Tag: Qtrade Direct Investing

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – July 28, 2017

Separating news from noise is harder to do some weeks than others. This might have been one of those weeks. Despite markets responding to earnings and fundamentals, and despite economic news that shows Canada’s economy is now firing on all cylinders, there’s just one story that seems to Trump it all. For traders and investors, venturing forward into the unknown is a daily exercise, but the biggest lesson every trader/seasoned investor has learned is the value of risk management.

In this week’s edition of the discount brokerage roundup, we take a look at the balance between innovation and risk management. The first story, a tale of a new website roll out, showcases how a large bank-owned online brokerage navigates the challenge of being both familiar but innovative with one of their most important customer touchpoints. From there, we’ll do a lightning roundup with updates from the deals and promotions arena and some interesting news that could make a splash with DIY investors interested in ETFs. As always, we’ll review what DIY investors were saying on social media and the forums.

CIBC Investor’s Edge rolls out new website

When it comes to websites and design, the common theme among Canadian online brokerages appears to be less is more. This week, CIBC Investor’s Edge officially launched their new public facing website with a refreshed look, simplified menus and navigation and a more focused approach to reaching their core client base.

After being telegraphed to website visitors several weeks ago, the new website is finally here. For a bank-owned online brokerage, such as CIBC Investor’s Edge, designing for the online investor is a balancing act between ensuring the look and feel is consistent with the brand while also creating an experience that resonates with the fast-moving world of online investing.

So, in some ways the new website is a tale of two stories. Yes, the new CIBC Investor’s Edge website is a significant overhaul from its predecessor. Gone are the drop-down menus, the snapshot of the markets and tiny, text heavy pages. In their stead is a visually more modern, responsive and focused website that features the fun and approachable icons present in much of the broader CIBC marketing and imagery (like the penguins). That said, there is still a connection to some of the familiar imagery choices/styles in the headers and the site itself isn’t a bold departure functionally or aesthetically from its peers.

As with many redesign projects, there are lots of interesting angles to discuss. In this case, looking at the reorganization of the content on the website – which appears to be a substantial change – can provide a way to walk through some of the changes and what they might suggest about the evolution of CIBC Investor’s Edge in the fast-moving digital space.

From a design and user experience point of view, one of the most visible changes is the use of a top navigation bar without accompanying drop-down menu items. Likely a design choice that arose from a ‘mobile friendly’ web design, simplifying the menu in this fashion means that users will be scrolling more to find information on the page of interest and that many items from the previous site have been revised to be shorter or removed entirely.

The new menu breaks the website into the following categories:

  • Accounts and Investments
  • Platforms and Tools
  • Research
  • Pricing
  • New Investors
  • Experienced Investors

Previously the menu, at the top level, was broken into:

  • Getting Started
  • Benefits
  • Investor Profiles
  • Education Centre

So, at a high level, there is clearly a shift from talking about how, why and who, to talking about what, how much and who.

A recurring theme in the new website design is that there appears to be a tighter focus on the “investor” rather than the “trader”.

There are subtle things, such as the language choice to use the term ‘investing’ rather than trading as well as some more obvious things, such as the placement of registered account types at the top of the accounts and investments section or, in the platforms and tools section, a heavy emphasis on monitoring and research rather than execution.

Why this is interesting is because despite the pricing for commissions being attractive to very active investors or traders, there isn’t the same technical emphasis either on trading platform, charting or technology/execution that active traders might respond to and that competitor brokerages have. CIBC Investor’s Edge, at least through this website refresh, appears to be catering towards less active investors which means that their bank-owned peers who do have more sophisticated active trading platforms, such as TD Direct Investing, Scotia iTRADE or National Bank Direct Brokerage, might be able to attract these types of active clients who also seek the convenience and security of a large bank-owned brokerage.

Another feature that is clear in the new website is that the layout of the text is less crowded, easier to read and there feels like there’s enough information about the product/service to get a reasonable understanding of what it is without going into too much detail. Subtler, however, is also the use of language. For example, the section for ‘new investors’ explains more clearly and simply what accounts are available and how the process to get started works.

Of course, despite the website refresh and even a web-based experience to help populate the application forms, users cannot (yet) fully open an account online with CIBC Investor’s Edge. New clients still have to print, sign and send forms in or open the account in-branch. While this is certainly not news to the development team at Investor’s Edge, the new ‘norm’ being set by robo-advisors and even some online brokerage peers, is that opening up an account for investing online can be done entirely online.

Overall, CIBC Investor’s Edge’s new website is an evolutionary step forward into the new reality of online investing.

The website has a more modern looking interface as well as a tighter focus on the kinds of clients that CIBC Investor’s Edge might be trying to appeal to. Their commission pricing strategy has given them immediate relevance with almost all DIY investors, so the choice for many DIY investors really comes down to value added features and experience. Fortunately for CIBC Investor’s Edge, buy and hold investors do have a certain amount of patience with the process of investing and are always in the market for a good deal.

Lightning Roundup

Deals get a digital boost

With a new month around the corner, Canadian discount brokerage deals are set to roll over next week. Currently on deck for expiry are Qtrade Investor’s commission-free ETF offer for Canadian ETFs and Scotia iTRADE’s free movie points and free trades offer. The exciting news heading into the new month is that BMO SmartFolio has extended the deadline to qualify for its no management fee offer promotion through to the end of October. Also, another offer is in the pipeline at SmartFolio which we will release more details on in the coming weeks – stay tuned!

Questrade ETFs acquired by WisdomTree

Even though it may be summer, Questrade is busy making waves in the news this past week. Starting first with the big story, the acquisition of Questrade’s ETFs by WisdomTree Canada. Specifically, Questrade has sold its ETF division to WisdomTree in a tactical move to focus on the online brokerage and robo-advisor businesses.

In a quote to the Globe and Mail, president of Questrade Edward Kholodenko stated “After a careful review, we decided that we wanted to focus on our core direct online business as well as our roboadviser business, both of which have seen fast paced growth.”

Deeper in that same story, however, the mention that WisdomTree Canada and Questrade will be working in concert to provide educational materials to Questrade clients and that WisdomTree will be consulting on Questrade’s roboadvisor arm, Portfolio IQ is something that will be particularly interesting to watch evolve.

Another interesting stat, however, also caught our attention. This one was buried in the bottom of the press release in the ‘About Questrade’ section and stated “With 17 years of challenging status quo as Canada’s leading, non-bank online brokerage, over $5 billion in assets and more than 30,000 accounts opened every year, Questrade and its companies provide financial products and services: securities, foreign currency investment, and online wealth management.”

Some quick math suggests that over 500,000 accounts have been opened with Questrade since their launch (no mention of churn or account closures though), which is an interesting stat in and of itself.

What makes it even more interesting is another announcement from Questrade this past week regarding their designation yet again as one of “Canada’s Best Managed Companies.”

While that accolade is a great milestone, in a communication sent to clients there was also another reference to account openings this year, specifically that there have been over 40,000 accounts opened this year. Though it is unclear if this refers to trailing twelve months or year to date, regardless, it is again an intriguing stat considering the size of the Canadian market.

These stats are noteworthy because unlike publicly traded online brokerages in the US, there is very little publicly disclosed information about the number of accounts opened (or currently open) at each Canadian discount brokerage. Again, it warrants repeating that Questrade is referencing accounts opened, which is a combined figure across their managed wealth arm as well as their DIY investing segment and doesn’t report accounts that have been closed – or specify the more accurate stat of net new accounts.

The signals that Questrade’s robo-advisor and DIY investing units are going to get increased focus is certainly going to be worth monitoring. Add into the mix a relatively large US ETF partner and it could make for an interesting combination for both the bank-owned and independent online brokerages to try and maneuver around.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

A relatively quiet week by Twitter standards but there are a few interesting product launches and client experience feedback gems. Mentioned this week are CIBC Investor’s Edge, Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing and Virtual Brokers.

From the Forums

Premier choice

In this post from reddit’s personal finance subreddit, news of WisdomTree’s acquisition of Questrade’s ETF business raised an eyebrow or two.

Withhold the phone

Trading stocks internationally can sometimes come with a peculiar quirk – withholding taxes. This thread from RedFlagDeals’ investing forum started long ago on a withholding tax situation at Interactive Brokers but was revived again as DIY investors bumped into a similar issue once again in dealing with interlisted stocks in the US (and other international) markets.

Into the Close

So that was a crazy week. If there’s one interesting thing about investing and markets, it’s that people take risks – and many times those risks turn into failures. That said, there’s a bigger prize and despite what might be dominating the headlines this weekend, there’s some comfort knowing that there are lots of great people reaching for new heights. On that note, enjoy the following compilation of people being awesome – perhaps there might even be an idea or two for a great weekend project. Have a safe and enjoyable weekend!

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – July 21, 2017

If there’s a lesson emerging from the scandal in the US or from Game of Thrones, it’s that details matter. At least in the case of the US, the details are emerging and in the process, the spin doctors are working overtime to shape the conversation. While this may seem like a leap for the online trading world, in reality, the lesson for DIY investors when considering online brokerages is to try and see past the spin and to focus on the details.

Fortunately, this edition of the roundup is chock-full of details as we take a deep dive into the latest rating of Canadian discount brokerages to be published. From there we provide an update on the latest insight piece on one Canadian online brokerage’s venture into sustainable investing. Wrapping up this week will be a collection of the many interesting (and sometimes colourful) DIY investor conversations that took place on Twitter.

A Q’rious result: Non-bank-owned Canadian online brokerages earn top marks in MoneySense’s latest rankings

For many DIY investors and those looking for a quick answer to the question: “who is the best online brokerage in Canada?” the answer appears to have evolved over the years. The shift appears to evolved from finding a singular ‘best’ online brokerage, to providing a category-based approach to report on discount brokerages who are the best at particular features.

Such is the case in the latest MoneySense ratings of Canadian online brokerages, which were published this past week. Based on data supplied by financial services research firm Surviscor, the latest online brokerage rankings suggest that when it comes to the “best overall” experience for online investing, non-bank-owned online brokerages are edging out their larger and better financed competitors.

Starting first with the ‘winners’ (beware the spoiler alerts). BC-based Qtrade Investor earned the top pick as best overall brokerage followed by Questrade which earned the runner up title of ‘honourable mention’.

In the bank-owned brokerage category, BMO InvestorLine and Scotia iTRADE tied for top pick with no runner up (or ‘honourable mention’) reported.

For followers of the MoneySense online brokerage rankings, there is an air of familiarity about the winners this year compared to 2016. Both Scotia iTRADE and BMO InvestorLine were rated as the best and ‘runner up’ bank-owned brokerage, while Qtrade Investor and Questrade took first and second place in the non-bank-owned online brokerage category respectively. So, as far as the top contenders are concerned, things look largely the same as they did last year. A few notable changes, however have shown up in the 2017 analysis.

This year, for example, the category of “user experience” was used instead of “ease of use”; “best for ETFs” was also introduced given the popularity of ETF trading choices now available and the popularity of these instruments with DIY investors and finally, the category of “best overall” replaced the category of “top independent brokerage.”

