’ll take a look at a lot of little developments across the board. Starting first with stats from one independent discount brokerage that shows they’re making strides with investors. Next we highlight one online brokerage that’s looking for a new vision and some leadership and what that reveals about their plans for the future. After that, we’ve got a new trading app launched from one Canadian brokerage who’s doubling down on mobile trading. From there we’ll take a look at the latest pitch being made to millennial investors and whether it’s a hit or a miss. And finally we’ll recap what DIY investors were chatting about on social media and in the investor forums.

Interactive Brokers’ mixed metrics

The stat sheet from Interactive Brokers’ August trading figures paints an interesting picture of the landscape for online brokerages. On the one hand, it looks like trading volume has significantly diminished compared to last year at the same time. A drop off of 22% on a year over year basis as well as a 4% decline compared to July’s figures suggests the volatility picture is very different this year than last. On the other hand, metrics such as margin loan balances, credit balances and most notably client accounts all continue to show growth compared to last year and last month.

 BMO InvestorLine looking for new president

What does it take to be the president of a Canadian online brokerage? It is an interesting question that was prompted by the recent online posting for a new president at BMO InvestorLine.

Longtime observers of the Canadian online brokerage space will note that senior leadership in the online brokerage space tends to have quite a bit of turnover. Within the past several years, however, BMO InvestorLine in particular has seen a number of individuals take the helm and so it is interesting to be able to take a look at what they’re hoping to bring in.

Aside from the expected components of being a solid leader, there appears to be a trend towards becoming increasingly technologically proficient and to a degree, prescient. To be able to craft a strategy for 3 to 5 years into the future takes a certain comfort level with seeing the big picture for the self-directed investing industry but also being able to track where and how technology will evolve for consumers who also happen to be investors, which is no easy ask.

To that end, it is telling that a core component to the strategy of BMO InvestorLine is to try to become a “technology leader”.

Ironically, this exchange on Twitter (also shown below) that happened just a few days ago showcases the jumping off point the new President is working from. This certainly suggests that there are some hearts, minds and browsers that need some adjusting before “technology leader” springs to mind for many DIY investors when thinking of BMO InvestorLine.

screengrab from Twitter

Regardless of who lands in the driver’s seat next, we’re happy to extend an invite to the BMO InvestorLine team (some of whom are regular readers of the roundup) or the future president to drop us a line if you’re interested in achieving some of your strategic objectives.

Desjardins Online Brokerage launches a new app

On the technology theme, earlier this month Desjardins Online Brokerage released a new app for its Disnat Classic clients on both iOS and Android.

The new mobile trading app adds another way in which to access the Desjardins Online Brokerage or Disnat online trading experience since there is already a mobile site that enables DIY investors to perform the essential functions of trading online.

Some key features of the app include streamlined account summaries, clean charting and an easy to use interface for placing orders or checking their status.

In terms of response, the early ratings in the respective app stores appears to be positive. With a user interface that appears modern and in line with better practices, users have given the app close to a 4.5 out 5-star rating on Android and 3.5 star rating for iOS – the new mobile experience has managed to score high praise (albeit with a small number of reviews) compared to other online brokerage mobile apps.

Active traders who use the Disnat Direct platform, however, are out of luck for the moment. Nevertheless, it appears that evolving the online user experience, especially on mobile, is definitely now on the radar and task list of the team at Desjardins Online Brokerage.

TD Direct Investing selling the sizzle

In a news release yesterday, TD Direct Investing shared some interesting data on what millennials seem to think about DIY investing.

The data, derived from a survey of about 1750 “millennials” which took place between February and March of this year, suggested that a lack of money and know-how were the key barriers to getting started with investing. Also, given the insane volatility at the time, it shows that timing market surveys on the stock market is also a tricky gig – but we digress.

According to TD Direct Investing, there are 3 tips (labelled the “ABC”) which they are hoping might inspire some younger investors to look more closely at the DIY investing world:

  1. Act Now
  2. Brush up on the basics
  3. Choose your own adventure

 

The nudge towards considering DIY investing comes at an interesting time for the wealth management landscape.

