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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – March 1, 2016

*Update Mar. 18* While there were lots of offers available to DIY investors from Canadian online brokerages into the RRSP contribution deadline, there were definitely fewer than last year. Volatile markets and Canadians signaling their reluctance to contribute to an RRSP this year might have contributed to the pullback in participation by brokerages however there may also be signs that the Canadian discount brokerage landscape may be gearing up for the inevitable shakeup.

Heading into this new month there are two big stories. First, Virtual Brokers has started to offer referrals for ‘friends and family’ which now enables Virtual Brokers’ clients to earn a cash referral fee for a new account signup.

The second exciting story is that we’re refining the way in which discount brokerage promotions are being reported and expanding the types of promotions we’re covering. One of the primary objectives of SparxTrading.com is to help simplify the process of choosing an online brokerage and that includes sifting through the deals and promotions being offered.

With so many offers currently on the market things have gotten a bit unwieldy and so we’ve decided to split the deals and promotions into the following four categories for easier comparison and review:

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

The Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer category of promotions includes those offers from brokerages that typically consist of a user either getting cash back, free trades or trading credits (either through waived commission fees or commission reimbursements) and product offer promotions where a discount brokerage may be offering up a tangible item or equivalent gift card which has a definable market value.

The referral promotions cover the affiliate programs that a brokerage may be offering. These would typically include the “refer-a-friend” style promotions as well as any affiliate program codes that SparxTrading has access to (and for which we may receive any compensation for).

The transfer fee table will remain unchanged and it covers the fees that online brokerages are typically willing to cover when transferring between one brokerage and another.

Finally, the ‘contests & other offers’ covers any additional promotion that a brokerage might be running that is advertised to new or existing clients or even to the general public (as most contests are generally open to more than just clients).

We’re excited by the update and look forward to seeing where things go from here as there are 19 offers at the time of writing but 11 deals and promotions that are scheduled to expire in March which should make this month an exciting one. As always, if there are promotions that you’re aware of that we haven’t included, let us know and we can share it with all of our readers.

Expired Deals

Only one offer officially expired at the end of February: Questrade’s 25 commission-free trades for a year offer. That said, there are two offers that expire at the end of day (11:59 ET) on March 1st: Questrade’s 3 months of commission-free trading (code RSP2016) and BMO InvestorLine’s 2016 combined free trade and cash back offer (See extended deals section for update). Questrade also has another promotion scheduled to expire on the 4th of March.

Extended Deals

*Update Mar. 2: BMO InvestorLine has extended their combined free trade and cash back offer through the end of May. See table below for updated deadline date and promo code.*

No deal extensions were noted at the time of publication.

New Deals

*Update Mar. 18: Virtual Brokers has just launched another new promotion and it is a big one. They are offering up 3 months free of their Edge Trader Pro trading platform which then qualifies a user to trade on their commission-free trading commission plan. In short, this offer lets users trade for 3 months commission-free (on equities only) since the $150 USD/mo platform fee associated with this plan will be credited for 3 months. The minimum deposit required to qualify for this promotion is $5,000 CAD. Be sure to see the table below for more details.

*Update Mar. 2: Qtrade Investor has a transfer fee promotion that will cover transfer fees from another brokerage for a deposit of at least $10,000. See table below for more details.*

Virtual Brokers is the only Canadian online brokerage to start off March with a new promotion. They are launching a referral program – albeit for a limited time – that offers $25 cash back for a referral from a friend or family member of an existing Virtual Brokers account holder. Interestingly, and similar to Questrade’s referral promotion, individuals referring 3 or more new accounts to Virtual Brokers receive an extra $50. For individuals referred to this program, there are tiered rewards depending on deposit level. Individuals depositing at least $5,000 (and up to $50,000) can receive a $25 cash back offer; individuals contributing more than $50,000 can receive a cash back bonus of $50.

This new offer is interesting on a number of levels, not the least of which is actually the detail with which the terms and conditions spell out who is considered a ‘friend’ for the purposes of this promotion. See the table below for more details.

Discount Brokerage Deals

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

Cash Back/Free Trade/Product Offer Promotions

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Commission/Cash Offer/Promotion Type Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer Details Link Deadline
Jitney Trade A Sparx Trading exclusive offer! Use the promo code “Sparx Trading” when signing up for a new account with Jitneytrade and receive access to their preferred pricing package. n/a Discounted Commission Rates none For more details click here none
Open and fund a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) with at least $1,000 and you may be eligible to receive 5 commission-free trades. Use promo code 5FREETRADES when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $1,000 5 commission-free trades 60 days 5 commission-free trade offer December 31, 2016
Open and fund a new account at Virtual Brokers with at least $5,000 and you may be eligible to receive 3 months of commission-free equity trading and a $150 USD/mo credit towards Edge Trader Pro for 3 months. Use promo code sent at sign up to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for details. $5,000 3 months commission-free equity trading + $150 USD/mo platform fee rebate. 3 months 3 months free trading / Sign up form for promo code available here none
Open and fund a new account with Virtual Brokers with at least A) $15,000; B) $25,000 C) $50,000; D) $100,000 or E) $250,000+ and you may be eligible to receive A) 25; B) 50; C) 100; D) 150 or E) 200 commission-free equity (stock & ETF) trades. In addition, qualifying applicants will also be entered into a draw for a $500 Apple gift card. Use promo code 200APPLEWATCH when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for full details. A) $15,000 – $24,999 B) $25,000 – $49,999 C) $50,000 – $99,999 D) $100,000 – $249,999 E) $250,000+ A) 25 commission-free trades B) 50 commission-free trades C) 100 commission-free trades D) 150 commission-free trades E) 200 commission-free trades 90 days (cash for commissions to be credited back Aug. 2, 2016) Virtual Brokers RRSP 2016 Free Trade Promo March 31, 2016
Open and fund a new National Bank Direct Brokerage account with at least A) $20,000 or B) $100,00 and you may be eligible to receive up to either A) $500 or B) $1,000 in commission credits. Use promo code CashBack2016 when registering for an account to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for additional details. A) $20,000 – $99,999 B) $100,000+ A) $500 in commission credit B) $1,000 in commission credit 90 days Cash back promo March 31, 2016
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new account at Scotia iTrade with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,000 or $250,000+ and you may be eligible to receive up to A) 75; B) 150; C) 300 or D) 500 commission-free trades. Use promo code TRADES-RSP16 when opening account 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+ A) 75 commission-free trades B) 150 commission-free trades C) 300 commission-free trades D) 500 commission-free trades 90 days Free Trade Offer March 31, 2016
Open and fund a new account at TD Direct Investing with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000 or C) $100,000+ and you may be eligible to receive up to A) 50; B) 100 or C) 200 commission-free trades. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 A) 50 commission-free trades B) 100 commission-free trades C) 200 commission-free trades 60 days Commission-free Trading Offer April 15, 2015
Disnat Disnat is offering new & existing clients $500 in commission credits which can be used for up to 6 months. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code Disnat500. See details link for more info. $50,000 $500 commission credit 6 months Disnat $500 Commission Credit Promo March 31, 2016
Open or fund an eligible account with at least $100,000 and make at least one commission generating trade and you may be eligible to receive a $500 gift card for the Apple Store. Use promo code APPLEWATCH when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $100,000 $500 Apple Store gift card Gift card will be sent within 30 days of client meeting eligibility requirements. Apple Watch Promo March 31, 2016
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine, and fund it with at least A) $100,000 or B) $250,000 in net new assets and you may be eligible to receive either A) $200 cash back and 100 commission-free equity trades or B) $600 cash back and 100 commission-free equity trades. Use promo code Spring1600 when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. A) $100,000 – $249,999 B) $250,000+ A) $200 cash back + 100 commission-free equity trades. B) $600 cash back + 100 commission-free equity trades. 60 days for equity trades. Cash back will be deposited the week of Oct. 10, 2016. Commission rebates will be paid week of Oct. 10, 2016. Spring 2016 Promotion May 31, 2016