 

2017 2016
Category Top Pick Runner Up Top Pick Runner Up
Getting Started Questrade TD Direct Investing BMO InvestorLine Virtual Brokers
User Experience Questrade Qtrade Investor Scotia iTRADE Questrade
Fees & Commissions CIBC Investor’s Edge

Questrade

 Qtrade Investor

Virtual Brokers

 Questrade Qtrade Investor
Customer Service Qtrade Investor Desjardins Online Brokerage Qtrade Investor Scotia iTRADE
Reporting & Record Keeping BMO InvestorLine Qtrade Investor Scotia iTRADE BMO InvestorLine
Market Data TD Direct Investing Qtrade Investor TD Direct Investing Credential Direct
Best for ETFs Questrade

Virtual Brokers

 National Bank Direct Brokerage n/a n/a
Best Overall Qtrade Investor Questrade Qtrade Investor (best independent) Questrade (honourable mention independent)
Best bank-owned brokerage BMO InvestorLine
Scotia iTRADE		 Scotia iTRADE BMO InvestorLine

 

A quick scan of the results between last year and this year will show some new faces in certain categories, but by and large, this year’s MoneySense online brokerage rankings show a high degree of similarity to 2016. Nonetheless, as we’ve mentioned time and again on SparxTrading.com, when it comes to evaluating the online brokerage rankings, it is important to look at the details and critically evaluate the findings to ensure a more thorough understanding of what’s behind a rating or ranking.

Diving into Details

Perhaps one of the most immediate observations is that there are some brokerages that make multiple appearances across different categories. Specifically, although 9 different brokerages were mentioned in at least one category this year, either Qtrade Investor or Questrade were first or second a combined 9 times out of 17 possible mentions.  And, while that does make sense given the overall rankings of both of these online brokerages, when compared to the profile of results from 2016, it is notable that for the bank-owned online brokerages, Scotia iTRADE is far less visible in the top or runner up spots in 2017 than in 2016, despite landing a tie with BMO InvestorLine for top bank-owned online brokerage.

Ratings of Canadian discount brokerages according to MoneySense online brokerage rankings, 2017
Source: MoneySense online brokerage rankings, 2017

A closer look at the 2017 results reveals that of the top two bank-owned online brokerages, only BMO InvestorLine managed to achieve the best in the category of reporting and record keeping while Scotia iTRADE did not make a top pick or runner up in any of the categories mentioned. Curiously, despite TD Direct Investing placing in top spot for ‘market data’ and runner up for ‘getting started,’ it did not make the cut for best bank-owned brokerage or even ‘honourable mention’ according to the results.

Shut out from winner or runner up circles from this year’s rankings were Credential Direct, HSBC InvestDirect, Laurentian Bank Discount Brokerage and RBC Direct Investing. Also overlooked again this year was Interactive Brokers Canada, which was excluded from consideration and almost certainly would be a challenger in the fees & commissions, getting started, and market data categories.

One of the most crowded categories, curiously, was the commissions and fees spot.

Fee-ling crowded

Top pick for fees this year was a tie between CIBC Investor’s Edge as well as Questrade, while honourable mention (another tie) went to Qtrade Investor and Virtual Brokers. Given that commission pricing changes at CIBC Investor’s Edge appears not to have dramatically changed since we first reported the drop 2014, it was strange to see Investor’s Edge disappear from the 2016 ratings (while it did appear in 2015) but reappear in 2017. Likewise, commission pricing at Virtual Brokers has been restructured so that there is now standard commission structure pricing of 9.99 per trade, but Credential Direct (with standard commission pricing of $8.88), which was cited alongside CIBC Investor’s Edge as low cost by MoneySense in 2015, seems like it would have made the cut.

The takeaway: commission pricing is low at many Canadian online brokerages and one of the important factors to consider is whether there are any ECN fees or not. While the MoneySense ratings do not disclose a full methodology of how fees and commissions are calculated, the big picture shows that DIY investors who want to buy based on commission pricing do have a number of choices for good value.

Of course, the commissions and fees category is not without some controversy in this year’s ratings. A concern that we noted with the standard commission reporting, however, is that Scotia iTRADE’s “basic online equity” commission pricing is listed as $9.95, a condition which is true only if clients have more than $50,000 in assets at Scotiabank entities.

If having at least $50,000 in assets is the qualifying definition for standard commission pricing at Scotia iTRADE, then HSBC InvestDirect should have their rate posted as $8.88 rather than $9.95. Conversely, if having the minimum deposit to open an account is considered the threshold for ‘standard pricing’ – which we would argue should be the case – then Scotia iTRADE’s standard commission pricing would be at least $24.99 per trade – almost 4x that of CIBC Investor’s Edge and easily double the $9.95 at most of Scotia iTRADE’s bank-owned brokerage peers.

Again, without methodology detailing how these were calculated, the inclusion of Scotia iTRADE as a top pick with standard commission pricing so far above its peer group and no top pick or ‘honourable mention’ in any of the categories makes it a strange result. Unlike 2016, where Scotia iTRADE does appear in 3 categories as either top pick or ‘honourable mention’, this year’s inclusion in the winner’s circle at the bank-owned brokerage level seems less obvious as to why that would be the case.

To be fair, we’re not trying to penalize Scotia iTRADE. In fact, we noted that there were some notable discrepancies from Scotia iTRADE’s details (at the time of publication) that would be of value for potential clients to take note of and which could shift the scoring in Scotia iTRADE’s favour. Specifically, Scotia iTRADE is better at customer service availability and investor education support than the MoneySense comparisons would imply.

For example, the customer service hours which on the table on MoneySense are listed as Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm (no timezone specified) whereas according to the Scotia iTRADE website contact section, the hours are listed for client support are Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 9:00pm ET and Saturday from 8:00am to 6:00pm ET. Offering service on a Saturday is something that stands out for Scotia iTRADE so, though the MoneySense category does list hours which might correspond to new account openings, it doesn’t necessarily reflect the experience that existing clients could expect to receive nor does the category clarify the meaning of “telephone services.”

Another point of concern appears under the ‘buyer beware’ category in the MoneySense breakdown where it states Scotia iTRADE has “weak educational material.” The characterization as “weak” seems highly subjective and inconsistent with the fact that Scotia iTRADE has not only had a long-standing focus on investor education but even on the relatively recent redesign of their website, they committed to having education as one of the four main menu choices. Further, Scotia iTRADE also has learning modules on basic topics related to trading and platform orientation, and more importantly, they have an extensive calendar of educational events (such as webinars) that are presented frequently and regularly throughout the year. For a claim of ‘weak’ educational material to be applied to Scotia iTRADE to be substantiated, even on a relative basis, it would mean that the vast majority of Canadian online brokerages ought to be called out for the same ‘buyer beware’ drawback and even more so for not having these webinar/seminar supports in place.

Wait a minute, Mr. Postman

Another interesting aspect of the rankings and ratings is the customer service response times on email across the Canadian online brokerage industry.

Surviscor regularly monitors the email response times for Canadian discount brokerages and has reported this data as part of its Service Level Assessment (formerly the Customer Email Responsiveness program) scoring. Included in MoneySense’s online brokerage rankings this year was a particular focus on email performance, and in particular, how poor the industry (with a few exceptions) is doing when it comes to responding to requests via email.

The range reported from this year’s analysis was substantial. Qtrade Investor was the quickest to respond with an average of just under 2 hours while Laurentian Bank Discount Brokerage came in at 113 hours.

Canadian discount brokerage email response times
Source: MoneySense online brokerage ratings, 2017

Given the staggeringly high variation, it would have been nice to have the standard deviation and number of emails sent to each firm reported. Averages, in and of themselves, are of limited value when trying to figure out “what’s normal” or representative of a service experience. Another unknown which would add more context would be knowing how many emails were sent (was it 3 or 30?), when they were sent (Friday nights, weekends or during market hours)? and what qualifies as a response (did the question get answered or was the note simply acknowledged as received?).

Another interesting observation was that the figures reported for Desjardins Online Brokerage’s response time in the dynamic chart supplied show it at 9 hours, which is the same for RBC Direct Investing. That is relevant because Desjardins Online Brokerage managed to score as a ‘honourable mention’ for that score while RBC Direct Investing did not. It is likely the case that the reported chart is rounding numbers (since Qtrade Investor was reported in the text to have an average under 2 hours but is reported in the chart as 2 hours) but this clarification is one that becomes important, since rounding to the nearest hour is a significant amount of time in an online world.

For the Ratings

For many DIY investors, including readers of MoneySense magazine, navigating the maze of Canadian online brokerages is both time consuming and complicated. Ratings such as the latest online brokerage comparison provide a handy way to understand the strengths and limitations of particular Canadian online brokerages.

While the latest ratings don’t necessarily “rank” numerically where particular online brokerages stand,  the MoneySense online brokerage nonetheless showcase a ‘top pick’ and an ‘honourable mention’. So, those DIY investors looking for a recommendation can find a brokerage worthy of consideration. In fact, a particularly nice feature for this year is the comparison tool which enables side by side comparisons of online brokerages.

All that said, as has been stated many times on SparxTrading, it is important for readers and users of discount brokerage rankings to have clarity on what the categories being used mean as well as how they’re measured. The MoneySense online brokerage ratings rely heavily on data sourced from Surviscor’s analysis and as such, it might be useful to point readers to the methodology sections on the Service Level Assessment (which explains some of how the email testing is done) and also on the assessment for categories like user experience or commissions and fees.

In sum, Canadian online brokerage account shopping can be as simple or complicated as DIY investors want it to be. To help make the task of figuring out what other rankings or ratings are saying (such as the MoneySense brokerage rankings or those from the Globe and Mail), we’ve added all the ratings received by a Canadian online brokerage onto the profiles of each individual brokerage (accessible in each online brokerage’s profile page).  The best news for DIY investors coming out of these rankings, however, is that competition amongst brokerages is pushing at least a handful of them to put forth their best effort into winning new clients and keeping existing clients satisfied.

Socially responsible investing in the spotlight at Scotia iTRADE

For many investors, there is a growing trend towards thinking carefully about the impact and nature of where profits come from. Socially responsible investing is definitely gaining in popularity with investors and even this past week, there were headlines that major robo-advisors in the US were moving into this space by adding the SRI into their portfolio offerings.

For DIY investors in Canada, however, there’s at least one online brokerage who’s taken the leap to provide a tool to research and analyze companies according to their environmental, social and governance (ESG) components. Earlier this year, Scotia iTRADE became the first Canadian online brokerage to launch this ESG tool for their clients.

This past week, we profiled this tool in detail and provided a highlight of some of the issues that DIY investors might want to consider when using this tool, as well as whether this tool – itself a measure of controversy, might in fact also be a source of controversy in the Canadian online brokerage landscape.

The ESG screener and associated reports enable DIY investors to investigate the ESG rating of hundreds of companies listed on the TSX in order to learn more about whether those companies fit within the investor’s goals of socially responsible investment decisions.

Of course, while socially responsible investing is an idea that many can get on board with, in reality the definition of what this means and how it works exactly are important to know.

In the world of DIY investing, in particular in Canada, there has been a discussion as to the nature and types of tools that order execution only brokerages can provide. Separately, events in the US with respect to fiduciary duties of money managers and advisors have also helped to colour the debate on social responsible investing – namely that it introduces a bias that may be at odds with the duty or objective to maximize the monetary benefit to the investor.