An increasing number of ‘millennial’ investors are being courted by and turning to robo-advisors, the digital wealth management solution that can cut out the tasks of having to act, learn or choose. Showcasing the benefits of DIY investing over and above the robo-advisor route won’t be an easy sell.

Robo’s aren’t the only challenge for Canada’s largest online brokerage either. It looks like they’re increasingly being surrounded by programs or promotions aimed squarely at the same audience they’re hoping to reach.

Last week we reported on Qtrade Investor launching a young investor pricing program as well as highlighting several other initiatives from online brokerages that are directly targeting ‘younger’ (aka millennial) investors.

In TD Direct Investing’s case, this press release might be the signal that they’re preparing to respond more emphatically to the changes going on in the DIY investing space, which should be an interesting set of adventures for all.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

On a short week it may have been a week to be short. Either way clients chimed in about some of the issues on their minds. Mentioned this week were BMO InvestorLine, Questrade, Scotia iTRADE and TD Direct Investing.

From the Forums

Drinking the not-so-Kool Aid

Well this is a new one. This post on reddit from one supposed bank-owned brokerage employee provides an interesting window into a) airing grievances about a job to the world and b) what happens with your trading accounts when you start working in the industry. Fascinating stuff.

What to do with 5K?

Crowdsourcing financial advice seems like an interesting approach to money management however it’s clearly a sign of the times. On this post from the Personal Finance Canada subreddit, one keen would-be investor wanted to know what the best route forward would be to deploy the hard earned cash.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap for this week’s roundup. Coming off the long weekend last weekend, it’s nice to have this one show up a little sooner. For sports fans, it’s a great weekend with football back on the timetable north and south of the border, the Paralympics in Rio and hockey back in focus. Also it’s a welcome distraction from the nuttiness that was today’s trading day – and speaking of distractions, this post on Facebook should hopefully provide a welcomed dose of the chuckles. Have a great weekend!

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – September 2, 2016

September’s here and it’s all about the kids – well at least what some people consider to be kids anyway. After a summer spent huddled away figuring out what the ‘cool kids’ of investing may want, the Canadian discount brokerages have launched into September with some new features that are clearly aimed at winning the interest of millennials.

In this week’s roundup we start with a look at the latest deals and promotions activity from Canadian discount brokerages to see which deals dropped and which ones popped heading into the busy season for investors and brokerages alike. Next, we’ll take a look at the first in a series of exciting rollouts from one online brokerage that has upped the ante for firms interested in working with millennial investors. From there we’ll take a look at one bank-owned brokerage’s foray into commission-free ETF investing and what that means for DIY investors and other brokerages big and small. As usual, we’ll cap off the roundup with chatter from across Twitter and the Canadian investing forums.

Deals update

If this week is any indicator, the final stretch of 2016 will be an interesting one to watch, especially in terms of deals and promotions. To start September, the current landscape of promotional offers appears to be quite close to where things were in August, with 21 open offers available for DIY investors to choose from, slightly lower than the 23 there were last month.

At first blush it looks like Canadian discount brokerages are playing the busy fall stretch close to the vest. Case in point is the expiry date for a couple of key players’ offers.

BMO InvestorLine, for example, replaced their summer cash back offer with a much simpler cash back and commission-free trade “fall promotion.” Despite the length of the season, this offer is currently scheduled to expire on October 31st. As any good options trader knows, however, BMO InvestorLine has the right but not the obligation to let the offer expire, extend it or replace it with something different.

Another interesting expiry date was spotted on Desjardins Online Brokerage’s long standing $500 commission-credit offer. Previously this offer was set to expire at the end of August however it was extended yet again but this time only a month out until the end of September.

These maneuvers, however small, signal that the last stretch of 2016 still has some surprises. BMO InvestorLine, for example, will be rolling out new features so there may, in fact, be further related updates or incentives to coincide with that launch. Additionally, Desjardins Online Brokerage is now tied with Questrade in offering the most number of concurrent offers (there are four each in the categories we track). And, let’s not forget the fact that there are a dozen other brokerages that are constantly working to improve their position in the very competitive market for investors.

Another interesting observation coming into the new month is that Virtual Brokers has yet to roll out a new offer. If the past several months is an indicator, that won’t be the case for too long. Other noteworthy absences from the ‘commission-free’ or ‘free-trade’ categories this month include Scotia iTRADE.