Expired Offers
Open and fund a new qualifying account (registered or margin) with at least A) $2,000; B) $25,000 or C) $50,000 and receive either A) 1 month; B) 2 months or C) 3 months of commission-free trading. Use promo code RSP2016 when registering. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $2,000 B) $25,000 C) $50,000 Commission-free trades A) 1 month B) 2 months C) 3 months RSP 2016 Promotion March 1, 2016
Open and fund a new qualifying account (registered or margin) with at least A) $1,000; B) $25,000 or C) $50,000 and receive either A) 1 month; B) 2 months or C) 3 months of commission-free trading. Use promo code UNLIMITEDW16 when registering. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $1,000 B) $25,000 C) $50,000 Commission-free trades A) 1 month B) 2 months C) 3 months 3 months unlimited trading March 4, 2016
Open a new qualifying account with HSBC InvestDirect and you could be eligible to receive up to 30 commission-free North American equity trades. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. n/a 30 commission-free trades. 60 days Winter free trade promotion March 15, 2016
Open and fund a new account (or existing clients can transfer in new assets) at Credential Direct with at least A) $15,000; B) $50,000; C) $150,000; D) $500,000 or E) $1,000,000 and you may be eligible to receive at least A) $75; B) $125; C) $200; D) $500 or E) $1,000. Applicants need to use code CASH2016RSP and fund account in order to qualify for cash back offer. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $15,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $149,999 C) $150,000 – $499,999 D) $500,000 – $999,999 E) $1,000,000+ A) $75 B) $125 C) $200 D) $500 E) $1,000 Cash credited to account on Oct. 15, 2016. Cash Back Offer March 15, 2016
Last Updated: March 18, 2016 11:05 PM PT
Open a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) and receive $50 commission credit . Use promo code: kdkfnbbc $1,000 $50 commission credit none none none

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 March 31, 2016
If you (an existing Virtual Brokers client) refer a friend or family member to open a new account with at least $5,000 you may be eligible to receive $25 cash per referral. For 3 or more referrals Virtual Brokers will add a $50 bonus. Referred individuals depositing either A) $5,000 – $50,000 or B) $50,000+ may be eligible to receive A) $25 or B) $50 cash back. Be sure to read the full terms and conditions carefully for full details. Be sure to read the terms and conditions to this offer carefully for full details. A) $5,000 – $50,000 B) $50,000+ Referrer: $25 per referral; $50 bonus for each 3 or more referrals. Referee: A) $25 B) $50 Cash to be deposited to VB account by August 15, 2016. Cash Referral Program May 31, 2016
BMO InvestorLine If you (an existing BMO InvestorLine client) refer a new client to BMO InvestorLine and they open an account with at least $50,000 the referrer and the referee may both be eligible to receive $50 cash. To qualify the referee must use the email of the referrer that is linked to their BMO InvestorLine account. See terms and conditions for full details. $50,000 You(referrer): $50; Your Friend(referee): $50 Payout occurs after 45 days (subject to conditions). BMO InvestorLine Refer-a-Friend June 30, 2016

Expired Offers
Open a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) and receive $50 commission credit . Use promo code: kdkfnbbc $1,000 $50 commission credit none none none
Last Updated: Mar. 1, 2016 21:30 PT

Transfer Fee Promotions

Company Brief Description Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount Minimum Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility Details Link Deadline
Qtrade Investor will reimburse your transfer fee up to $150 when transferring a balance of $10,000 or more. For reimbursement, please mail or fax a copy of your statement from the transferring institution that shows the transfer charge to Qtrade Investor at 604.484.2627 and indicate your Qtrade Investor account number. $150 $10,000 Transfer Fee Rebate April 29, 2016
Transfer $15,000 or more to a new Virtual Brokers account from another brokerage and Virtual Brokers may reimburse up to $150 in transfer fees. See terms and conditions for more information. $150 $15,000 Virtual Brokers 2016 RRSP Promo March 31, 2016
Transfer $15,000 or more to RBC Direct Investing and they will pay up to $135 in transfer fees $135 $15,000 Transfer Fee Rebate Details none
Transfer $25,000 or more from another brokerage and Credential Direct will cover up to $150 in transfer fees. Use promo code SWITCHME when signing up to qualify for the transfer promotion. $150 $25,000 Credential Direct Transfer Fee Rebate none
Move your brokerage account to Questrade and they’ll cover the transfer-out fee up to $150. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee Promo none
Transfer at least $25,000 or more in new assets to TD Direct Investing when opening a new account and you may qualify to have transfer fees reimbursed up to $150. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $150 $25,000 Commission-free trade promo April 15, 2016
Scotia iTrade Transfer at least $25,000 or more in new assets to Scotia iTrade when opening a new account and Scotia iTrade may reimburse transfer fees up to $150. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $150 $25,000 Free trade offer March 31, 2016
Transfer $25,000 or more into a CIBC Investor’s Edge account and they will reimburse up to $135 in brokerage transfer fees. Clients must call customer service to request rebate after transfer made. $135 $25,000 confirmed with reps. Contact client service for more info (1-800-567-3343) none
Transfer $25,000 or more to a National Bank Direct Brokerage account and they will pay up to $135 plus taxes in transfer fees $135 $25,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Disnat Disnat is offering up to $150 to cover the cost of transfer fees from another institution. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code Disnat500. See details link for more info. $150 $50,000 Disnat $500 Commission Credit Promo March 31, 2016
Scotia iTrade Transfer $15,000 or more to Scotia iTrade from another Canadian brokerage, and iTrade may pay up to $150 in transfer fees. $150 $15,000 500 Free Trade or $500 Cash Back Offer December 31, 2015

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 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 Questrade with at least $2,000 and you may be eligible to receive free tax software and the platinum bundle package form H&R Block. Use promo code HRBLOCK2016 when signing up to qualify. Read the terms and conditions for full details. $2,000 H&R Block Promo April 15, 2016
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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – February 26, 2016

Time flies when you’re up against a deadline. That seems to be the theme for many Canadians looking to take advantage of the RRSP contribution deadline for 2015 coming up this Monday. For Canadian discount brokerages, however, it seems that at the end of RRSP season may be signaling the start of an even stormier season ahead.

In this week’s roundup, we take a look at what’s around the corner for deals and promotions as we head into a new month and how we might be seeing the first signs of troubled waters for Canadian brokerages as they try to keep pace with one another. Next we take a look at a recent BNN interview with one ranking agency that highlights how tricky it can be to pick an online brokerage without doing some homework first. From there we take a look at the latest discount brokerage tweets and close out the roundup with a look at what investors were talking about on the forums this week.

Peak Deal?

As the RRSP deadline is fast approaching, Canadian investors will be busy trying to calculate their contributions and limits to ensure they can qualify for the 2015 tax year – at least those who intend to make a contribution. This recent survey from H&R Block stated that only 18% of Canadians surveyed intend to contribute to an RRSP this year. Whether it’s the volatile markets or because of other factors, it is against this backdrop that Canadian discount brokerages have had to figure out how best to encourage DIY investors to sign up for an online brokerage account. Clearly they’ve had their work cut out for them.

For Canadian discount brokerages, the RRSP season is typically among the busiest all year and so it is interesting to reflect on who did (or didn’t) post a promotion this year and what that could mean for deals landscape looks as the next big season i.e. tax return season takes effect.