Click to read the full story in the blog here.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

This week it looks like outages and advertising were the topics of choice for DIY investors on Twitter. Mentioned this week were Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing and Virtual Brokers.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap on another week. Now that the weekend is here, hopefully there’s some sunshine to enjoy. Of course, for GoT enthusiasts, there’s plenty of winter to look forward to on Sunday and lots of watercooler talk on Monday. For a more real-life GoT experience, however, be sure to tune into CNN as the intensity level of the drama that is US politics ratchets up. On that note, now that ‘Spicey’ has left the building, here is a fun collection of memes commemorating the departure.


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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – July 1, 2017

Happy Canada Day! Like the weather in July, the deals and promotions section is heating up.

The great news for DIY investors heading into the new month is that there are 23 offers or promotions being advertised by Canadian discount brokerages and an additional four when considering the digital advice or robo-advisor promotional offers. Included in this mix are some exclusive offers for SparxTrading.com readers, notably the $88 commission credit offer now available at Questrade that was launched last month.

Discount Brokerage Deals Quick Nav

  1. Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions
  2. Referral Promotions
  3. Transfer Fee Promotions
  4. Contests & Other Offers
  5. Digital Advice + Roboadvisor Promotions (new!)

Given what’s going with stock markets, possible interest rate hikes and substantial competition between online brokerages, there definitely seems to be evidence that Canadian discount brokerages are getting bolder and more creative with their offers.

Late last month, for example, Virtual Brokers launched a pair of offers that are likely to get deal savvy shoppers’ attention – especially for those who actively trade. In one of these deals, Virtual Brokers now offers a quarterly commission rebate for up to one year, something that we have not seen before and which, in numerical terms, might appeal to the moderately active trader who is able to meet the trading threshold required.

In addition, at the outset of July, Qtrade Investor has launched a commission-free ETF purchase promotion for Canadian ETFs where, similar to competitors Questrade and Virtual Brokers, the purchase of ETFs (in this case only Canadian ETFs) is commission free.

Although full commission-free trading might still be some time away, the idea is clearly being toyed with by Canadian discount brokerages – especially with Canadian ETFs.

Fundamentally, it is an interesting moment for both DIY investors and Canadian discount brokerages. As markets on either side of the border brace for the coming wave of interest rate hikes, which on the one hand might be beneficial for brokerages but on the other would change the economics of margin trading, and investor sentiment towards equities as an asset class. Fortunately for DIY investors, this will almost certainly make the case for Canadian discount brokerages to start offering bigger and bolder incentives to attract assets and new clients.

Finally, a few exciting housekeeping notes.

Regular readers of the deals & promotions section will note that we’ve included a navigation box at the top of the deals section to help users find information faster. Also, as of last month, we’ve also included coverage of ‘digital advice’ or robo-advisor deals that are offered by or linked to Canadian discount brokerages.

As always if we’ve missed a deal or if you hear of something that other readers may benefit from, let us know!

Expired Deals

At the time of publication, the public links to Credential Direct’s Transfer offer & Special Offer (Trend Micro antivirus) are no longer accessible. Credential Direct recently upgraded their website so we will continue to monitor whether transfer fee promotions are still being offered and update our tables accordingly. For the moment though, we’re not counting them as part of the live offer group.

Extended Deals

Great news on the extension front, there were two great offers that got extended as of the beginning of July.

The first from BMO InvestorLine, is the refer-a-friend offer, which has been extended for another year and now expires at the end of June 2018. This offer is somewhat unique among online brokerages in that it usually can be combined with other offers that clients might qualify for when opening an account. The BMO InvestorLine refer-a-friend offers $50 cash back to both the individual being referred and the ‘friend’ who referred them.

Also extended this month is the Desjardins Online Brokerage 1% commission credit, which has been extended to September 30th. This commission credit offer is one of the most competitive in that it offers up 1% of what clients deposit as a commission credit, up to a maximum of $1000.

New Deals

This is always the most exciting category to cover and particularly so this month as Qtrade Investor has waded into the promotional offer race yet again, this time with a commission-free ETF offer. Specifically, as mentioned above, the limited time promotion enables Qtrade Investor clients to buy any Canadian ETF commission-free. The conditions are fairly simple: the ETF must be Canadian-listed and the minimum order value must be $1,000 (in the currency of the trade).

Finally, while technically not a new deal, it is actually a newly advertised offer. BMO InvestorLine is now advertising their coverage of transfer fees up to a maximum of $200. As such we’ve included the transfer offer as linked to the same deposit conditions as their current summer promotion.

Discount Brokerage Deals

  1. Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions
  2. Referral Promotions
  3. Transfer Fee Promotions
  4. Contests & Other Offers
  5. Digital Advice + Roboadvisor Promotions (new!)

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 $88 in commission credits (up to 17 commission-free trades). Use promo code SPARX88 when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $1,000 $88 commission credit 60 days Access this offer by clicking here: $88 commission-credit offer . For full terms and conditions, 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, 2017
Qtrade Investor is offering commission-free ETF purchases for all clients (new and existing) for July 2017. See details link for full terms, conditions and pricing. $1,000 commission fees waived on Canadian listed ETF purchases Valid for Canadian listed ETF purchases made in July 2017. For more information, click here July 31, 2017
Open and fund a new account at Virtual Brokers with at least $5,000 and you may be eligible to receive a $50 cash back rebate per quarter. To receive the cash back rebate, at least 20 commission generating trades must be made within a specified quarter. Use promo code: CSHBKQTR17 to access this offer. This offer is open to new clients only. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $5,000 $50 commission rebate (cash back) per quarter (up to $200 cash back over the total period) To qualify 20 trades must be made within a quarter. $50 cash will be rebated in the following quarter. Eligibility period ends June 2018. For more information, click the terms and conditions here September 30, 2017
Open and fund a new account with Virtual Brokers with a deposit of at least $5,000 and receive cash back commission rebates on the first 20 Canadian or US ETF trades made by September 30, 2017. For commission-free Canadian ETFs use promo code: CADSETF2017 and for US ETFs use promo code: USSETF2017. This offer is open to new clients only. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $5,000 $50 commission rebate (cash back) Trades must be completed by Sept. 30, 2017. Cash rebates will be deposited in Feb. 2018. For more information, click the terms and conditions here September 30, 2017
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 September 30, 2017
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine or fund a qualifying existing account, with at least $200,000+ in net new assets and you may be eligible to receive $1,200 cash back. In addition, eligible individuals can receive a 60-day trial of BMO MarketPro and have transfer fees covered up to $200. Use promo code SPARXCASH when signing up for cash back offer. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. $200,000+ $1,200 Cash back Cash back will be deposited the week of March 12, 2018. Summer cash back offer August 7, 2017
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new account with Scotia iTRADE 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) 5,000; B) 7,500; C) 20,000; D) 35,000; E) 50,000 or F) 100,000 scene points as well as 50 free trades. In addition, new clients will also be reimbursed up to $150 in transfer fees. Free trades will be valid for 90 days. Use promo code 17SC when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $25,000 B) $50,000 C) $100,000 D) $250,000 E) $500,000 F) $1M+ SCENE Points A) 5,000 B) 7,500 C) 20,000 D) 35,000 E) 50,000 F) 100,000 + 50 Free Trades 90 days Free Movie & Free Trade Promotion July 31, 2017

Expired Offers
Last Updated: July 1, 2017 14:30 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
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, 2018

Expired Offers
Last Updated: July 1, 2017 14:30 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 $20,000 or more to a National Bank Direct Brokerage account and they will pay up to $135 plus taxes in transfer fees $135 $20,000 Transfer Fee Rebate 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
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
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 tbd
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
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 DisnatFlex. See details link for more info. $150 $50,000 Disnat 1% Commission Credit Promo September 30, 2017
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine or fund a qualifying existing account, by transferring in at least $200,000+ in net new assets and you may be eligible to have transfer fees covered up to $200. Use promo code SPARXCASH when signing up to also be eligible for cash back offer. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. $200 $200,000 Summer cash back offer August 7, 2017

Expired Offers
Last Updated: July 1, 2017 14:30 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: July 1, 2017 14:30 PT

Digital Advice + Roboadvisor Promotions

Robo-advisor / Digital advisor Offer Type Offer Description Min. Deposit Reward / Promotion Promo Code Expiry Date Link
Discounted Management Open and fund a new Questrade Portfolio IQ account with a deposit of at least $1,000 and the first month of management will be free. For more information on Portfolio IQ, click the product link. $1000 1st month no management fees KDKFNBBC None Questrade Portfolio IQ Promo Offer
Discounted Management Open a new account with BMO SmartFolio and receive one year of management of up to $15,000 free. See offer terms and conditions for more details. $5,000 1 year no management fees SPSF July 31, 2017 SmartFolio New Account Promotion
Cash Back Open and fund a new Investcube account with National Bank Direct Brokerage and deposit with at least A) $10,000; B) $50,000; C)$200,000; or D) $300,000+ and you may be eligible to receive a cash back deposit of either A) $50; B) $200; C) $400 or D) $600. See offer terms and conditions for full details. A) $10,000 B) $50,000 C) $200,000 D) $300,000+ A) $50 cash back B) $200 cash back C) $400 cash back D) $600 cash back CUBE2017 August 31, 2017 Investcube Cash Back Promotion
Transfer Fee Coverage Transfer at least $25,000 into Virtual Wealth when opening a new account and you may be eligible to have up to $150 in transfer fees covered by Virtual Wealth. $25,000 up to $150 in transfer fees covered None None Contact customer service directly for more information.
Last Updated: July 1, 2017 14:30 PT
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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – June 30, 2017

Not everyone would look forward to turning 150 the way Canada does. That’s simply because us Canadians love to do things our way – including the Canadian discount brokerages and DIY investors. Of course, defining what ‘Canadian’ looks (and trades) like is quickly changing and gladly it looks like most Canadian online brokers are keeping up with the times.

There’s all kinds of excitement in this week’s roundup. Starting first with a shiny new website for one of Canada’s non bank-owned brokerages that showcases a more human approach to the world of finance. From there, at least one Canadian online brokerage decided to celebrate Canada turning 150 by offering up a great deal to DIY investors, because who doesn’t love a deal? Though it’s a tough act to follow, there are also interesting tweets and forum chatter that illustrate Canadians love to talk about DIY investing (and most of them are pretty polite!) in the tweets and forum roundups.

Credential Direct launches new website

It may have taken some time, but Credential Direct has officially rolled out its new website this week. Gone is the dated version of their website, a remnant of the features and priorities of the mid 2000’s and in its place, a modern layout as well as some interesting new features. In their own words, the new Credential Direct site is “simple, smart and so, so pretty” – for the most part we’d have to agree.

Side by side snapshots of Credential Direct’s old and new website.

Having covered (and even participated in) a number of different website upgrades and refreshes from Canadian online brokerages over the past three years, taking on the project of replacing a website is no easy feat.

In 2017, a ‘modern’ website – especially one for DIY investors – has to be aesthetically pleasing and seem ‘contemporary’ on the one hand, but also render and behave well across different screen sizes and consider user interaction that accommodates existing clients as well as possible new clients.