There are also two other very exciting developments in the deals/promos section.

First, for investors, we’ve started to collect data on what kinds of deals are the most important to DIY investors. To fill out the survey click here – we’ll be publishing the results of this after the end of the month to see what incentive offers SparxTrading.com users are looking for.

The second exciting development is that we will be rolling out a more formal industry snapshot report (paid), aimed towards professionals who want to track what’s going on in the Canadian discount brokerage space.  Anyone interested in receiving the report can click here to let us know. We’ll notify you when we plan on going live.

Just two days into September, its already shaping up to be a month in which there are going to be many changes as well as the potential for deals activity to tick up based on the new features being rolled out at many of Canada’s discount brokerages.

Made for Millennials: Qtrade Launches Younger Investor Pricing

Big news coming out of Qtrade Investor this week as they rolled out a new pricing plan aimed at younger investors. Specifically, Qtrade is offering DIY investors aged 18 to 30 a break on commission pricing, no account minimums, and no quarterly administrative fees.

Screenshot from Qtrade Investor homepage

The move positions Qtrade well heading into the online brokerage rankings from the Globe and Mail this fall. Already a long-time favourite of Rob Carrick, the fact that Qtrade’s new pricing plan caters to the ‘millennial’ investor, a segment that gets particular focus in the Globe and Mail discount brokerage rankings, is sure to score points.

In terms of specifics, this new plan lowers the standard commission price for qualifying individuals to $7.75 per trade instead of the standard $8.75, (ECN fees are still charged with this plan). At Qtrade Investor this is a significant savings as the only other ways to get a lower commission price are to have at least $500,000 in assets with Qtrade or to trade at least 150 times per quarter. The biggest score with younger investors, however, will be absence of an account minimum balance and a waived account maintenance fee.

It is noteworthy to point out that while Qtrade Investor is not the only Canadian discount brokerage to waive fees based on age, they do offer the longest age range of their competitors, matching what Desjardins Online Brokerage (whose parent owns a significant portion in Qtrade) has done with their Broker@ge program for individuals aged 18 to 30.

Both Questrade and Virtual brokers offer to waive account maintenance fees for individuals however for Questrade the age limit is 25 and for Virtual Brokers it’s age 26. Interactive Brokers also offers a lower minimum account balance ($,3000 instead of $10,000) for individuals aged 25 and under. RBC Direct Investing also offers to waive its quarterly inactivity fee for individuals who have a student banking package (or who had one in the last 5 years), so while not by age, it is still geared towards younger investors.

As with all good things, there usually is a catch and in the case of the ‘young investor’ program at Qtrade Investor, one of the requirements to qualify is that individuals sign up for a $50 per month pre-authorized contribution. While it does mean having to continuously contribute, the contribution requirements are lower than pre-authorized deposit amounts that typically come in at $100 per month elsewhere (see RBC Direct Investing for example) so clearly the team at Qtrade Investor has done some homework to put together a compelling offer.

Catherine Wood, Senior Vice President at Qtrade Investor offered the following comment regarding the launch of the new pricing for young investors:

“It’s important for Qtrade Investor to be a top choice for a new generation of Canadian self-managed investors, and we are seeing a big surge in the number of younger clients opening accounts. Younger investors are astute when it comes to assessing and comparing competing services and they know it’s important to keep their costs down. By reducing our commissions and fees, we can help them kickstart their portfolios and build their assets more quickly.”

It will be interesting to see how Qtrade Investor, a firm that has a very solid reputation for delivering quality customer service experiences over the phone and email, navigates a world where expectations for live chat and twitter have taken hold.

That said, without a doubt, this move is going to attract all kinds of interest in Qtrade and how they handle working with younger investors will ultimately determine whether or not ‘the cool kids’ give this new program the fist-bump of approval.

National Bank Direct Brokerage goes Commission Free for Eh-TFs

After several test runs with offering commission-free ETF trading for Canadian ETFs, it looks like National Bank Direct Brokerage is ready to roll out this feature to all clients starting September 1st. And, with well over 550 Canadian ETFs to choose from, this handily positions National Bank Direct Brokerage as having the most commission-free ETFs (to both buy and sell) of any Canadian discount brokerage.