Looking back at last year, there were 24 deals and promotions being advertised in February with that number shrinking slightly to 20 or so by the time March rolled around. This year, however, there are only 18 offers that have been advertised for February and four of those are set to expire within the first week of March.

So, could this be a signal of firms playing defense because of the DIY investing climate or could this be the first real hint that the Canadian online brokerage landscape may soon be thinning out?

Consider the following. Two big bank-owned brokerages, CIBC Investor’s Edge and RBC Direct Investing, opted to sit out the promotional race RRSP season this year despite having run promotions around the same time last year. While it is not clear if other means they’ve used to fuel the interest in their DIY investing products and services have worked the fact remains that this year, they’ve yielded what little market share there is to be had to big bank-owned competitors as well as independent brokerages who have been running promotions.

Another interesting observations between last year and this year is that some brokerages are running promotions that offer lower value incentives year (or higher barriers to qualify) despite the increased competition.

Virtual Brokers, for example, had an offer last year of 50 commission-free trades which required deposits of $5,000 whereas in 2016 that same number of commission-free trades requires a deposit of $25,000.

All is not doom and gloom, however.

Desjardins Online Brokerage upped their commission-credit offer for new clients to $500 from $300 and Credential Direct entered the deals race earlier this year than they did in 2015. Also, encouragingly for investors, Questrade has continued to put forward more incentives and promotions than other Canadian brokerages which implies that they’re committed to providing incentives to get DIY investors’ attention and ultimately business.

Looking at the big picture, with online brokerage margins being squeezed, a turbulent economic situation and now an added factor of robo-advisors competing for client assets, getting more clients or more assets per client will likely be as important as improving operating efficiency. In either case, offering a promotion or incentive enables them to do both.

There are already whispers from several brokerage sources that making deals and promotions a bigger part of their planning in 2016 is in the cards. Of course, just like in any market, when the value becomes compelling enough, the buyers step back in so for Canadian discount brokerages, the next two months will be their chance to make their case.

Know Thyself

As seasoned or new DIY investors continue to kick the tires on their online brokerage options, what it takes to make a good choice still remains somewhat tricky. After all, almost all brokerages are willing to accept a client’s money however finding out what makes a great ‘fit’ is not something brokerages look at the same way as clients do. What is clear about DIY investing and perhaps about wealth management in general is that nobody will care for your money more than you do.

For DIY investors, the reality of choosing the right online brokerage comes back down to knowing what kinds of services and costs are appropriate for their particular needs. This past week, the president of financial services research firm Surviscor Glenn LaCoste was on BNN offering viewers tips on what to look out for when choosing a brokerage.

Three questions that were highlighted as important for DIY investors looking for an online brokerage to ask were:

  • Do I know what I am getting myself into?
  • What kind of account am I looking for?
  • Do I need the firm to offer both online & mobile options?

Of course, the online brokerage industry is constantly evolving and the differences between firms are narrowing which highlights why DIY investors need to know more about what they want and need since relying on rankings and ratings may cause some confusion.

A good case in point of just how fluid the results of a top online brokerage ranking may be was also illustrated in that same interview.

Of the five brokerages listed as “top picks” (BMO InvestorLine, Scotia iTrade, Questrade, RBC Direct Investing and Qtrade Investor) there were other brokerages that seemed to score higher on Surviscor’s recent rankings that were left off the list. So, for example, RBC Direct Investing was ranked 6th (along with TD Direct Investing) in Surviscor’s 2015 Online Discount Brokerage Review and behind Credential Direct who ranked 5th. Further, in Surviscor’s most recent Service Level Assessment analysis RBC Direct Investing and Questrade ranked 13th and 14th (out of 14) respectively. As such, it was interesting to note that despite scoring higher than RBC Direct Investing on various Surviscor rankings, these top picks did not include Credential Direct (who placed 4th on the service level assessment) and underscores the point that measuring and recommending discount brokerages is always a moving target.

A brokerage that does well or poorly on a ranking or rating in one period may do worse or better on a relative basis when measured at another time frame. Further, even rankings that might measure similar components (such as customer service)will do so in different ways and thus yield different results. In fact, this was the focus of an article published in 2013 that still holds true today: when looking at a rating, ranking or recommendation for a brokerage it is important to understand how and what’s being measured to get a clear picture of what the ranking means. For those shopping around for a brokerage account, the lesson appears to increasingly point to knowing what you want and need before making any decisions on a provider.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

This week technology strikes again as brokerages big and small work their way through some digital hiccups. Mentioned this week were BMO InvestorLine, Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTrade, TD Direct Investing & Virtual Brokers.

From the Forums

A DRIP of this, a dash of that

The power of compounding is an essential ingredient for the long term dividend investor. In this post from RedFlagDeals’ Investing thread, one user was curious how to get up and going with setting up a DRIP at RBC Direct Investing.

Adjust Cause

Tax time is here and with it come the flood of questions from investors trying to make heads and tails of the proper method of tracking their buys and sells. In this post on reddit’s personal finance Canada section, one user has a question about the adjusted cost base calculation for shares purchased in US dollars.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap for this week’s roundup. For the movie buffs, this is the big screen equivalent of the super bowl as some of hollywood’s best and brightest will be walking down the red carpet for the Oscars. Of course, in 2016 in addition to the glitz and glamour, there’ll also be many entertaining (and sometimes NSFW) tweets to go along with it all. Here’s a highlight (or lowlight) reel heading into the big show. Have a great weekend!

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – February 19, 2016

Having had such a terrible start to the trading year, this past week offered a reprieve from the bad news. Of course the recent stock market performance has many skeptics shouting from the rooftops but, as it always is, it will be the market that has the last word.

For Canadian discount brokerages, the market they need to be paying attention to is DIY investors. Specifically listening to what they’re asking for and finding a way to deliver it. While many brokerages are looking for ways to innovate, it’s clear that what investors want will ultimately drive popularity and this past week we saw some interesting developments take shape.

In this week’s roundup we take a look at the latest promotional offer from an online brokerage getting creative with ETFs. Next we take a look at a recent review and ranking of online brokerage service and why Canadian online brokerages received a failing grade. As usual, we’ll take a look at what DIY investors were chatting about online and showcase upcoming investor education events.

Canadian ETFs go commission-free at National Bank Direct Brokerage

ETFs continue to make headlines and waves with retail investors and several Canadian online brokerages are looking to leverage this attention.

National Bank Direct Brokerage has once again opened up commission-free ETF trading, making them, at least until the end of June, the fifth Canadian online brokerage to offer up some form of commission-free ETF offering. The offer is open to both new and existing clients and no promotional code is required to take advantage of the commission-free ETF trading program however there are some important conditions.

One of the important distinctions between National Bank Direct Brokerage’s offer and that of the other brokerages is that NBDB’s promotion is limited to Canadian ETFs only. Given the rise in popularity of ETFs, the list of Canadian ETFs numbers somewhere close to 510 (as of December 2015), which technically speaking, would be the highest number of completely commission-free ETFs (i.e. buying and selling are commission-free) being offered by any Canadian brokerage (see table below). So, even though investors may be missing out on trading some of the approximately 1600 US ETFs commission-free, there’s definitely lots for investors to choose from. With the Canadian dollar also being where it is relative to the US dollar, not having to worry about the currency factor is also another bonus of having access to such a wide range of commission-free ETFS, a few of which are US currency hedged.