Credential Direct’s new website is clearly a radical overhaul from its predecessor. Aside from some of the more obvious changes, however, there is also a significant branding and messaging evolution that the new website brings with it. With so many drastic changes, there’s lots to speak to. That said, here are a handful of the observations about this updated website that we found to be most interesting.

One of the first things that jumps out about the new website is that the typography and styling of the text has been simplified and harmonized. While that might sound a bit like design-jargon (and it is) the decision to use a consistent colour and font means that the site instantly feels less busy than the version before it. Information is clearer, easier to read and has been broken into “essential” elements. In this case, less is definitely more.

Of course, anyone who has had to design a website knows that there are literally hundreds if not thousands of small decisions to make when it comes to organizing the information.

As we had reported in April, the design decisions, in particular around information organization, were helped along by a survey that helped test how users would interpret different menu headings and information tasks.

In that light, it is interesting to note that the new navigation puts a focus on platforms ahead of pricing, the latter of which is the most influential component of the value proposition for DIY investors. Not that information on pricing is hard to find. For users who scroll, pricing is the first thing under the header image that appears.

Fortunately, most of the information in the new site is easy to find for individuals looking to learn more about the Credential Direct experience, so the menu navigation choice was a curiousity. Of course, it is likely that with the new website, there will also be more measurement and testing, and as such, the new menu ordering is going to evolve based on data rather than being ‘carved in stone’.

Another thing that features prominently is the imagery of the people.

In a savvy design and marketing move, the new website places a strong emphasis on people but then goes a step further to name them and humanize the experience of learning about Credential Direct.

Personas used by Credential Direct to segment DIY investors

Going with pictures of people instead of icons is a bold move, and certainly not without some risks. Credential Direct’s decision to use personas and images that break the mold of what an investor typically looks like, is in keeping with a trend in financial services generally. It is particularly encouraging to see the diversity in imagery choices, with pictures of women investors, investors of different age groups and various ethnicities – something that is a welcome departure from the world of investing imagery in the 2000’s.

In fact, for anyone who’s had to look at thousands of stock photos to decide on what images to use, however, the choices of imagery were also smart and interesting.  Credential Direct’s design team did not fall back on stock photos of individuals with calculators and papers sprawled everywhere struggling to understand their statements. Instead they managed to find everyday people doing everyday things. And, it is unlikely these same photos showing up in other people’s marketing materials, especially online brokerages. Kudos.

Of course, the persona-based approach still breaks the world down into three main categories – novice, intermediate and expert investors. In this case, however, the categories have names and stories. So Susan (novice), Raymond (intermediate) and Nadira (expert) are much more approachable than just category names. Further, clicking into the particular personas, the “features” are branded as the individual’s “favourite features.” In this way, reading about investing with Credential Direct feels more like a story than a sales pitch.

Of course, the website refresh is one in a list of many big (and sometimes small) digitization efforts from Credential Financial (the parent/owner of Credential Direct). For example, a robo-advisor is on the list of things that will be launching – itself no small project. Despite this latest move with the website, and all of the work that went into it, there is still some ground to cover to become ‘cutting edge’.

For example, one of the first hurdles to overcome is the ability to open an account online. Despite the current setup of the website and the efforts they’ve made to simplify the process, individuals looking to open an account with Credential Direct still need to be prepared to print, sign and send paperwork and wait.

The second is carving out a section for promotional offers or deals. Credential Direct’s previous site did have a section for special offers but the new site does not. Given where Credential Direct sits in terms of market share and general awareness, if they’re hoping to grow their client base, promotional offers are almost a must, so it will be interesting to see how and where they call attention to this in their new design.

Finally, there’s investor oriented content. Credential Direct has reorganized much of their existing ‘investor’ content and the new addition of a section called “The Ticker” seems promising, but other Canadian online brokerages – especially close competitors, have fully embraced content production into their offering. Out of the gate, Credential Direct’s first post on their “Ticker” section was dated April 2017 and discussed the launch of their new website. To compete with their peers, Credential Direct will have to find more to say, more often and in more depth.

From a design perspective, the new Credential Direct website does deserve to be called pretty. For DIY investors or traders, however, personality has constantly proven to be more important.

Specifically, ‘personality’ comes in the form of product functionality and bold thinking (aka innovation). The front-end is a good start but it might be secondary to pricing, actual ease of finding the right information and operating an account.

While Credential Direct can feel good about their latest site roll out, the industry around them is moving very quickly. So, when it comes to innovating and getting ahead of their competitors, the thinking and features, like the type and font of their new site, must be bigger and bolder.

Deals preview and updates

With a new month and new deals literally around the corner, there’s already action on the deals front to report.

Qtrade Investor kicks off July deals action by offering up commission-free trading on Canadian ETFs. If it has a familiar feel, National Bank Direct Brokerage tried something similar in 2013 when they offered commission free trading on ETFs, eventually rolling out a permanent commission-free Canadian ETF trading program in 2016.

Screenshot of Qtrade Investor homepage featuring free ETF offer

This offer by Qtrade Investor is yet another commission-free ETF promo that has come to market. Earlier this month, Virtual Brokers launched two new deals, one of which was also a commission-free trading offer for US or Canadian ETFs.

And, while Qtrade Investor is one of five Canadian discount brokerages with some kind of commission-free ETF program (Scotia iTRADE, Questrade, Virtual Brokers and National Bank Direct Brokerage are the others), this latest deal might be a signal that ‘commission-free’ trading continues to take root in Canada. For the moment, it appears to be in the form of ETFs rather than in equities generally but trends seem to be pointing in the commission-free direction.

Another interesting deals update comes from the BMO InvestorLine refer-a-friend program, which will be extended through June 2018. The refer-a-friend program at BMO InvestorLine is unique among Canadian brokerages that offer deals/promotions in that it can usually be combined with other offers as well. For reference, this refer-a-friend promotion offers $50 cash to the referring party and $50 to the new client.

On the downside, with the roll out of Credential Direct’s new website, it appears that the links to previous offers are no longer working, an indication that perhaps these deals are no longer being offered.  The specific offers in question were the ‘special offer’ of a discount for the Trend Micro antivirus software and, more importantly, the transfer fee coverage offer. We will watch to see if one (or both) of these offers were just lost in the shuffle or if they’re going to stage a comeback soon.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

A quieter week heading into the long weekend, but still enough action to keep things interesting. Mentioned this week were BMO InvestorLine, CIBC Investor’s Edge, Credential Direct, Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing and Virtual Brokers.

From the Forums

RBC Direct Investing vs. Questrade

Bank-owned brokerage or independent? It’s a popular question with DIY investors deciding between the convenience of banking and the pricing of free ETF buying at Questrade. Find out what one DIY investor learned by asking redditors in this post from the reddit Personal Finance Canada thread.

Cross Border Shopping

Norbert’s Gambit, the infamous maneuver to convert currency without having to incur the regular currency exchange fees, was the topic of this post on reddit, where one DIY investor was looking for guidance on how to do this at TD Direct Investing with an interesting fund choice.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap on the week, the month of June and the first half of 2017. Canadian markets are closed on Monday but anyone trading actively in the markets is undoubtedly going to be watching what happens come opening bell in the US. Of course, for those who are actually long on the long weekend, have a safe and fun Canada Day weekend! Cheers to Canada turning 150 in style and to another 150 equally eventful years ahead!

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – June 2, 2017

There seems to be no way around it, what happens on social media has now become ‘the news’ cycle the world over. Curiously, the news cycle this week focused on deciphering covfefe as well as the art of the deal – or rather the art of pulling out of the deal. For Canada’s discount brokerages, there may (or may not) be covfefe to worry about, but fortunately there are lots of deals, which is something all DIY investors can look forward to.

As an homage to keeping people guessing and to deals, this week’s roundup is full of teasers as well as great info on the latest deals and promotions to kick off the new month. Keep reading to find out about an exclusive preview of a soon-to-be released promotional offer, as well as additional features and an exclusive promotion that’s close to launch. Speaking of launch, after the deals roundup we rocket through some minor (but soon to be major) developments over the past week in the Canadian online brokerage space. As always, we’ll take a look at the latest DIY investor chatter on Twitter and on the forums.

Spotlight on Deals

Despite Wonder Women tearing up the box office, some of the biggest blockbusters of this summer are still to come and a few of them will actually be in the online brokerage space. Although there might not be any talking robots, there are, ironically, robots making an appearance in the deals section – roboadvisors to be exact. Here are some ‘teasers’ of deals and promotions coming down the wire this month.

Rise of the Machines

Of several big announcements for this month’s deals & promotions section is the news that SparxTrading.com will be starting to cover the deals being offered by roboadvisors. Specifically, Canadian discount brokerages who’ve also deployed (or are affiliated through a parent with) a roboadvisor or ‘digital advice’ investment service.

The list at the time of publication includes four known entities: BMO SmartFolio, National Bank Direct Brokerage’s Investcube, Questrade Portfolio IQ, and VirtualWealth from Qtrade. Not too far on the horizon, however, is also a robo-advisor from Credential Direct and rumour has it another Canadian online brokerage is on the cusp of rolling out its own robo-advisor product. Interestingly, HSBC announced this week it too would be launching a robo-advisor however there are no details on whether this will be coming to Canada any time soon – more on that below.

Crazy 88’s

The second big announcement is the launch of a SparxTrading.com exclusive commission-rebate offer with one of Canada’s online brokerages. Full details of this promotion (including which brokerage it will be with) will be made available shortly. In the meantime, stay tuned to the SparxTrading Twitter feed and the deals & promotions section to find out when it goes live.

The Legend of Zero

A third interesting sneak peek announcement comes in the form of a promotion from Virtual Brokers, who recently held a webinar jointly sponsored by the Independent Investor Institute.

As part of signing up for that seminar, registrants were offered access to 3 months of commission-free trading for either Canadian or US ETFs (to a maximum of 20 trades) . The last time we saw a promotional offer that featured free ETF trading was from National Bank Direct Brokerage who subsequently went on to offer commission-free trading on all Canadian ETFs.

screenshot from promotional offer sent to webinar attendees

While the Virtual Brokers’ latest offer is not yet being advertised to the general public, it may likely be something opened up to the public in the near future. Regardless of how many people take advantage of the offer or the timeline for its release, it raises the question, is Virtual Brokers testing the water on commission-free ETF trading and could this be the next shoe to drop in the online brokerage commission price battle?

Walking the InvestorLine

Finally, as we mentioned in the most recent deals & promotions post, there are several promotions that are scheduled to end in June. The earliest is from BMO InvestorLine, which will see their cash back and free trade promotion expire on June 5th. Fortunately, there is already another offer ready to go to replace this promotion as of June 6th.

SparxTrading.com has an exclusive first look at BMO InvestorLine’s newest promotion which offers up to $1200 cash back for a deposit of at least $200,000 in net new assets. In addition to the cash back component, qualified applicants get a 60-day trial of the BMO InvestorLine 5 Star Program and its active trading platform, BMO MarketPro as well as a transfer fee rebate of up to $200 to cover switching fees from another brokerage. To boot, savvy individuals can also take advantage of the Refer-a-Friend offer to get an extra $50 stacked on top of the $1200 cash back.