Within the Canadian online brokerage space, the term “commission-free” ETF warrants some clarification. They key for DIY investors is to distinguish between offers that allow commission-free buying and selling and those that are commission-free to buy but not to sell.

For example, firms such as Questrade and Virtual Brokers offer “commission-free” buying of all ETFs, US or Canadian, but charge trading commissions on the sale of the ETF. Alternatively, Qtrade, Scotia iTRADE and Virtual Brokers offer selections of ETFs that are commission-free to buy and to sell. Prior to this roll-out, Virtual Brokers held the highest number of ETFs that could be traded (bought and sold) commission-free at 100, however opening up all Canadian ETFs to be traded commission-free means that National Bank Direct Brokerage now offers the most competitive selection. By a lot.

Screenshot from National Bank Direct Brokerage Website

Like all offers this good, it’s important to ask about the fine print or if there are any important terms and conditions. In this case, there are a few important considerations to this offer. First, there is a minimum quantity of ETF units (100) that need to be purchased in a transaction in order for it to qualify for commission-free status. This is not an insignificant number of units for many beginner investors or modest portfolios. Next, the list of eligible ETFs is determined by those that are published by the Canadian ETF association (that list of ETFs had 568 funds on it as of July 31st and is accessible here). Other important caveats are that commission-free trades don’t count towards activity thresholds that qualify investors for discounts on commission pricing, platforms or administrative fees.

Strategically, this new feature will clearly appeal to the growing number of investors interested in ETFs as well as with a strategic segment that many DIY investor firms are looking at: millennials. Offering up commission-free Canadian ETFs also positions National Bank Direct Brokerage as a worthy competitor to other bank-owned brokerages.

In their news release announcing the launch of this program, President of National Bank Direct Brokerage Laurent Blanchard commented

“We’re changing the online brokerage landscape, no transaction fees for all ETFs listed in Canada. This will make online investing more accessible for a greater number of investors. At the same time, it ensures that National Bank Direct Brokerage remains at the forefront of innovation.”

The latest offering from National Bank Direct Brokerage is a great development for DIY investors.

At a minimum there is at least one bank-owned brokerage that is prepared to meet a growing need for access to ETFs at a low cost and this fact alone may entice another bank-owned brokerage to improve its ETF offering.

Another reason this is advantageous for DIY investors, and perhaps a challenge to competitor firms such as Questrade and Virtual Brokers, is that the value proposition has to improve at these independent firms without pushing the cost of operating an account up. Thus, services will have to get better or if they remain the same they have to be cheaper.

This is still early days in what’s shaping up to be a very busy end of summer/fall season, there may be some very interesting counter offers coming.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

This week’s hits and misses from Canadian discount brokerages highlight the fact that online brokerages need to be ready to answer all kinds of questions. Mentioned this week were CIBC Investor’s Edge, Questrade, Scotia iTRADE and TD Direct Investing.

From the Forums

Too good to be free?

In this post from Canadian money forum, National Bank Direct Brokerage’s commission free ETF announcement started to make waves. Of course, more than a few skeptics were wondering how it would be possible to let investors trade ETFs commission free. More than a couple of interesting theories there. Also in this post from reddit, there’s an interesting view on the 100 unit minimum purchase.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap on a busy week. Markets are closed on Monday for Labour Day so hope everyone has a wonderful and safe long weekend!

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – September 1, 2016

*Update: 9/23/16* At the outset of September, the discount brokerage deals & promotions activity appears to have contracted slightly but still remains reasonably healthy for any DIY investor searching for a deal.
With 21 offers in the mix, there are certainly deals to be had and certain brokerages, such as Desjardins Online Brokerage (Disnat) and Questrade, are extra hungry for business and are offering up multiple incentives. Based on the time of year and from discussions with brokerages over the summer, there are likely more offers coming across the fall however the exact timing and nature of those is not quite confirmed so deal watchers will want to continue monitoring.

Another exciting development is that we’re curious to know what you, our valued readers, find to be the best deal from a Canadian discount brokerage. Be sure to fill out the following survey to let us know.