Online Brokerage commission-free ETF buying only commission-free ETF buying AND selling # of fully commission-free ETFs Notes
National Bank Direct Brokerage No Yes* 511** *Canadian ETFs only; minimum purchase 100 units;
**estimated as of Feb. 2016
Qtrade Investor No Yes 60
Questrade Yes No n/a
Scotia iTRADE No Yes 50
Virtual Brokers Yes Yes 150

Another important detail for investors considering this offer to take note of is that there is a minimum quantity of 100 units to be purchased in order for this offer to qualify as commission-free. Thus, the offer may be less appealing for investors who fine tune and rebalance their portfolio with small (or odd lot) quantities of purchases and sales.

Finally, the list of ETFs eligible for this promotion is the one published by the Canadian ETF Association found here. The most recent list (at the time of publishing this piece) was from December 2015 however it appears that the list is generally updated monthly (for the previous month’s total) around the middle of each month.

For Canadian DIY investors, having another online brokerage offer up commission-free ETFs is certainly a big plus. If there is a limitation to this offer, however, it is that it is only offered up for a short amount of time.

This is not the first time NBDB has run a promotion offering commission-free ETFs nor are they the only Canadian online brokerage to offer the same kind of promotion (CIBC Investor’s Edge also ran a similar promo last year). Given how fiercely competitive the online brokerage space is, and factoring in the rise in popularity of robo-advisors, if this offer proves to have traction with DIY investors, it seems fair to assume that this won’t be the last time we see National Bank Direct Brokerage (or one of their competitors) roll out an ETF-based program such as this.

Service Shuffle

At a time when client service is starting to become a bigger focus at Canada’s financial services firms, it seems that providing speedy resolution via email is out of focus at Canadian discount brokerages according to the latest assessment by financial services firm Surviscor. Ironically, while email has been the de facto method to communicate online since the internet turned mainstream, today’s investors have so much access to so many digital touch points that it has become a challenge for brokerages, big and small, to keep pace with where there clients are. As a result, the notion of what constitutes ‘service’ has become a much more fluid concept for investors, rankings agencies and brokerages to agree on.

Earlier this month Surviscor announced the results of their latest Service Level Index (SLI) ranking, formerly known as the Customer Email Responsiveness program. This analysis program measures the speed with which different online brokerages respond to online requests for support (via ‘mystery shop’ requests) and uses that as a measure of how strong (or weak) a firm’s service response levels are.

To help provide additional context, Surviscor also applies a tiered rating system according to how quickly a response is received from a brokerage. The rating system ranges from Platinum, which is awarded to firms with a response time of under 2 hours to Bronze which is awarded to those with response times of 8 to 12 hours.

In Surviscor’s latest assessment, which took place over the full year (2015), Qtrade Investor earned the best “Service Level Index” score whereas Desjardins Online Brokerage had the best response time of the brokerages listed. Both firms were close in score, separated only by 2 percentage points however Qtrade Investor scored highest with 88%.

Unfortunately, there were no online brokerages that achieved either a ‘platinum’ or ‘gold’ standard ranking this year meaning that none of the firms assessed had a consistent response time of faster than five hours via email.

What was particularly interesting, however, was just how poorly most brokerages ranked on this assessment. The average ranking for the group worked out to be a meagre 45% with 9 out of the 14 brokerages studied falling beneath that average, with RBC Direct Investing earning a grade of 10%.

In short, according to the Surviscor assessment, “2015 was not a banner year for self-direct brokerage firms….” It seems that according to the numbers shown above, that might be an understatement.

Of course with most of the rankings, ratings and reviews of Canadian online brokerages, these numbers don’t tell the whole story. Specifically, the method used to gauge these service levels may not be the only nor the best way to reach an online brokerage representative for support.

For example, Questrade, who ranked 13th (out of 14) on Surviscor’s SLI assessment, has both live chat support during business hours and also has a Twitter handle which is well monitored (as shown on numerous occasions in our weekly roundups). They also have their own forum on which individuals can submit questions and support requests and they are the only online brokerage to be actively responding and covering popular investor forums, including Reddit.

No other Canadian brokerage, including firms that ranked above Questrade assessment have so far shown the same kind of breadth of coverage.

Another example of alternative support channels can be seen with TD Direct Investing. Unlike most of their bank-owned brokerage peers, TD Direct Investing has dedicated coverage on its support forum TD Helps, it also has its own Twitter feed (although this is a recent development) and both of these appear to be relatively quick methods to get resolution or a proper response to an inquiry, as shown just this past week in the following Twitter interaction:

Recent Twitter interaction between TD Direct Invest and online user.

Interestingly the parent bank of TD Direct Investing placed second in Surviscor’s assessment of the banking services levels showing that the customer service experience in one channel (i.e. banking) might create high expectations for other areas that the bank may be involved with, making it all the more important for bank-owned brokerages to create a consistent brand experience.

The take home message for DIY investors is simply this: that with any ranking or rating it is important to know what is being measured.

In the case of “service” it is even more important to be clear on exactly what that term means since different interpretations of what comprises “service” are (quite evidently) possible, especially in a world where online investors turn to multiple online sources for support.

It would be fair to say that based on Surviscor’s latest ranking of service levels, overall email response times could stand to improve at most Canadian brokerages.

Unfortunately for consumers, with so many brokerages ranking so poorly, it seems that email-related service experience would not be something DIY investors could really expect a strong positive experience with. That said, for those brokerages that have done well, their commitment to providing quick turnaround times via email stands out even more this year and may continue to be an investment that pays off with existing and prospective clients.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

This week there was a good cross section of responses from DIY investors on Twitter. Mentioned this week were Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTRADE and TD Direct Investing, Virtual Brokers. Interestingly, the Twitter push from CIBC Investor’s Edge seen last week was surprisingly silent.

Event Horizon

The days are getting longer, and it’s an illuminating week ahead for discount brokerage-sponsored investor education events. Here are some upcoming sessions that may be of interest to options enthusiasts and yield hounds. Short selling, trading strategies, and a market outlook round out this week’s selection.

February 20

TD Direct Investing – Market Outlook

February 23

TD Direct Investing – Introduction to Fixed Income

Scotia iTRADE – Strategies for Bear Markets – What Goes Up When the Market Goes Down with Pro Market Advisors

February 25

TD Direct Investing – Options Fundamentals

NBDB – Short Selling – [Fr]

From the Forums

Too late to say sorry?

Saying good-bye to a brokerage is a common occurrence for many DIY investors. Regardless of the reason, sometimes the exit is not nearly as seamless as investors like. In this post on Reddit, one Questrade user submitted their frustration with the process. Interestingly (especially given the story above) Questrade replied. Worth a read for those considering a switch.

Next stop…the world

Which brokerages will let DIY investors trade internationally? It’s a question that more and more investors are asking yet surprisingly fewer brokerages are answering the call for. In this post, also from Reddit, one user was curious about online brokerages that offered international trading. Of course there were also some alternatives provided which were interesting approaches to international exposure.

Into the Close

Even though the trading week was short, it seems that markets favoured the long trade. But, all may not be as it seems as the bears still have quite a bit of support heading into next week. And, don’t forget, bears are resilient bunch. This story of the ‘water bear’ (tardigrade) coming back to life after surviving being frozen for 30 years might offer some food for thought – especially to all of those in parts of Canada that feel more like Antarctica and of course, those holding onto losing positions in their portfolio. Have a great weekend, keep warm but stay frosty into the week ahead!

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – February 5, 2016

It seems like Fox Mulder and Goldman Sachs share at least one more thing in common: they both want to believe. When the poster child for capitalism questions out loud whether or not capitalism actually is working as it should, there is definitely something paranormal happening. Canadian and US discount brokerages alike also want to believe that the recent downturn in stocks won’t spook investors.

In this week’s roundup we take a look at two sides of the race for dominance in online trading. Starting first with the most recent discount brokerage deals and promotions to emerge in the race to the RSP contribution deadline. From there, we take a look at the recent performance of the US online brokerages to gauge whether investors are trading more or less as a result of the recent market volatility. Next we’ll review the upcoming investor education events and then take a look at what DIY investors were talking about on Twitter and in the investor forums.