According to the offer’s terms & conditions, the accounts that are eligible to take advantage of this promotion are cash or margin accounts (individual or joint), corporate, sole proprietorship, RRSP and spousal RRSP accounts. Importantly, TFSA accounts and clients with PRO accounts are excluded. This summer promotional offer expires on August 7th.

At this point, BMO InvestorLine is the only Canadian online brokerage offering up a cash back promotion of this magnitude (>$1,000) for deposits of this size (>$200K) for an online trading account. The only alternative to receive a cash back (currently) is through one of the referral cash back offers, the highest being from Questrade ($250 for deposits of $100,00+).

With asset gathering clearly being a primary goal of all the players in the online brokerage space, having incentives in place to compensate investors makes sense.

For the moment BMO InvestorLine remains unchallenged among their bank-owned peers and, to a large degree, by most of Canada’s other online brokerages with an offer for the $200K+ deposit range. It will be interesting to see if other offers start to show up at this higher “mass affluent” deposit tier or if BMO InvestorLine will be able to put this offer on autopilot for the better portion of the summer.

Autumn in New York

This month’s deals and promotions saw a slight uptick courtesy of a contest sponsored by Desjardins Online Brokerage for a trip to New York City in the fall (autumn in New York anyone?). No purchase is required for entry to the contest. To enter, users have to register for Desjardins Online Brokerage’s newsletter (D Bulletin) and/or alerts for webinars/seminars. Prize value (including the spending money) for this contest is $3,000. More details are available in the deals & promotions section here.

Interestingly, Desjardins’ choice to run a contest may be a response to their close rival, National Bank Direct Brokerage, who is running a contest in conjunction with Horizon’s ETFs and which focuses on a fantasy ETF portfolio.

Sidebar: for individuals interested in participating in a fantasy stock challenge related to cannabis and medical marijuana companies, the Canadian Securities Exchange in conjunction with Stockpools and the Lift Cannabis Expo, are running a competition from July through September. There are weekly cash prizes as well as a grand prize trip to Las Vegas.

Bottom Line

The good news for DIY investors is that there are still lots (24) advertised offers to choose from in June and if May has been any indicator online brokerages are getting more creative with their offers/incentives. We’ve also caught wind of at least two other offers that have been targeted to launch in June from a Canadian online brokerage, signaling more fireworks to come well before Canada Day. Don’t let the warmer weather fool you, it seems like Canadian discount brokerages will be working just as hard, not only to roll out new promotions during the typically quieter summer months, but also in preparation for the busy fall season.

*Disclosure: SparxTrading.com may receive compensation for individuals signing up for an online brokerage account with BMO InvestorLine or from Questrade’s refer-a-friend program mentioned above.

Lightning Roundup

Here’s a quick recap on what else was taking place this week around Canada’s discount brokerages.

Mobile on a rollout

The rollout of Questrade’s mobile app was made official earlier in the week. In last week’s roundup, we reported the soft launch of the app and positive early reviews. Now with another week under its belt, the reviews for the Android (4/5) and iOS (3.5/5) appear to have remained relatively positive.

Recognia expands to China

As posted on their social media accounts, Trading Central, parent of the of the popular stock analysis tool company, Recognia, announced they’ve opened up an office in Shanghai, China (officially as of March 20, 2017). The launch party will be on June 22. Recognia, based out of Ottawa, was acquired by Trading Central in 2014.

Digital bench press

It looks like the trend towards ‘going digital’ continues across the Canadian online brokerage space. In the past two weeks we’ve spotted Canadian discount brokerages CIBC Investor’s Edge, Credential Direct, Qtrade Financial and Scotia iTRADE seeking to build their bench in the digital, social and content arenas. Of course, they’re not the only ones.

In a recent interview with Investment Executive, the vice president and head of retail banking and wealth management for HSBC Canada Larry Tomei stated that HSBC Canada has been spending “a significant amount of money” on digital initiatives, including revamping HSBC InvestDirect.

What this all points to is that Canadian online brokerages (as well as their parent financial brands) have to make the transition into being adept technology companies as well as publishing companies while retaining their financial services roots. This recent spike in staffing up the digital benches suggests that some very interesting features and upgrades are just around the corner.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

While the environment was on the minds of many, it also managed to spill over into the online trading world too. Mentioned this week were CIBC Investor’s Edge, Questrade, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing and Virtual Brokers.

From the Forums

Exit Strategy

Looking before you leap is a sound strategy. In one DIY investor’s case, they wanted to know what the leap from Scotia iTRADE to Questrade might be like in this thread from reddit’s Personal Finance Canada section.

Time to split

While there are always two sides to a story, for one DIY investor, it seemed their online brokerage was having difficulties dealing with a share split. When asking aloud if other DIY investors on reddit encountered any customer service issues in this post, it was interesting to see how other investors weighed in and what they had to say about this online brokerage.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap on the week. What better note to end on than record market levels in the US, national donut day, and a weekend full of playoff hockey and basketball. Of course, watching the French government troll DJT also makes for a pretty fun spectator sport as well. Whatever you happen to watch this weekend (even if it’s cryptocurrency prices) have fun!

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – June 1, 2017

Discount Brokerage Deals

  1. Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions
  2. Referral Promotions
  3. Transfer Fee Promotions
  4. Contests & Other Offers
  5. Digital Advice + Roboadvisor Promotions (new!)

*Update: June 27* Summer is the best time for blockbuster movie hits. And, just like these feature productions, this month’s deals & promos section will be filled with big announcements and teasers on offers coming soon from Canada’s online brokerages as well as from SparxTrading.com!

Before getting to the new features and deals, here’s a quick recap of the landscape heading into June.

Although there was lots going on in the background, May was relatively quiet on the deals front. Last month saw 23 promotional offers in play with Qtrade Investor opting to extend their transfer offer until the middle of this month.

Heading into the new month, it seems like June could have more deal turnover and volatility. For example, BMO InvestorLine has an offer set to expire on June 5th (more on that below) as well as another (refer-a-friend) at the end of the month; Qtrade Investor’s transfer fee offer expires June 14th and Desjardins Online Brokerage’s long-standing 1% commission credit promotion is scheduled to conclude at the end of June.

The good news, however, is that there are still many promotional offers for DIY investors (24 at the time of publication) in the market for an online trading account. Better still is the fact that the deals/incentives being put forward are getting more creative. For example, this month Desjardins Online Brokerage has launched their first (at least in recent memory) contest-based program (no purchase required either!) – perhaps in response to the contest by National Bank Direct Brokerage. Also, Virtual Brokers ran a limited promotion in conjunction with their investor education webinar (with the Independent Investor Institute) in which they were offering up 3 months of commission-free ETF trading (buying and selling) for new clients.

Also hinted at last month was the launch of a SparxTrading.com exclusive offer.  This month we’re happy to report the official launch of a commission-credit promotion with an online brokerage coming just around the corner. We’ll provide updates here in the deals section when the promo goes live as well as announce the launch of this new offer on the SparxTrading Twitter account.

Another exciting announcement is the addition of Canadian roboadvisor/digital advisor deals & promotions into our deals section.

The landscape for Canadian online brokerages has evolved and now the automated/digital/robo [product line] is quickly becoming integrated into the suite of services offered by online brokerages.

As such, this month we’re launching coverage of special offers for the digital/roboadvisor services linked to firms that also have a DIY/self-directed investor service. Thus far, this group includes BMO SmartFolio, Questrade Portfolio IQ, National Bank Direct Brokerage’s InvestCube, VirtualWealth (from Qtrade) and a soon to roll out robo-advisor from Credential (name tbd) powered by NestWealth Pro.

While we can’t confirm that more roboadvisor players will be on the way, the announcement today that HSBC is launching a roboadvisor (in the UK), National Bank’s recent investment into NestWealth and the whispers of another Canadian online brokerage on the cusp of a roboadvisor launch, suggests there is still plenty of action left in this space in the near future.

As always, if there are any Canadian discount brokerage deals or promotions that we’ve missed, let us know and we can add them to the list for all deal-hunting DIY investors to be aware of.

Expired Deals

*Update: June 24th – Qtrade Investor’s discounted transfer fee ($10,000 deposit to have transfer fee covered) offer officially closed on June 14th and was not extended. Their transfer fee minimum deposit moves back to $25,000.*

No deals expired heading into June.

Extended Deals

No deals expired heading into June.

New Deals

*Update: June 27th – There’s a new kid on the block for the deals & promotions section, and it likes to do the robot. We’re pleased to launch the new section covering roboadvisors that are linked to or run by Canadian discount brokerages. At the time of publication there are currently four online brokerages affiliated with a roboadvisor (or digital advice) platform. We’ve combined the various offer types, which include cash back promotions, discounted management fees and transfer fee coverage. Scroll down to scan the latest roboadvisor promotions currently available to investors.*

*Update: June 24th – Virtual Brokers made a splash at the outset of summer by launching two big commission-credit offers. The first offers up 20 commission-free ETF trades for new clients. Specifically, this promo offers 20 commission-free ETF trades for either Canadian or USD ETFs. The second promo is another commission-credit offer that rebates $50 for 20 commissionable trades made within a quarter, for up to four consecutive quarters. The deadline for signing up for this promotion is September 30th. See the table below for more details.*

*Update: June 7th – Exciting news! SparxTrading is pleased to announce the launch of our exclusive $88 commission-free trade offer with Questrade. Individuals signing up for a new qualifying online trading account with Questrade and depositing $1,000 or more in net new assets can receive up to $88 in commission credits which can be used towards equity, options and ETF (sells) trades. As far as we can tell, this is the best Questrade commission-credit offer currently available – and as an added bonus, individuals have 60 days to use the commission-free trades (as opposed to the standard 30-day window for current commission-credit offers). See table below for more info.*

*Update: June 5th – BMO InvestorLine has launched their latest promotion, a cash back offer for $1,200 for new or existing BMO InvestorLine clients depositing at least $200,000 in net new assets. In addition to the cash back offer, this promotion includes a 60-day access to their 5-Star program (including a trial of the MarketPro platform) and up to $200 in transfer fees covered from another brokerage. Finally, this offer is also eligible to be used with a refer-a-friend offer currently available to BMO InvestorLine clients meaning that referred individuals can get an extra $50 cash back added onto their bonus. See table below for offer links.*

Although technically not a new account opening offer, Desjardins Online Brokerage is sponsoring a draw for a trip to New York City (from Montreal), accommodation, a special tour of Wall St. and $500 CAD in spending money. Total value of the prize is $3,000 CAD and the contest is open until July 14, 2017. To enter, individuals have to register to receive at least one of several email communications from Desjardins Online Brokerage (notably their D-bulletin) as well as provide their email address, postal code and phone number. So, in terms of entry, it is very quick and straight forward. For full details, see terms and conditions here: https://www.disnat.com/en/wall-street-contest

Lots coming around the corner, check out the weekly roundup for advance notice on two special offers set to drop next week. One (very big offer) from BMO InvestorLine and the other being a SparxTrading.com exclusive promotion. Stay tuned!