We’ll continue to monitor the deals and promotions activity and report back here when we have an update. As always, if there’s an offer out there that we’ve missed, let us know and we’ll post it here.

Extended Deals

Of the handful of promos that were scheduled to expire at the end of August, the deal that made it through was Desjardins Online Brokerage’s long-standing commission credit offer. The new expiry date has been bumped to September 30th.

Expired Deals

The sun has gone down on three offers heading into September. The first is National Bank Direct Brokerage’s discounted margin promotion. Folks on the inside are going to be crunching some numbers to see if or when something like this might make a comeback. A second offer to expire is the Virtual Brokers 7th anniversary contest draw. This promotion required entrants to not only track down a special symbol on a page (think scavenger hunt) but also open an account with the code they retrieved by finding the special symbol. Points for creativity. Finally, BMO InvestorLine retired their summer cash back offer and kept the seasonal theme alive by replacing it with a ‘Fall’ themed one (more details on that below)

New Deals

*Update: 9/23/16 – HSBC InvestDirect has joined the deals & promotions section this month with a new and potentially disruptive cash back offer. Starting at $88 cash back for deposits of at least $25,000 and going up to $988 back for $1M+ deposits, this offer is sure to get attention from other discount brokerages as it is one of the highest cash-back only offers currently available. See table below for more details*

*Update: 9/16/16 – Scotia iTRADE has jumped back into the deals game in a big way this week by adding in two new offers. The first is a combination offer that consists of commission-free trades and SCENE points. These points can be redeemed either for free movies at Cineplex theaters or at partners that accept SCENE points such as Sport Chek or restaurants owned by CARA (such as Harveys and Swiss Chalet). The second offer to hit the deals wire is a basic commission-free trade offer. Depending on the amount deposited (minimum tier is at least $25,000) eligible clients can receive between 75 and 250 commission-free trades. See table below for more info.

BMO InvestorLine was the only Canadian discount brokerage to launch into the new month with a brand new promotion. On deck for DIY investors with $100,000 or more is an offer for $200 cash back and 20 commission free trades. This fall-season offer lasts until October 31st and features some very detailed (and well-explained) terms and conditions. More info below.

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Discount Brokerage Deals

  1. Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions
  2. Referral Promotions
  3. Transfer Fee Promotions
  4. Contests & Other Offers

Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Commission/Cash Offer/Promotion Type Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer Details Link Deadline
Jitney Trade A Sparx Trading exclusive offer! Use the promo code “Sparx Trading” when signing up for a new account with Jitneytrade and receive access to their preferred pricing package. n/a Discounted Commission Rates none For more details click here none
Open and fund a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) with at least $1,000 and you may be eligible to receive 5 commission-free trades. Use promo code 5FREETRADES when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $1,000 5 commission-free trades 60 days 5 commission-free trade offer December 31, 2016
Open and fund a new account at Virtual Brokers with at least $5,000 and you may be eligible to receive 3 months of commission-free equity trading and a $150 USD/mo credit towards Edge Trader Pro for 3 months. Use promo code sent at sign up to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for details. $5,000 3 months commission-free equity trading + $150 USD/mo platform fee rebate. 3 months 3 months free trading / Sign up form for promo code available here none
Open and fund a new account with HSBC InvestDirect with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,000; D) $250,000; E) $500,000 or F) $1,000,000+ and you may be eligible to receive a cash bonus offer of A) $88; B) $188; C) $288; D) $388; E) $688 or F) $988. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full offer details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000- $499,999 E) $500,000 – $999,999 F) 1,000,000+ Cash back bonus A) $88 B) $188 C) $288 D) $388 E) $688 F) $988 Bonus will be credited to the qualified accounts by July 31, 2017 HSBC InvestDirect Cash Bonus Promo December 30, 2016
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new account with Scotia iTRADE with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,00 or D) $250,000+ and you may be eligible to receive A) 75; B) 150; C) 200 or D) 250 commission-free trades. Use promo code F16FT when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000+ Commission-free trades 90 days 250 free trade offer November 30, 2016
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new account with Scotia iTRADE with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,00 or D) $250,000; E) $500,000 or F) $1,000,000+ and you may be eligible to receive 50 commission free trades plus A) 5,000; B) 7,500; C) 20,000; D) 35,000; E) 50,000 or F) 100,000 SCENE points. Use promo code F16SC when signing up to qualify. Be sure to read terms & conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000- $499,999 E) $500,000 – $999,999 F) 1,000,000+ A) Commission-free trades + B) SCENE reward points 90 days (for trades) SCENE points will be awarded by June 30, 2017. Free trade + SCENE points offer November 30, 2016
Disnat Disnat is offering new & existing clients up to $500 in commission credits which can be used for up to 6 months. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code Disnat500. See details link for more info. $50,000 $500 commission credit 6 months Disnat $500 Commission Credit Promo September 30, 2016
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine, and fund it with at least $100,000 and you may be eligible to receive $200 cash back as well as 20 commission free trades. Use promo code Fall200 when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. $100,000 $200 cash back + 20 commission-free equity trades Cash back will be deposited the week of June 5, 2017. Fall 2016 Promotion October 31, 2016