New Month, New Deals

A big story at Canadian discount brokerages this year continues to be the fierce competition to provide incentives and promotions to DIY investors.

In the initial week of February, Virtual Brokers stepped into an already crowded deals and promotions arena bringing the number of advertised promotions to 18 with an offer that pitted it clearly against Questrade’s recent success with the Apple watch (i.e. Apple store gift card) promo.

Although Virtual Brokers’ promotion is not exactly the same, it has many popular elements as their cross-town rival.

First, it has a tiered deposit structure so that the more a client deposits, the greater the reward. In this case, the reward is commission-free trades ranging from 25 (minimum deposit required: $15,000) through to 200 (minimum deposit required: $250,000).

Under their new “classic” commission pricing structure of $9.99 per trade (flat) this equates roughly to just under $250 to and $1998 in value (depending on the deposit).

In addition to the tiered offer, Virtual Brokers has also paired the tiered offer with an entry to a contest to win a $500 Apple gift card (which can be used towards an Apple watch for example). Previously, Questrade was the only Canadian discount brokerage leveraging the Apple watch as part of its promotional mix.

What is interesting about Virtual Brokers’ latest promotion is that it sets the deposit bar far higher than Questrade does in order to qualify for a modest incentive (VB’s deal requires $15,000 minimum whereas Questrade has 6 offers requiring $5,000 or less). That means the barrier to qualify for a promotion is much higher than with Virtual Brokers than with Questrade.

Another interesting observation is that with Virtual Brokers now in the deals arena there are only 4 online brokerages without some kind of publicized deal for DIY investors: CIBC Investor’s Edge, Interactive Brokers, Qtrade Investor and RBC Direct Investing.

Distribution of current discount brokerage deals & promotions (as of February 5, 2016)

That said, Interactive Brokers does offer a referral bonus (that benefits the referrer not so much the referee) and Qtrade Investor is running an RSP contest, however unlike in previous years, CIBC Investor’s Edge and RBC Direct Investing have yet to step forward with any major offers.

As the month progresses, competition should continue to heat up. As most of these offers show, however, many of the deadlines for these promotions fall after the RSP contribution deadline of February 29th which means that while there are some limited-time offers, there’s still plenty of selection for those that are looking to see what else pops up.

A Volatile Combination

Volatility may bring opportunity, but many DIY investors in the US pulled back on their trading in the most recent quarter. With the exception of one brokerage, most of the publicly traded US online brokerages saw less activity in the face of global equity volatility and crude oil in freefall.

One of the key indicators of that trading activity, known as “daily average revenue trades” (DARTs), saw quarter over quarter (QoQ) and year over year (YoY) declines across the board. DARTs specifically measure the total number of trades over trading days in a given period.

According to recent earnings releases from key players in the DIY brokerage space, including TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, and E*trade, retail traders were marginally less involved in recent swings. Out of all the discount brokerages researched, E*Trade showed the worst performance DART wise (displayed below) and on the new accounts front. New accounts for E*Trade tumbled 34% YoY, the firm is leading in alternative measures of client engagement however.

A key trend in two of the biggest discount brokerages was the client utilization of mobile apps for trading.

E*Trade indicated 14% of their 2015 DART volume was done on a mobile device. Similarly, TD Ameritrade set an internal record of 18% DART volume from mobile. Mobile trading will be a key variable for all online brokers going forward, as it represents a new age of engagement and functionality.

Ideally, the optimal combination for an online brokerage would be increasing DART volume while seeing increasing client account equity. This would indicate clients are engaged with the firm’s services and keen on putting capital to work. Fortunately, this was the case for Interactive Brokers, where customer equity was up 19% YoY with 4% DART growth vs 2014.

Interactive Brokers was also the clear winner new assets wise, while E*trade, TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab found it harder to grow assets. Interactive Brokers Group stood out as their clients embraced their cutting edge technology and ramped up their activity (and equity) in the face of volatility. Of course, Interactive Brokers is certainly smaller than their peers so percentage growth can mask the difference that scale and size have on the ability to show positive growth.

Nonetheless, the trading habits at these particular firms show that the active traders are drawn to the volatility whereas many of the less or moderately active investors tend to step back and let the dust settle. For many DIY investors currently watching the Canadian markets, as well as several Canadian online brokerages there seems to be a growing hope that the dust settles sooner rather than later.

Event Horizon

What better way to beat the cold this month than to huddle up for an investor education seminar or webinar. Coming up this week are sessions on Technical Analysis, Registered Accounts, ETFs, Options and avoiding common trader pitfalls – and that’s all before Wednesday!

February 9th

NBDB – Introduction to Technical Analysis – Oscillators – [Fr]

TD Direct Investing – Building Wealth Through Registered Accounts

Scotia iTRADE – Top Mistakes Made by Investors with Pro Market Advisors

Desjardins Online Brokerage (Disnat) – Meet the 18-30 Broker@ge Team at 360d

February 10th

TD Direct Investing – Building Wealth Through Registered Accounts

Desjardins Online Brokerage (Disnat) – Discover the Benefits of the TFSA

NBDB – Equities and ETFs – [Fr]

RBC Direct Investing – The ETF Selection Process: Navigating the ETF Landscape – RBC Global Asset Management

February 11th

Scotia iTRADE – Options Trading: Myths versus Reality with Montreal Exchange

TD Direct Investing – Advanced Options

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

DIY investors on Twitter paused to take a breath after a wild start to this year’s trading activity. Mentioned this week are CIBC Investor’s Edge, Credential Direct, Questrade, Scotia iTRADE and TD Direct Investing.

From the Forums

Asset A Location?

One of Canada’s largest online brokerages, TD Direct Investing, was the focus of this post on the Reddit personal finance Canada section. In particular, one user was curious to know why there was so much ‘in person’ activity required for an online investment.

Year Right

In this post from Canadian Money Forum, Interactive Brokers’ RSP contribution feature was a cause for confusion because it required individuals to select the tax year for the contribution to apply to. Read on to find out more about how this issue was finally resolved.

Into the Close

That does if for this edition of the roundup. Whether you’re gearing up for the “big game” this weekend or simply looking to take advantage of the ‘bad break’ in the markets – have a super weekend! For all the readers in BC, happy Family Day long weekend!

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – February 1, 2016

*Updated: Feb 2* While it still looks like winter across most of Canada, the deals and promotions section is a balmy +17 +18 at the outset of February.

Even though no new deals have launched at the beginning of February, this month is typically a very exciting month across the discount brokerage space. Throughout January, for example, there were 7 offers that went live as well as several contests being promoted by Canadian brokerages. As the RSP deadline (February 29th) draws closer, things are likely to get even more competitive.

A case in point is the entrance into the deals pool by TD Direct Investing. Ahead of the new month, TD Direct Investing revived a tiered commission-free trade offer with as many as 200 commission-free trades being granted to individuals depositing at least $100,000. As one Canada’s largest online brokerages, TD Direct Investing’s entry at this point signals that even the big players are doubling down their efforts into the RSP contribution deadline (February 29th).

Looking more closely at the discount brokerage deals currently being offered, Questrade once again dominates in the number and diversity of offers with 7 offers. Interestingly, 6 out of the 8 promotions from Canadian discount brokerages requiring deposits of less than $10,000 to qualify are from Questrade, indicating their aggressive pursuit of more modest depositors (and likely to be younger investors). In fact, looking at the following graph, it’s clear that Questrade (shown in bright green) is competing with offers above and below the most crowded deposit ranges. Questrade does have offers that apply at the $25,000 deposit level, however these are part of tiered offers, which is why they don’t appear directly on the graph below. That said, Questrade is clearly competing across the promotional board which is not something any other Canadian discount brokerage is currently doing.