Discount Brokerage Deals

  1. Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions
  2. Referral Promotions
  3. Transfer Fee Promotions
  4. Contests & Other Offers
  5. Digital Advice + Roboadvisor Promotions (new!)

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 $88 in commission credits (up to 17 commission-free trades). Use promo code SPARX88 when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $1,000 $88 commission credit 60 days Access this offer by clicking here: $88 commission-credit offer . For full terms and conditions, 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, 2017
Open and fund a new account at Virtual Brokers with at least $5,000 and you may be eligible to receive a $50 cash back rebate per quarter. To receive the cash back rebate, at least 20 commission generating trades must be made within a specified quarter. Use promo code: CSHBKQTR17 to access this offer. This offer is open to new clients only. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $5,000 $50 commission rebate (cash back) per quarter (up to $200 cash back over the total period) To qualify 20 trades must be made within a quarter. $50 cash will be rebated in the following quarter. Eligibility period ends June 2018. For more information, click the terms and conditions here September 30, 2017
Open and fund a new account with Virtual Brokers with a deposit of at least $5,000 and receive cash back commission rebates on the first 20 Canadian or US ETF trades made by September 30, 2017. For commission-free Canadian ETFs use promo code: CADSETF2017 and for US ETFs use promo code: USSETF2017. This offer is open to new clients only. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $5,000 $50 commission rebate (cash back) Trades must be completed by Sept. 30, 2017. Cash rebates will be deposited in Feb. 2018. For more information, click the terms and conditions here September 30, 2017
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 June 30, 2017
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine or fund a qualifying existing account, with at least $200,000+ in net new assets and you may be eligible to receive $1,200 cash back. In addition, eligible individuals can receive a 60-day trial of BMO MarketPro and have transfer fees covered up to $200. Use promo code SPARXCASH when signing up for cash back offer. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. $200,000+ $1,200 Cash back Cash back will be deposited the week of March 12, 2018. Summer cash back offer August 7, 2017
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new account with Scotia iTRADE 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) 5,000; B) 7,500; C) 20,000; D) 35,000; E) 50,000 or F) 100,000 scene points as well as 50 free trades. In addition, new clients will also be reimbursed up to $150 in transfer fees. Free trades will be valid for 90 days. Use promo code 17SC when signing up to be eligible. 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 – $499,999 E) $500,000 – $999,999 F) 1,000,000+ SCENE Points A) 5,000 B) 7,500 C) 20,000 D) 35,000 E) 50,000 F) 100,000 + 50 Free Trades 90 days Free Movie & Free Trade Promotion July 31, 2017

Expired Offers
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine or fund a qualifying existing account, with at least A) $100,000 or B) $250,000+ in net new assets and you may be eligible to receive A) $200 cash back or 20 commission-free trades; B) $1,000 cash back or 100 commission-free trades. Use promo code SPARXCASH when signing up for cash back offer or SPARXTRADES to be eligible for commission-free equity trade offer. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. A) $100,000 – $249,999 B) $249,999+ A) Cash back: $200 OR 20 commission-free trades B) Cash back: $1,000 OR 100 commission-free trades. Cash back will be deposited the week of January 8, 2018. Commission-free equity trades are eligible for use up to August 6, 2017. Cash back or Free trade offer June 5, 2017
Last Updated: June 24, 2017 12:50 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
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: June 1, 2017 21:30 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 $20,000 or more to a National Bank Direct Brokerage account and they will pay up to $135 plus taxes in transfer fees $135 $20,000 Transfer Fee Rebate 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
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
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 tbd
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
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 DisnatFlex. See details link for more info. $150 $50,000 Disnat 1% Commission Credit Promo June 30, 2017

Expired Offers
Last Updated: June 24, 2017 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: June 1, 2017 21:30 PT

Digital Advice + Roboadvisor Promotions

Robo-advisor / Digital advisor Offer Type Offer Description Min. Deposit Reward / Promotion Promo Code Expiry Date Link
Discounted Management Open and fund a new Questrade Portfolio IQ account with a deposit of at least $1,000 and the first month of management will be free. For more information on Portfolio IQ, click the product link. $1000 1st month no management fees KDKFNBBC None Questrade Portfolio IQ Promo Offer
Discounted Management Open a new account with BMO SmartFolio and receive one year of management of up to $15,000 free. See offer terms and conditions for more details. $5,000 1 year no management fees SPSF July 31, 2017 SmartFolio New Account Promotion
Cash Back Open and fund a new Investcube account with National Bank Direct Brokerage and deposit with at least A) $10,000; B) $50,000; C)$200,000; or D) $300,000+ and you may be eligible to receive a cash back deposit of either A) $50; B) $200; C) $400 or D) $600. See offer terms and conditions for full details. A) $10,000 B) $50,000 C) $200,000 D) $300,000+ A) $50 cash back B) $200 cash back C) $400 cash back D) $600 cash back CUBE2017 August 31, 2017 Investcube Cash Back Promotion
Transfer Fee Coverage Transfer at least $25,000 into Virtual Wealth when opening a new account and you may be eligible to have up to $150 in transfer fees covered by Virtual Wealth. $25,000 up to $150 in transfer fees covered None None Contact customer service directly for more information.
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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – May 26, 2017

‘Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble’ seems to capture the sentiment of any market when buyers get far too ahead of themselves. Whether it’s real estate, the latest feverish run up in cryptocurrency ethereum, or tulip bulbs, wherever bubbles appear, Shakespearean style trouble isn’t too far behind.

In this edition of the roundup, we look at a couple of different approaches Canadian discount brokerages are attempting in order to make it easier for DIY investors to navigate the world of online trading. Our lead story looks at one independent online brokerage’s moves in the investor education space and what it means for them heading into the summer. From there we take a look at another independent brokerage’s release of a mobile trading app that appears to be hitting the right notes with DIY investors. As is customary, we round out by looking at what DIY investors had to say on Twitter and in the investing forums.

Webinar from Virtual Brokers

This week, Virtual Brokers started advertising for an upcoming educational webinar on navigating this very long and very stubborn bull market. The online webinar will be presented by Ziad Jasani, head swing trader at the Independent Investor Institute, who will discuss how to approach trading in both ‘break out’ or ‘break down’ scenarios.

Three things that stand out as important about this event within the context of recent moves by VB and the Canadian discount brokerage industry. First, this webinar is the second investor education event held between Virtual Brokers and the Independent Investor Institute this year. Earlier in February, there was an in-person seminar that reportedly saw strong attendance and investor interest.

A second important observation about this webinar is that there is a promotional offer being attached to this session. Specifically, it appears that there is discounted access to a two-day active investing class held by the Independent Investor Institute available at no cost with the opening of a Virtual Brokers account. The second important offer is that individuals who sign up for a new Virtual Brokers account will receive three months of commission-free online trading of ETFs.

Finally, this seminar discusses using ETFs to construct growth-focused portfolios. As mentioned in last week’s roundup, there has been a considerable gap between the proliferation of ETF providers (and accompanying ETFs) and the materials around to support investors to be able to make sense of this landscape. In response, it appears that Virtual Brokers, and even CIBC Investor’s Edge this past week, may be taking additional steps to service DIY investors with better informational resources to improve the experience of trading online.

Despite a quiet start to the year for Virtual Brokers, it appears that as we near the halfway point in 2017, things are starting to pick up at this Canadian online brokerage. With a previously noted revival of their social media activity, a concerted push into investor education, as well as increased promotional activity, it is likely that DIY investors will be hearing more from Virtual Brokers as well as from clients via social media into the second half of this year.

Questrade launches new mobile trading app

This week, after much anticipation, Questrade quietly rolled out an updated version of their mobile trading app. And, based on early reviews it appears that many users are enjoying the refresh.

Out of the gate the first 31 reviews available for the Questrade mobile app on the Google Play store gave the new app a 4 out 5 rating, which is in stark contrast to the 2.4 out of 5 score that the mobile IQ edge received (with 1,039 reviews). On the Apple App Store, the first 17 ratings gave it a 3.5 out of 5. One of the biggest shortcomings, according to the reviews posted on the App Store, was the lack of TouchID to log into the app/authenticate.

While mobile interfaces are undoubtedly popular with investors, the fact is that trading involves being able to look at charts and lots of data in a short amount of time. Getting a mobile interface that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional (and secure) is no easy feat, however it appears that Questrade has taken the lessons from the previous iterations of mobile app and built those lessons into this new mobile trading experience (for the most part).

From a functionality perspective, Questrade’s new mobile trading app reflects the fact that Questrade is now both a DIY investing company and a managed wealth company, as the app supports both lines of their business.

On the DIY investing side, however, the new mobile trading app has many of the necessary features for traders who need to step away from their computers/monitor their positions remotely as well as for those investors who simply like to get progress reports on what their portfolio might be doing throughout the day or after hours.

Features such as technical indicators, level 1 and level 2 data, legible charting, easy switching between stocks and options and account management tools mean that, so long as there is a decent internet signal and battery life, the biggest concerns active traders would have on this platform would be fat-finger trades.

With this latest release, Questrade appears to have significantly improved their mobile trading experience. And, while there is clearly room for improvement for users, other Canadian brokerages with mobile trading apps, such as Qtrade Investor, Scotia iTRADE and Virtual Brokers, will have their work cut out for them to improve their ratings and user experience to match Questrade’s current scores.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

With the weather warming up, sunnier skies may have lured some traders away from Twitter. Mentioned this week were Questrade, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing and Virtual Brokers.

From the Forums

Not so g-rate

Conversion fees are just one way online brokerages can make up for lowering commission prices. One CIBC Investor’s Edge user found the multicurrency experience in dealing with USD to be less than appealing after this new feature was introduced. Learn more in this post from RedFlagDeals.com’s investing thread (out of interest, see the original post celebrating the lower conversion fees before things were changed).

Cross Border Brokerage

For Canadians living or working in the US, the DIY investing experience can get a little bit complicated. Here is one post from RedFlagDeals’ investing forum that provides some useful perspective of one Canadian DIY investor looking for a suitable online brokerage in the US that could also easily accommodate a switch when coming back to Canada.

Into the Close

Heading into the US Memorial Day long weekend means that trading action on Canadian markets will be noticeably quieter on Monday. Also, with the Sens now knocked out of the playoffs (but what a way to go), NBA finals a few days away and the House of Cards launch on the other side of the weekend, it seems like the perfect opportunity to relax and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.  Just watch out for the bears.

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – May 19, 2017

Drama. It’s what draws viewers into reality TV and it’s what reality TV producers and those in the entertainment world know how to harness – the innate human tendency towards uncertainty. Funnily enough, financial markets aren’t that different either, with human reactions (and aversions) towards uncertainty playing out almost daily. Interestingly, Canadian discount brokerages are also trying to figure out how to harness the tendencies to avoid emotional decisions as well as the tendencies to be moved by them.

In this week’s roundup, we go part-robo with the rundown of Canadian online brokerages who’ve ventured into the automated/digital/robo-advisor space, and the incentives that are being offered to win new clients. From there, we take a more social turn to tell a tale of two online channels by looking at the social media activity from a pair of Canadian discount brokerages. Of course, as always, we cover the full scope of DIY investor chatter with a summary of online investor tweets and a few interesting posts from the DIY investor forums.