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Sep 23 23:30 PT

Referral Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Incentive Structure Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer Deposit Details Link Deadline
Refer a friend to Questrade and when they open an account you receive $25 cash back and they receive either A) $25; B) $50; C) $75; D) $100; or E) $250 depending on the amount deposited amount. Enter code: 476104302388759 during account sign up to qualify. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for eligibility and additional bonus payment structure and minimum balance requirements. A) $1,000 – $9,999 B) $10,000 – $24,999 C) $25,000 – $49,999 D) $50,000 -$99,999 E) $100,000+ $25 cash back (for referrer per referral; $50 bonus cash back for every 3rd referral) For referred individuals: A) $25 cash back B) $50 cash back C) $75 cash back D) $100 cash back E) $250 cash back Cash deposited into Questrade billing account within 7 days after funding period ends (90 days) Refer a friend terms and conditions Code Number: 476104302388759 none
Scotia iTrade If you refer a friend/family member who is not already a Scotia iTrade account holder to them, both you and your friend get a bonus of either cash or free trades. You have to use the referral form to pass along your info as well as your friend/family members’ contact info in order to qualify. There are lots of details/conditions to this deal so be sure to read the details link. A) $10,000 B) $50,000+ A) You(referrer): $50 or 10 free trades; Your “Friend”: $50 or 10 free trades (max total value:$99.90) B) You(referrer): $100 cash or 50 free trades; Your “Friend”: $100 cash or 50 free trades (max total value: $499.50) 60 days Refer A Friend to Scotia iTrade tbd
If you (an existing Virtual Brokers client) refer a friend or family member to open a new account with at least $5,000 you may be eligible to receive $25 cash per referral. For 3 or more referrals Virtual Brokers will add a $50 bonus. Referred individuals depositing either A) $5,000 – $50,000 or B) $50,000+ may be eligible to receive A) $25 or B) $50 cash back. Be sure to read the full terms and conditions carefully for full details. Be sure to read the terms and conditions to this offer carefully for full details. A) $5,000 – $50,000 B) $50,000+ Referrer: $25 per referral; $50 bonus for each 3 or more referrals. Referee: A) $25 B) $50 Cash to be deposited to VB account by August 15, 2016. Cash Referral Program May 31, 2016
BMO InvestorLine If you (an existing BMO InvestorLine client) refer a new client to BMO InvestorLine and they open an account with at least $50,000 the referrer and the referee may both be eligible to receive $50 cash. To qualify the referee must use the email of the referrer that is linked to their BMO InvestorLine account. See terms and conditions for full details. $50,000 You(referrer): $50; Your Friend(referee): $50 Payout occurs 45 days after minimum 90 day holding period(subject to conditions). BMO InvestorLine Refer-a-Friend October 31, 2016

Expired Offers
Open a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) and receive $50 commission credit . Use promo code: kdkfnbbc $1,000 $50 commission credit 30 days none none
Last Updated: Sept. 1, 2016 13:10PT