Minimum deposit for current Canadian discount brokerage promotion offers vs. days to offer expiry (measured as of Feb. 1st 2016)
Minimum deposit for current Canadian discount brokerage promotion offers vs. days to offer expiry (measured as of Feb. 1st 2016)

Another interesting observation is that the most competitive deposit range appears to be between $20,000 and $50,000 with five discount brokerages (including several bank-owned brokerages) putting forward offers for deposits at these levels.

Finally, while RSP season appears to be quite busy, as shown in the chart above, the deadlines for many of the current discount brokerage deals expire well after the February 29th contribution deadline. We’ll keep an eye out for any new developments and of course, if there are any that we’ve missed, let us know here.

Expired Deals

No news to report here.

Extended Deals

No news to report here.

New Deals

*Updated Feb. 2: Well it didn’t take long for another Canadian discount brokerage to be drawn into the deals and promotions competition. Virtual Brokers has rolled out a new tiered commission-free trading offer that runs from the beginning of February through to the end of March.  Unlike previous promo offers from Virtual Brokers, their latest offer includes an entry into a draw for a $500 Apple gift card. This latest move is a direct response, it seems, to their cross town rival Questrade.  The tiered offer from Virtual Brokers requires a minimum deposit of $15,000 to qualify for at least 50 commission-free trades. See table below for more information.*

While technically not new for February, the latest offer from TD Direct Investing launched quite close to the beginning of the new month. Their latest offer is a revival of their tiered commission-free trade offer where new account openings may be eligible for 50, 100 or 200 commission-free trades for deposits of $25,000, $50,000 or $100,000+. See the table below for more information.

Discount Brokerage Deals

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 a new qualifying account with HSBC InvestDirect and you could be eligible to receive up to 30 commission-free North American equity trades. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. n/a 30 commission-free trades. 60 days Winter free trade promotion March 15, 2016
Open a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) and receive $50 commission credit . Use promo code: kdkfnbbc $1,000 $50 commission credit none none none
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
Open and fund a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) with at least $1,000 and you may be eligible to receive 5 commission-free trades. Use promo code 5FREETRADES when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $1,000 5 commission-free trades 60 days 5 commission-free trade offer December 31, 2016
Open and fund a new qualifying account (registered or margin) with at least A) $1,000; B) $25,000 or C) $50,000 and receive either A) 1 month; B) 2 months or C) 3 months of commission-free trading. Use promo code UNLIMITEDW16 when registering. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $1,000 B) $25,000 C) $50,000 Commission-free trades A) 1 month B) 2 months C) 3 months 3 months unlimited trading March 4, 2016
Open and fund a new qualifying account (registered or margin) with at least A) $2,000; B) $25,000 or C) $50,000 and receive either A) 1 month; B) 2 months or C) 3 months of commission-free trading. Use promo code RSP2016 when registering. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $2,000 B) $25,000 C) $50,000 Commission-free trades A) 1 month B) 2 months C) 3 months RSP 2016 Promotion March 1, 2016
Open and fund a new online trading account with Questrade with at least $5,000 and you could be eligible to receive 25 commission-free trades good for use for up to 1 year. Use promo code NEWYEAR2016 when applying to be eligible for this offer. Be sure to read the full terms and conditions for this promotion. $5,000 25 commission-free trades Jan. 1, 2017 25 Commission-free Trade for 1 Year Promotion February 29, 2016
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 March 31, 2016
Open and fund a new account with Virtual Brokers with at least A) $15,000; B) $25,000 C) $50,000; D) $100,000 or E) $250,000+ and you may be eligible to receive A) 25; B) 50; C) 100; D) 150 or E) 200 commission-free equity (stock & ETF) trades. In addition, qualifying applicants will also be entered into a draw for a $500 Apple gift card. Use promo code 200APPLEWATCH when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for full details. A) $15,000 – $24,999 B) $25,000 – $49,999 C) $50,000 – $99,999 D) $100,000 – $249,999 E) $250,000+ A) 25 commission-free trades B) 50 commission-free trades C) 100 commission-free trades D) 150 commission-free trades E) 200 commission-free trades 90 days (cash for commissions to be credited back Aug. 2, 2016) Virtual Brokers RRSP 2016 Free Trade Promo March 31, 2016
Open and fund a new account (or existing clients can transfer in new assets) at Credential Direct with at least A) $15,000; B) $50,000; C) $150,000; D) $500,000 or E) $1,000,000 and you may be eligible to receive at least A) $75; B) $125; C) $200; D) $500 or E) $1,000. Applicants need to use code CASH2016RSP and fund account in order to qualify for cash back offer. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $15,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $149,999 C) $150,000 – $499,999 D) $500,000 – $999,999 E) $1,000,000+ A) $75 B) $125 C) $200 D) $500 E) $1,000 Cash credited to account on Oct. 15, 2016. Cash Back Offer March 15, 2016
Open and fund a new National Bank Direct Brokerage account with at least A) $20,000 or B) $100,00 and you may be eligible to receive up to either A) $500 or B) $1,000 in commission credits. Use promo code CashBack2016 when registering for an account to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for additional details. A) $20,000 – $99,999 B) $100,000+ A) $500 in commission credit B) $1,000 in commission credit 90 days Cash back promo March 31, 2016
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new account at Scotia iTrade with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,000 or $250,000+ and you may be eligible to receive up to A) 75; B) 150; C) 300 or D) 500 commission-free trades. Use promo code TRADES-RSP16 when opening account 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+ A) 75 commission-free trades B) 150 commission-free trades C) 300 commission-free trades D) 500 commission-free trades 90 days Free Trade Offer March 31, 2016
Open and fund a new account at TD Direct Investing with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000 or C) $100,000+ and you may be eligible to receive up to A) 50; B) 100 or C) 200 commission-free trades. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 A) 50 commission-free trades B) 100 commission-free trades C) 200 commission-free trades 60 days Commission-free Trading Offer April 15, 2015
Disnat Disnat is offering new & existing clients $500 in commission credits which can be used for up to 6 months. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code Disnat500. See details link for more info. $50,000 $500 commission credit 6 months Disnat $500 Commission Credit Promo March 31, 2016
BMO InvestorLine If you (an existing BMO InvestorLine client) refer a new client to BMO InvestorLine and they open an account with at least $50,000 the referrer and the referee may both be eligible to receive $50 cash. To qualify the referee must use the email of the referrer that is linked to their BMO InvestorLine account. See terms and conditions for full details. $50,000 You(referrer): $50; Your Friend(referee): $50 Payout occurs after 45 days (subject to conditions). BMO InvestorLine Refer-a-Friend June 30, 2016
Open or fund an eligible account with at least $100,000 and make at least one commission generating trade and you may be eligible to receive a $500 gift card for the Apple Store. Use promo code APPLEWATCH when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $100,000 $500 Apple Store gift card Gift card will be sent within 30 days of client meeting eligibility requirements. Apple Watch Promo March 31, 2016
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine, and fund it with at least A) $100,000 or B) $250,000 in net new assets and you may be eligible to receive either A) $200 cash back and 100 commission-free equity trades or B) $600 cash back and 100 commission-free equity trades. Use promo code WinterSD600 when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. A) $100,000 – $249,999 B) $250,000+ A) $200 cash back + 100 commission-free equity trades. B) $600 cash back + 100 commission-free equity trades. 60 days for equity trades. Cash back will be deposited the week of Oct. 10, 2016. Commission rebates will be paid week of Oct. 10, 2016. Winter 2016 Promotion March 1, 2016