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

This month, one of the (if not the) leading robo-advisors in Canada just reached a crucial milestone. Wealthsimple, the flagship robo-advisor that is building their brand with a combination of star-power, zeitgeist and deep-pocketed backers, added to their celebrity status by having Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pop by their offices as they crossed the $1B AUM (assets under management) marker.

Without question, Wealthsimple and their peers – the independent robo-advisors, have shaken the wealth management tree in Canada. Over the past three years, the robo/digital advisory landscape in Canada has mushroomed from nothing to just over a dozen firms competing in this space. And, on either side of the robo-advisor industry are a long list of financial services firms who are not going to quietly give up market share or mind share to these newer entrants.

One of the interesting challenges that ‘digital advice’ products such as robo-advisors face in the Canadian investment landscape is carving out enough of a presence to make them a profitable and sustainable enterprise. As yet, there hasn’t been a vicious price war among robo-advisors but that may soon change thanks to recent moves by Canadian online brokerages.

On the DIY investor side of the spectrum, there are now at least four Canadian discount brokerages (or their parent brands) who’ve deployed some kind of digital advice/robo-advisory service. These providers (and their services) include:

  • BMO Wealth Management (with BMO SmartFolio)
  • National Bank Direct Brokerage (Investcube)
  • Questrade Wealth Management (Portfolio IQ)
  • Qtrade Securities (Virtual Wealth)

No stranger to competition, the brokerage-associated robo-advisors have gone on the offensive launching promotional offers to draw investor attention. Specifically, this month NBDB’s Investcube launched a cash back offer and BMO SmartFolio’s launched a no advisor fee introductory management offer, both of which will rattle the cages of more than a few Canadian robo-advisors.

Starting first with BMO SmartFolio, there is now a promotional offer for new clients which enables the first $15,000 of assets to be managed with no fee – specifically no advisory fees, for up to one year (until the end of September 2018). For amounts over $15,000 the regular advisory fee schedule rates apply. Currently there aren’t that many similar types of fee waiver promotions for deposits of that size. Interestingly, this asset level appears to appeal to beginner investors or to those who are curious about the SmartFolio experience.

[*disclosure note: SparxTrading.com has a referral program in place with BMO SmartFolio and may receive compensation for individuals opening a SmartFolio account with code STSF and/or clicking through to the SmartFolio website]

For National Bank Direct Brokerage, the Investcube product isn’t a typical robo-advisory although it often is described as such. Nonetheless, the automatic rebalancing features and ‘hands off’ appeal to investors put Investcube’s pre-built portfolios up against those of the more recent robo-advisors. Earlier this month, NBDB launched a tiered-cash back promotion that offered between $50 and $600 for new and existing account holders.

It will be interesting to monitor the online brokerage space as a whole to see a) whether the other online brokerages who offer robo-advisory services also start offering more aggressive promotions and b) if other Canadian discount brokerages (or their parent brands) also start deploying robo-advisors. Of course, in researching the field of Canadian robo-advisors and their current promotions, it looks like these online brokerage affiliated offers from BMO SmartFolio and Investcube are also going to start shaking the tree at the robo-advisors to step up with something better.

A tale of two tweets

VB Twitter gets a reboot

After a number of months of relative quiet from Virtual Brokers on social media, the Virtual Brokers Twitter account appears to have come back to life with tweet activity picking up over the past few days.

While it is still early, this uptick in activity coincides with addition of bandwidth in the client service arena. Specifically, Virtual Brokers recently added resources to their phone service by opening a call centre in Montreal.

As any longtime reader of the weekly roundup will note, however, the presence of a Twitter account also opens up a service channel directly with an online brokerage.

In the past few months, Virtual Brokers has been receiving tweets and responding, albeit after a longer period of time than what the channel typically demands. So, to see not only customer service tweets but also a ‘general interest’ topical tweet emerge from the VB Twitter account is a sign that perhaps additional resource has been allocated here as well.

While being on Twitter is not without its growing pains, a reboot is still better than radio silence. From a strategy point of view, it will be interesting to see what kind of content will be coming from VB and the kind of traffic/response it receives as a customer service channel as more DIY investors (and VB clients) also start to take note of the uptick in activity.

Scotia iTRADE gets insta-famous

Earlier this week, Scotia iTRADE held a promo to drive traffic into their investor centre in downtown Toronto. Instead of coffee or ice cream, this time it was popcorn and SCENE points. Specifically, Scotia iTRADE appeared to be offering up 2000 SCENE Points (which could land two general admission movie tickets) for a $5,000 deposit. This offer is open until June 15, 2017.

As good as the popcorn may sound, however, it should be noted that at the deposit level of $5,000, there may be a quarterly fee of $25 that applies (the $25 per quarter fee is waived if, among other conditions, there’s at least $10,000 in aggregate account value) as well as standard commission rates of $24.99 per trade which are worth considering. The minimum account balance to receive the better trading commission rate of $9.99 per trade is $50,000.

If SCENE points are your thing, there is an existing offer which starts at deposits of $25,000 and can provide 50 free trades and considerably more SCENE points.

Once again, Scotia iTRADE is taking advantage of its parent Scotiabank’s association with the SCENE points program to be able to offer up this ‘free movie’ perk for signing up for an online brokerage account.

In addition to the promotion itself, there were also two other interesting observations. First, the deposit level for opening an account and qualifying for a promotion had been lowered to $5,000 – which is significantly lower than their current (or usual) set of offers. Perhaps this lower hurdle for an offer might be a signal of a coming shift in either the pricing or requirements to hold a Scotia iTRADE account.

The second observation of interest was that, unlike some previous campaigns, there wasn’t any uptake of this event on Twitter (at least under the hashtags associated with iTRADE or this promotion). There was, however, some visibility on Instagram by an iTRADE marketing manager which showcased members of the iTRADE team in action.

In terms of keeping up on social media, perhaps this is also a signal that branching out into yet another social channel is necessary to get exposure and engagement that isn’t happening on Twitter.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

The markets weren’t the only places where volatility could be found – DIY investors also had some volatile comments of their own for a few brokerages this week. Mentioned on Twitter were Questrade, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing and Virtual Brokers.

From the Forums

Wealthsimple gets Bigly

If you’re wondering if robo-advisors have struck a chord with the Canadian investor community, especially the millennial crowd, look no further than this post from the reddit Personal Finance Canada subreddit. While the Canadian Prime Minister and robo-advisors are lightning rods independent of one another on most days, when they combine, there was an undeniable reaction.

Saving for School

For one iTRADE customer, saving for their children’s education was top of mind in this post from RedFlagDeals’ investing forum. Find out what one user learned when asking how to set up a family RESP with Scotia iTRADE.

Into the Close

T.G.I.F. The long weekend is finally here and although it could end up feeling much longer if you happen to watch any news, the ‘good news’ is that the weather in most of the country makes it much easier to peel away from a screen and enjoy the outdoors (or stick to a screen and cheer for the Sens!). A reminder that Canadian markets will be closed on Monday for Victoria Day, not that that will stop the die hard traders from looking at the US markets for trading opportunities or a cue on how to kick-off on Tuesday. Have a safe and enjoyable long weekend!

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – May 12, 2017

While savvy investors and traders enjoy the ‘boring’ trades, in these markets, the truth is that nothing is quite so boring. For now, stock markets are moving on earnings – which is a good sign – however there appears to be a little extra uncertainty thrown into the mix, which for better or worse, makes things exciting to have to trade around. For mainstream investors, it seems that rather than try to pick off individual success stories, another product, ETFs, are continuing to be the ‘boring’ trade with some exciting results for those who run them and the online brokerages that facilitate the trading of these.

In this week’s roundup, we take a look at some interesting and interrelated developments in the world of investor education and ETFs that could be an area where Canadian online brokerages look to battle it out next. From there, we profile what the hiring decision of one online brokerage might mean for the Canadian landscape, especially out west. As always, we’ll serve up the latest DIY investor tweets and a pair of interesting forum posts to see what Canadian investors are talking about.

When a webinar is more than a webinar

One of those bigger trends among the online brokerages is the shift to digital content, in particular, with investor education. While the shift from seminars to webinars is nothing new in this space, what is noteworthy is the uptick in investor education content that one bank-owned brokerage, CIBC Investor’s Edge, has been deploying via webinar.

In late March, there was a webinar by Jamie Golombek that discussed some of the implications of the latest Canadian Federal budget and this past week, we noted an announcement for a webinar on ETFs presented by David Barber or First Asset. While two points a trend does not make, it did signal that something is stirring at CIBC Investor’s Edge.

Source: Screenshot of CIBC Investor’s Edge Website

A handful of brokerages, notably Desjardins Online Brokerage, National Bank Direct Brokerage, TD Direct Investing and Scotia iTRADE, have structured, regular and ongoing investor education webinars and seminars. The recent uptick in CIBC Investor’s Edge’s webinar schedule may signal a more concerted effort to deliver DIY investor educational content or it may resemble the approach taken by brokerages such as Credential Direct or Virtual Brokers where webinars are held intermittently during the year. Either way, both the timing and the topic are an interesting choice given what other online brokerages are delivering in terms of ETF-related content.

In May, TD Direct Investing is planning a pair of webinars on ETFs and Desjardins Online Brokerage has introduced a webinar showcasing the latest Desjardins-branded ETFs.  By comparison, National Bank Direct Brokerage also includes a regular webinar on the basics of ETFs and are running their latest promotional sponsorship of the Horizon’s ETF ‘Biggest Winner’ competition with, you guessed it, ETFs at the core of the contest structure.

There’s very little doubt that ETFs have become very popular with investors – this past week for example, ETFGI, a research group that tracks the ETF ecosystem, reported that more than $4T USD (yes trillion) is invested in exchange traded funds/products globally. In Canada, figures from the latest CETFA report (data to April 30, 2017) show a total of $126.2B in assets under management across 22 ETF providers and 495 funds.

Source: Screenshot of CETFA report

One of the interesting observations of the Canadian data is the remarkable growth over the last year of assets at players both big and small. Some noteworthy names for the DIY investor space include BMO Asset Management (45.4% y/y), Questrade Wealth Management (+58.9% y/y), RBC Global Asset Management (65.1% y/y) and TD Asset Management (173.7% y/y).

What has not grown as quickly, however, has been the content from Canadian online brokerages for DIY investors on understanding and navigating the ever-expanding world of ETFs.  To be fair, the ETF providers themselves do provide quite a bit of educational content (usually about their specific types of funds) and often partner with online brokerages to deliver the content to the online brokerages’ clients. With 495 Canadian funds in play and well over 6,000 internationally, picking and choosing ETFs is starting to rival picking individual stocks in complexity and choice – especially for the DIY investor.

With a new webinar from CIBC Investor’s Edge on its way as well as webinars about ETFs from several online brokerages who are active with investor education, the race to provide quality investor-focused educational content on ETFs appears poised to heat up during the next few months. Already the commission-pricing for ETF trading/investing has become a focal point for DIY investors, so the combination of continued retail investor interest and increasing competition (both among ETF providers and online brokerages) could result in some very interesting maneuvers by Canadian discount brokerages and some very creative tools and services for DIY investors.