Transfer Fee Promotions

Company Brief Description Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount Minimum Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility Details Link Deadline
Transfer $15,000 or more to RBC Direct Investing and they will pay up to $135 in transfer fees $135 $15,000 Transfer Fee Rebate Details none
Transfer $25,000 or more from another brokerage and Credential Direct will cover up to $150 in transfer fees. Use promo code SWITCHME when signing up to qualify for the transfer promotion. $150 $25,000 Credential Direct Transfer Fee Rebate none
Move your brokerage account to Questrade and they’ll cover the transfer-out fee up to $150. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee Promo none
Transfer at least $25,000 or more in new assets to TD Direct Investing when opening a new account and you may qualify to have transfer fees reimbursed up to $150. Be sure to contact TD Direct Investing for further details. $150 $25,000 Contact client service for more information (1-800-465-5463). none
Transfer $25,000 or more to Qtrade Investor from another brokerage and Qtrade Investor may cover up to $150 in transfer fees. See terms and conditions for more details. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Transfer $25,000 or more to Virtual Brokers and they may cover up to $150 in transfer fees. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee promo September 30, 2016
Scotia iTrade Transfer $25,000 or more to Scotia iTRADE when opening a new account and they will cover up to $150 in transfer fees. $150 $25,000 Eligible with both offers: Free trade + SCENE points offer and 250 free trade offer November 30, 2016
Transfer $25,000 or more into a CIBC Investor’s Edge account and they will reimburse up to $135 in brokerage transfer fees. Clients must call customer service to request rebate after transfer made. $135 $25,000 Confirmed with reps. Contact client service for more information (1-800-567-3343). none
Transfer $25,000 or more to a National Bank Direct Brokerage account and they will pay up to $135 plus taxes in transfer fees $135 $25,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Disnat Disnat is offering up to $150 to cover the cost of transfer fees from another institution. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code Disnat500. See details link for more info. $150 $50,000 Disnat $500 Commission Credit Promo September 30, 2016

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Sept. 16, 2016 22:10 PT

Other Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Required Details Link Deadline
Credential Direct has partnered with Trend Micro to offer 50% off Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security. Use code “TrendCF” at checkout. n/a Trend Micro Special Offer Code none
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage, in conjunction with MoneyTalks, is offering 3 months of the “Inside Edge” investor information service to Desjardins Online Brokerage clients. Use promo code DESJ2016 during checkout to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for more information. n/a MoneyTalks Inside Edge Discount none
Disnat Desjardins Online Brokerage is offering $50 in commission credits for new Disnat Classic clients depositing at least $1,000. See terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 Broker@ge 18-30 Promotion none
Scotia iTrade Scotiabank StartRight customers can receive 10 commission-free trades when investing $1,000 or more in a new Scotia iTrade account. Trades are good for use for up to 1 year from the date the account is funded. Use promo code SRPE15 when applying (in English) or SRPF15 when applying in French. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for full details. $1,000 StartRight Free Trade offer none

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Sept. 1, 13:30 PT
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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – August 19, 2016

With the 2016 Rio Olympics staring down the final stretch, it has been quite the run for Team Canada and for many athletes the world over. Like the athletes who are focused on getting themselves on the podium next time, Canadian discount brokerages who want to win understand that training to be better happens day in and day out.

In this week’s roundup we take a look at the activity that is starting to pick up as discount brokerages head into their busier season. First we’ll review the latest movement in the investor education space and how brokerages are positioning themselves to leverage this offering heading into the fall. Next, we take a look at one independent brokerage’s quest to keep on improving. From there we’ll take a look at what DIY investors had to say on Twitter and close out this roundup with chatter from the investor forums.

See you in September

After a relatively quiet (on the surface anyway) summer it looks like investor education is poised to step back into the spotlight this September.

In last week’s roundup we took a look at the latest iteration of the investor education offering from Scotia iTRADE, “iTRADE U” which is essentially a splashier remake of their existing offering of seminars and webinars along with a dedicated course on the basics of investing.

This past week, it looks like TD Direct Investing revived their investor education calendar with a number of in-person seminars being planned for September. A closer look at the breakdown of content at TD’s seminars highlights the major focus they’re putting on training clients on how to use the standard TD Direct Investing trading platform: TD’s WebBroker. Interestingly, this past week was also the 20th anniversary for the WebBroker platform and to mark the event, TD shared this on their Twitter feed.