Expired Offers
Last Updated: Feb. 2, 2016 17:30 PT

Transfer Fee Deals

Company Brief Description Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount Minimum Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility Details Link Deadline
Transfer $15,000 or more to a new Virtual Brokers account from another brokerage and Virtual Brokers may reimburse up to $150 in transfer fees. See terms and conditions for more information. $150 $15,000 Virtual Brokers 2016 RRSP Promo March 31, 2016
Transfer $15,000 or more to RBC Direct Investing and they will pay up to $135 in transfer fees $135 $15,000 Transfer Fee Rebate Details none
Transfer $25,000 or more from another brokerage and Credential Direct will cover up to $150 in transfer fees. Use promo code SWITCHME when signing up to qualify for the transfer promotion. $150 $25,000 Credential Direct Transfer Fee Rebate none
Qtrade Investor will reimburse your transfer fee up to $150 when transferring a balance of $10,000 or more. For reimbursement, please mail or fax a copy of your statement from the transferring institution that shows the transfer charge to Qtrade Investor at 604.484.2627 and indicate your Qtrade Investor account number. $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 read terms and conditions for full details. $150 $25,000 Commission-free trade promo April 15, 2016
Scotia iTrade Transfer at least $25,000 or more in new assets to Scotia iTrade when opening a new account and Scotia iTrade may reimburse transfer fees up to $150. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $150 $25,000 Free trade offer March 31, 2016
Transfer $25,000 or more into a CIBC Investor’s Edge account and they will reimburse up to $135 in brokerage transfer fees. Clients must call customer service to request rebate after transfer made. $135 $25,000 confirmed with reps. Contact client service for more info (1-800-567-3343) none
Transfer $25,000 or more to a National Bank Direct Brokerage account and they will pay up to $135 plus taxes in transfer fees $135 $25,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Disnat Disnat is offering up to $150 to cover the cost of transfer fees from another institution. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code Disnat500. See details link for more info. $150 $50,000 Disnat $500 Commission Credit Promo March 31, 2016
Scotia iTrade Transfer $15,000 or more to Scotia iTrade from another Canadian brokerage, and iTrade may pay up to $150 in transfer fees. $150 $15,000 500 Free Trade or $500 Cash Back Offer December 31, 2015
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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – January 22, 2016

From national squirrel day to discovering a whole other planet to the end of week bounce in the markets, there’s been no shortage of interesting events this week. Of course, this strange string of events may have something to do with the X-files officially returning to TV this upcoming weekend. Or so some might want to believe.

While everything from squirrels to celestial events might be used to explain the wild swings in the markets, it’s no coincidence that heading into RSP season banks & discount brokerages alike are ramping up their efforts to win over DIY investors.

In this week’s roundup we take a look at the recent moves by two brokerages to win over investors with chances to win big money. Next we take a look at highlights from a few news stories that emerged this week – from brokerages winning awards for client service to one brokerage’s attempt at a celebrity endorsement Canadian style to one bank’s potential disruption in the wealth management space. As usual we’ve also got a great selection of investor education events and reactions from DIY investors on Twitter and in forums on our menu. Hope you’re hungry!

Winning at the Ballot

As commission pricing among most of Canada’s discount brokerages is now roughly around the same $10 per trade level, brokerages are working hard to make themselves standout from one another. We’ve already seen that deals and promotional offers are a popular strategy among Canadian brokerages with 16 deals currently being advertised. Another category of promotional offer that brokerages appear to be increasingly turning to, however, is the tried-and-true “contest”.

This past week both Qtrade Investor and Scotia iTrade got into the promotional offer mix by launching two contests for DIY investors.

Qtrade Investor’s latest promotion is definitely geared to catch the attention of investors as they are out shopping during the “RRSP” season. Specifically their “love your RSP” contest offers up two grand prizes of $5,000 (to new clients and existing clients). In order to qualify, new or existing clients have to contribute at least $2,000 to their Qtrade RSP account.

Scotia iTrade, on the other hand, is taking a targeted approach to Toronto-based (or those brave enough to visit Toronto from January through March) clientele. In a specific bid to boost traffic through their investor centre, the Scotia iTrade contest is offering up a top prize of $10,000 and one of five prizes of $1,000 to individuals who either attend a seminar (in person); attend a 20 minute session with a relationship manager; open a new account or fund an existing iTrade account all exclusively at the investor centre.

In addition to these brokerages, Questrade is still advertising a pair of contests offering prizes of $5,000 or $1,000 to generate more interest in their managed wealth business line and RBC Direct Investing recently concluded their $1,000 contest for participating in their community feature.

As online brokerages are forced to come up with creative ways to connect with new and existing clients, contests offer a way to generate interest among the DIY investor community. Unlike many other contests, where simply submitting your name is enough for entry, these latest contests from Qtrade Investor and Scotia iTrade can require individuals make a deposit in order to qualify (or to enhance their odds of winning).

Awareness alone isn’t the only value discount brokerages derive from the contest strategy, however. These contests also help to discount brokerages to establish a way of directly contacting new potential clients – through some form of direct marketing effort. As more and more brokerages ramp up their advertising and marketing efforts through the busy RSP season, getting new clients is something they’re not leaving up to chance.

Sharing the Winners Circle

Earlier this week, the results from Dalbar Canada’s 2015Direct Brokerage Service Award were announced.

HSBC InvestDirect and RBC Direct Investing both landed in the winner’s circle yet again and were recognized by Dalbar for their respective performance on a number of client service metrics.

As mentioned in a previous piece on the Dalbar award, this is one of the only major discount brokerage assessments/rankings to take into account the quality of client service. While what defines a “quality” client service team or interaction is certainly up for debate, according to Dalbar’s methodology one of the key elements to receiving this recognition is the completeness of the answer and anticipation of other needs the client may have.

For many DIY investors, the interaction with client service may be minimal and thus not a driver in the decision to go with one brokerage over another. To those for whom service does matter, however, the Dalbar awards offer at least some idea of the service experience without actually having to try out a brokerage directly. Unfortunately for DIY investors, there were no additional details about the rest of the field that were disclosed and as such, the Dalbar award is of limited value when trying to decide on a brokerage’s client service relative to other brokerages.

Hammering Home the Message

If there’s one investment that’s got most of the financial community and media fixated it’s real estate. In an interesting twist to capitalize on the fervor, CIBC Investor’s Edge has recruited home reno personality, real estate investor and author Scott McGillivray to put together a series of 30ish second video clips on DIY investing.

While it is yet another in a series of small changes that CIBC Investor’s Edge has made over the last year, this move in the direction of getting the star factor will definitely get people to pay more attention than some of the other imagery and video being produced by other brokerages. Though it’s not quite the same caliber as TD Ameritrade teaming up with Matt Damon as spokesperson, it is stepping up the game for getting the attention of DIY investors in distinctively Canadian fashion. And as Justin Trudeau has shown, good hair can certainly go places.

Robo Roll Out

This past week offered up another big announcement from the wealth management space. BMO officially rolled out its robo-advisor “SmartFolio” for full release.

As with most products rolled out by a major financial institution, the planning and implementation of the robo-advisory has taken quite a bit of time and effort. Still, even though other upstart services have had a considerable head start, it’s a big deal when a major player such as BMO decides to play in the same sandbox.

Given how closely Canada’s big five banks mirror one another, it should be interesting to watch the response (if any) from the other players. On the one hand, when RBC Direct Investing lowered their standard commission pricing to $9.95 in 2014, almost all of the other major bank-owned brokerages responded within a few months by doing the same. Conversely, when BMO InvestorLine launched the hybrid DIY-advice product called AdviceDirect in 2012, no other large or small brokerage put forward a comparable product.