Deal  Extension

It’s always a good sign to see deals come to market and to have them extended. Qtrade Investor has extended their transfer fee promotion for about a month with the new deadline being June 12th. This offer lowers the minimum deposit amount to qualify for a transfer out fee coverage (typically $150) from $25,000 to $10,000. For more details on the latest deals/promotions from Canadian discount brokerages, check our current deals section here.

Interactive Brokers looking to Vancouver for Customer Service Centre

Even though the Canadian online brokerage space is a dynamic one – especially when it comes to staffing and turnover, there are the occasional developments that provide an interesting window into the inner workings of these largely private organizations.

One of the interesting pieces of information that recently crossed our radar was a post for a job opportunity from Interactive Brokers Canada. Specifically, the post was for a customer service representative for a brand-new office located in Vancouver, BC. The significance of this last sentence is threefold.

 

Source: Screenshot from Interactive Brokers’ website

 

First, it appears that Interactive Brokers Canada is expanding beyond its headquarters in downtown Montreal. While several brokerages have a footprint in BC, many do not, so for Interactive Brokers to open an office in Vancouver (even if it may be largely a call-center) is a signal that they’re pushing to serve Western Canada and potentially areas further afield.

The second interesting aspect of this position is the language requirement, specifically that applicants need to have fluency in Mandarin as well as English. This additional language requirement is in line with other reported news of Interactive Brokers growing its account base in Asian markets. Whether these reps would be servicing exclusively Canadian clients or international clients is unknown, however the region (i.e. along the Pacific) and skillset of these prospective employees suggests Interactive Brokers Canada may be building infrastructure for strategically important demographic of user and doing so at a fraction of the cost it would require for the same operation in the US (think currency advantage).

Finally, with the introduction of the TFSA and RSP accounts, Interactive Brokers has opened itself up to dealing with many more client service-related inquiries (in addition to the traditional trading account queries). Bolstering their client support infrastructure (especially their call centre) means that in addition to providing low commission pricing, Interactive Brokers is also paying attention to customer support.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

A relatively quiet week for most brokerages on Twitter, nonetheless there were more jeers than cheers. Mentioned this week were CIBC Investor’s Edge, Questrade, Scotia iTRADE and TD Direct Investing.

From the Forums

A propos

Sometimes the timing just works out. This post from the Personal Finance Canada thread on reddit is a great example of the kinds of scenarios that beginner DIY investors find themselves in when trying to navigate the world of ETFs & online brokerages for the first time.

Itch to Switch

One of the most consistent reasons DIY investors think of switching online brokerages is because of the fees they’re paying. In this post on reddit’s Personal Finance Canada subreddit, one user expresses their frustration at the fees paid by their spouse and is looking for a better deal.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap on another wild and crazy week. And, it seems fitting that this weekend should be a time to thank mom’s everywhere for putting up with us during our crazy toddler/teenage (and adult) years – so thanks mom for being awesome and to mom’s everywhere for all of the wonderful things you do!

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – May 5, 2017

Not sure if May got the memo, but it was April that was supposed to get the showers. For many traders, however, this is the month when many of them will be looking to exit the market according to the saying: ‘Sell in May and go away’. While things don’t always go to plan, Canada’s discount brokerages are hoping that nobody rains on their parade, especially with the launch of their summer campaigns on the horizon.

In this week’s roundup we review the latest discount brokerage deals & promotions, including where to find out about a special offer being launched by SparxTrading.com in the coming weeks. From there we look at the latest trading stats from one US online brokerage and how the no-commission trading pricing could reshape the way online brokers operate. Following that story is the profile of a Canadian independent discount brokerage who was recognized for keeping their people happy and motivated. As always, we’ll close out the roundup with a summary of DIY investor tweets as well as a selection of DIY investor forum posts.

Let’s May a Deal

Now that spring has sprung, the weather isn’t the only thing changing. With RRSP season and income tax season now officially over, interest in online brokerages will start to wane until the fall, so Canadian brokerages will start to have to get a little creative to get the attention of DIY investors over the next few months.

With so much happening in the news, it seems that this year investors who are in the markets will be keeping a closer eye on their portfolios in case, you know, nuclear war breaks out. Aside from that unpleasant reality, it appears that Canadian online brokerages are hoping that some creative promotional offers will be good enough to get the attention of the folks who are in the market for an online trading account.

At the start of this month, Scotia iTRADE and National Bank Direct Brokerage were the only two brokerages to advertise new offers for DIY investors. Desjardins Online Brokerage also made headlines in the deals section by extending their existing offer out through the end of June.

In the case of iTRADE, there’s a promotion linked to the SCENE points program where new account registrants to Scotia iTRADE can receive 25 commission free trades plus between either 5,000 and 100,000 SCENE points (depending on deposit levels). The SCENE points can then be redeemed either for free movies or with partner restaurants or retailers where SCENE points are accepted.

Whether the points offer moves the needle with DIY investors is debatable (i.e. are movies really that valuable?) however the fact that there is a promotion and that people might pay attention to the deal might make it worthwhile campaign.

Another offer in the Canadian discount brokerage space comes in the form of a fantasy stock (ETF) picking competition from National Bank Direct Brokerage and Horizons ETFs.

With NBDB being the only Canadian online brokerage to allow commission-free trading on Canadian ETF buys and sells, ETF investors and those who want to learn about investing using ETFs, would find the competition (and the possibility of winning up to $7,500 cash) appealing.

For DIY investors, it appears competition between discount brokerages is still healthy.

There are still at least 23 advertised offers, and based on a number of in-person conversations with Canadian online brokerages, there are several deals and offers in the pipeline – with some being planned for later in May.

Of course, we saved the best news for last. This month, SparxTrading.com will also be launching a special promotional offer for DIY investors that will be sure to get quite a bit of attention. Be sure to stay tuned as we’ll be dropping the news on our Twitter feed first.

Interactive Brokers in a Squeeze

With the rollover into a new month, Interactive Brokers has once again published their trading metrics and provided a unique window into the landscape of online trading.

As we had reported in a previous edition of the weekly roundup, there are some interesting storm clouds brewing in the online brokerage space in the US that make looking at these stats important – especially because they might offer some insights into what may happen in Canada.

To recap, there appears to be a price war in the US online brokerage market in which major players such as Schwab, TD Ameritrade and E*Trade Financial have all drastically cut commission prices. Interactive Brokers, by comparison, reported an average equity commission per trade of about $2.30 and thus has yet to follow suit with some of their competitors.

It is against that backdrop that there are several noteworthy observations about Interactive Brokers’ stats.

First, since Interactive Brokers releases their full set of trading metrics dating back to 2008, it is very interesting to note that they continue to grow their account base. From the start of reporting in January of 2008 to the most recent set of results, accounts at Interactive Brokers have climbed from 97.2 thousand to 410.8 thousand. For those keeping score at home, IB’s accounts have grown four-fold in about nine years. Curiously, however, the crucial metric for online brokerages – Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) – has not grown at the same pace. In 2008, the cleared average DART per Account was  774; in 2017 the YTD average is 382, which is slightly less than half the average in 2008. Granted, 2008 and 2009 were crazy years for volatility and trading, however, it is a curious observation that despite the growth in accounts, trading has not followed suit.

Another interesting stat to compare this against comes from online brokerage Robinhood. Specifically, the growth chart recently reported on their blog which shows that they’ve grown from no accounts in 2015 to over 2 million in 2017 and are now valued at about $1.3B (USD).

Source: Robinhood.com blog screenshot

Robinhood has been increasing its feature set to cater to more active investors (including those that would use margin).

A third interesting development from the past week was the spike in E*Trade Financial’s share price on the whispers that there may be a buyer. Without speculating on who that might be, it is interesting because E*Trade is also caught between its identity as an online brokerage firm that caters well to active traders and one that can service the client base being sought after by TD Ameritrade, Schwab and even Robinhood.

What does this all mean?

What these data points suggest is that Interactive Brokers, which has typically been branded as the ‘active trader’ brokerage of choice, has either been bringing on clients who don’t trade as much as some of their earlier clients have, or if there are active traders in the mix, there hasn’t been the volatility around to get traders really excited. Likely it’s a mixture of both, especially since Interactive Brokers has made the decision to shutter its market making division because it’s been losing money.

Going after a less active trader, however, means competing with upstarts, like Robinhood, who’ve been crushing it from an account growth point of view, as well as going up against bigger players, some of whom are also prepared to go to zero commissions and would still be profitable.

At first blush, Interactive Brokers’ continued account growth, growth in assets and increasing margin balances are good signs. The fact that the active trading segment appears to be stalling, however, reinforces that active traders are hard to come by and are being sought by all sides. In trying to add accounts by bringing on less active traders, Interactive Brokers is moving into a very crowded space, so it will be interesting to see how their metrics, particularly the account growth, behaves with deeper value alternatives now becoming more prominent.

Questrade wins best managed company award

One of the interesting things about a recent visit to the Questrade offices in Toronto is not only the level of security in their offices, but also to see how much they’ve grown and continue to evolve.

Despite the addition of the size of their team, there is something different about Questrade than at the bank-owned brokerages, namely that at Questrade there are lots of ‘younger’ folks on staff.

While it may not seem consequential, it might help to explain how, unlike some of their peers, Questrade has a very pronounced presence on social media – especially on Twitter and in forums. To their credit, there’s a certain authenticity (aka street cred) to the culture of being able to connect with younger investors because so many of their own team would fit the mold of a typical client.

Recently Questrade received (yet again) an award for being a well-managed company. Part of the online brokerage (and financial services) experience entails knowing that who you’re dealing with is doing something right in the people department.

Here’s a video from the President & CEO of Questrade, Edward Kholodenko, which sheds some light on life at Questrade.

It was a rough week for a couple of online brokerages who caught more than a little flak for some technical outages. Of course there were plenty of customer service sirens going off all around. Mentioned this week were CIBC Investor’s Edge, Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTRADE, TD Direct Investing and Virtual Brokers.

 

From the Forums

Insight Scoop

With deals and promotions being a feature of this week’s roundup, we found this post from RedFlagDeals’ investing forum to be interesting. Specifically, it looks at one user’s experience in trying to see if the current BMO InvestorLine deal is a good fit.

Trading Places

There’s usually someone in the forums looking for a little help in understanding the transfer process from one brokerage to another. In this post from reddit’s Personal Finance Canada section, the original poster wanted to know about the process of moving into Questrade from Disnat. It’s an interesting story because 1) it’s not a move you hear about every day 2) it got a few very insightful reactions from some readers 3) it is another example of where Questrade and Qtrade get mistaken for the same brokerage and 4) Disnat’s parent – Desjardins Online Brokerage – purchased Qtrade Investor, so possibility that things could end up going full circle was mildly amusing (at least for the bystanders – and since it wasn’t to Qtrade but to Questrade not actually a case that the original poster would encounter, but someone actually might).

Into the Close

It’s Friday – otherwise known as the day of the week on which all of the crazy, potentially life changing news gets announced.  It’ll be a good weekend to stay indoors and enjoy thinking of being in a galaxy far, far away (where it doesn’t rain so much). Have a great weekend!