One of the challenges of being an online brokerage is certainly keeping costs down, which is why most Canadian online brokerages don’t put together original content on investing/trading, choosing instead to partner with 3rd party providers of educational services.

The original content that most brokerages provide as “education”, however, centers around platform training and orientation. One notable exception is TD Direct Investing, which has done quite a bit of work putting together original instructional content on trading basics into webinar and seminar format.

For those brokerages that may not be actively presenting educational content, the next best thing is to be associated with that content being presented.

Fortunately for Canadian discount brokerages, the Toronto MoneyShow will be rolling into town September 16th to 18th and there are a number of online brokerages who will be attending.

Toronto’s MoneyShow will be the only Canadian stop for the investment conference franchise and it will feature some of the most well-known personalities in DIY investing and personal finance such as Tom Sossonoff, Rob Carrick, Peter Hodson, Dan Bortolotti and many more. Everything from stock picking strategies to options, ETFs and, of course, Canadian real estate will be on the menu for attendees to learn about.

So far the Canadian discount brokerages who are listed as exhibitors at this event include:

  • CIBC Investor’s Edge
  • Desjardins Online Brokerage
  • National Bank Direct Brokerage
  • Virtual Brokers

With September just around the corner, there may still be more educational offerings to come to market as the planning that has taken place over the summer will finally be rolled out into action.

For DIY investors, the upside is that there are likely to be a handful of very interesting and relevant speakers and presentations that can help navigate how to trade around the US presidential election later this year.

Questrade swipes right on design

Lots of successful athletes know that the off season is a chance to get in great shape for when the real games begin. For Canadian discount brokerages, summertime is generally when things appear to gear down, however as Questrade has shown, they’ve been hard at work putting together some noteworthy upgrades to their trading and user experience.

Earlier this summer, Questrade announced upgrades to its online trading interface and user website navigation and last week they announced upcoming upgrades to their mobile trading experience.

The investment in making it easier, more intuitive and, crucially, more reliable to use online trading services is something all discount brokerages (who are serious about competing) are doing.

In the case of Questrade, their latest rollout shows that they are one of the only Canadian online brokerages building a bespoke trading platform experience on mobile as well as being on point communicating about it.

In terms of specifics, the upgrades to their mobile trading experience feature improvements to buying or selling stocks from quotes pages, improved options trading capabilities as well as enhancements to market depth (level 2) data for those subscribed to that service.

To access the new features users will have to download and install a new app which is scheduled to roll out in September. Getting a new app may be a way to hit restart the ratings and rankings on the app store. Currently the Questrade IQ mobile app is rated with 1.5 stars across 480 ratings on the iTunes store and 2.5 stars on the Google Play store – not a stunning endorsement of the mobile experience.

At this point, financial services firms and especially DIY investing firms, can only ignore good design for so long.

Robo-advisors, which have been growing rapidly in popularity with index investors, have been paying attention to and building mobile experiences for investors that are far cleaner than what most of what Canada’s discount brokerages currently offer to their customers. For comparison, Wealthsimple’s app has scored 4+ stars on both the Google and iTunes stores with a healthy amount of reviews to make that score meaningful.

Early adopters will certainly be eager to test drive and share their experiences with others as soon as the new product rolls out; Questrade, on the other hand, is hoping that the new reboot will be enough to win back some client love while also putting up a solid challenge to the robots.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

This week's tweets highlight a few outages with some major players. Mentioned in the twitterverse were BMO InvestorLine, Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTRADE & TD Direct Investing.

 

From the Forums

Credentials Issue

This past week, we received an interesting post about one Credential Direct user’s experience trying to have their account shuttered. Unfortunately, it sounds like quite a frustrating scenario but one that might offer some important lessons for those thinking about how easy (or difficult) it might be to move money out of a brokerage account.

Opportunities Abroad

With the focus on countries from all across the globe, it’s natural that some investors would be curious on how to trade internationally listed stocks. This post from reddit’s personal finance Canada section seemed appropriate.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap for this week. While the ceremonies for ending the Olympics are sure to be elaborate, there’s no reason that celebrating the end of another week can’t be fun either. Have a great weekend and stay cool!