Roboadvisors are clearly reaping rewards as shown by the monolithic Charles Schwab in the US. Whether or not the same results can be expected in Canada, however, is debatable.

Despite the fierce competition, there are still 15 Canadian online brokerages battling for market share – with some clearly battling harder for new business than others. Whether the wealth management space in Canada is big enough to withstand yet another product remains to be seen. For BMO, however, the spotlight on the robo-advisor space is clearly on them, which is not something that happened with the adviceDirect rollout and yet another reason the other big banks will have to seriously consider the robo-advisor approach as part of their offering.

Event Horizon

Winter’s slowly winding down, and it’s an exciting week ahead for discount brokerage-sponsored investor education events. Here are some upcoming sessions that may be of interest to options and technical analysis enthusiasts. ETFs, registered accounts, and an international resource investment conference round out this week’s selection.

January 23

TD Direct Investing – Introduction to Technical Analysis

January 24

Cambridge House International Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) – 2016

January 25

Cambridge House International Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) – 2016

TD Direct Investing – Stock Talk

January 26

TD Direct Investing – Alternatives to Mutual Funds: Learn What Else Is Out There

January 27

TD Direct Investing – Introduction to Technical Analysis

RBC Direct Investing – Getting Started with ETFs – iShares by Blackrock

RBC Direct Investing – Getting Started with ETFs – iShares by Blackrock

RBC Direct Investing – Getting Started with ETFs – iShares by Blackrock

Scotia iTRADE – Options Strategies for RRSP & TFSA with Montreal Exchange

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

This week there was definitely more chatter about brokerages on Twitter. From mishaps and hiccups with accounts and trading platforms, brokerages big and small were in the spotlight for tech issues demonstrating that size alone will prevent outages during the trading day.

From the Forums

Reaction to Robo-Advisor Rollout

Given the attention that robo-advisors have garnered from the investor community, the recent move by BMO to widely roll out their smartfolio robo-advisor service has got people talking. Here are two posts – the first from reddit’s personal finance Canada section with some interesting perspectives on rates and value and a second post at Financial wisdom forum with a view from more seasoned investors.

Banking on Change

Making the switch between brokerages is something many DIY investors contemplate. But, is the grass really greener on the other side of the fence? In this post from redflagdeals.com, one user’s question touched off an interesting comparison between TD Direct Investing and RBC Direct Investing.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap on what has been an incredibly busy week. For those suffering through the wrath of Old Man Winter, this may be the best weekend yet to start training hard for the TV marathon. Shovel responsibly!

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – January 1, 2016

*Updated Jan. 29/16* For DIY investors, nothing says welcome to 2016 quite like a review of the latest deals and promotions from Canadian discount brokerages. With markets and Canadian online brokerages closed for New Years, the deals and promotions engine looks like it’ll need some time to warm up before it kicks back into gear on the first Monday of 2016. Nonetheless there are some interesting observations out of the gate.

The first and most obvious observation for the beginning of 2016 is that deals section has thinned out considerably.

2016 starts off with 11 promotions currently on the table for DIY investors to choose from however that could drop to a low of 9 if a pair of offers from BMO InvestorLine set to expire on January 3rd aren’t extended. That said, if history and market forces are any indicator, these numbers could shift dramatically over the next few weeks.

For some context, the average number of discount brokerage promotional offers in any given month over the past year has been just over 17. At the crossover from 2014 to 2015, however, there were also 16 open offers, half of which were ‘technically’ scheduled to expire at the end of year. When the dust settled in early January though, there were only three offers that actually expired and by the end of January there were at least 22 offers from Canadian online brokerages to choose from.

The wildcard, it seems, will come from the 7 offers that technically expired December 31st. With the beginning of a new month and year falling on a Friday, there’s a good chance that websites of several brokerages are simply not updated. Which and how many of these promotions are extended for 2016 remains to be seen however with the ramp up to the RSP contribution deadline looming, there’s a good chance brokerages will be anteing up to the table with some interesting offers for DIY investors.

There are also some other factors for DIY investors looking for an online brokerage account to consider.

Four discount brokerages, for example, each have competitive promotions that extend out to the end of March 2016 – a signal that there are definitely offers on the table for DIY investors to take advantage of between now and the RSP contribution deadline.

In addition, that Questrade’s latest offer of 25 commission-free trades for a year is identical to the recent offer from Virtual Brokers is another indicator that Questrade (the most active brokerage when it comes to promotions) is not likely to shy away from going head-to-head with other offers being put forward.

We’ll be keeping a close watch on the deals and promotions section when markets restart on Monday however here is a snapshot of the landscape heading into January.

Expired deals

At the time of publication there are 7 offers that expired on Dec. 31st 2015 with four of those coming from Questrade.

The expired offers are:

*Update Jan. 8/16: BMO Investorline had one deal expire in the first week of January. Their $200 cash back + 20 free trade offer is now over.*

  • 10 free trades or 100 free trades Promo (Questrade)
  • 1 month unlimited trades (Questrade)
  • $50 amazon.ca gift card (Questrade)
  • iPad Mini 2 (Questrade)
  • 500 Free Trades or $500 Cash Back (Scotia iTRADE)
  • Refer a Friend (Scotia iTRADE) Now extended
  • 25 Commission Free Trades (Virtual Brokers)

As stated above, it is likely that several of these offers will find their way into the extended deals column this month and are perhaps also likely to show up again later in 2016.

Extended deals

*Update Jan. 8/16: Scotia iTrade has officially renewed and extended their refer-a-friend offering. The referral offer now expires at the end of March 2016. BMO InvestorLine also renewed their refer-a-friend out to June 30th 2016.*

Only one brokerage has officially extended out an offer well into 2016 at the outset of the month. Desjardins Online Brokerage’s flagship $500 commission-credit promotion has been extended until the end of March.

New deals

*Updated Jan. 29/16: TD Direct Investing officially joined the deals & promotions race this week by relaunching their popular commission-free trade offer. Individuals opening a new account and depositing at least $25,000 may be eligible to receive 50 commission-free trades, which are good for use for up to 60 days. This promotion is a tiered offer so individuals depositing more can get a greater number of commission-free trades. See the table below for more information.*

*Updated Jan. 15/16: Two more deals were added this past week. Credential Direct officially jumped into the deals pool with a cash back offer based on multiple deposit tiers. The minimum deposit level to qualify for a cash back incentive is $15,000. Interestingly, Credential Direct will also contribute an amount equal to 10% of the bonus received to Kids Life Line. See table below for more details on deposit levels.

Scotia iTrade also stepped back into the deals race with a free trade offer aimed at new clients. The minimum deposit to qualify for the Scotia iTrade promotion is $25,000 with free trades ranging from 75 trades through to 500. See table belwo for more details.*

*Updated Jan. 8/16: Questrade’s promotional momentum continued with two new offers launched in the first week of January. While it is not the first time these offers have been seen, they’re here to stay through the RSP contribution deadline date at the end of February. Both the new offers from Questrade offer up unlimited/free trading for either 1, 2 or 3 months depending on the deposit. What is interesting about these latest deals is that Questrade has positioned one of its offers to require a higher minimum deposit ($2000 vs $1000) than other offers on the table.

Not to be left behind, BMO InvestorLine has also upped the ante on a free trades and cash back promotion.  The good news for investors is that BMO InvestorLine is offering $200 cash back and 100 commission-free equity trades (which are good for two months). See table below for more details.*

While 2016 is officially launching without any new offers from Canadian discount brokerages, there was one offer from Questrade that arrived late in December.
Questrade is offering up 25 commission-free trades which are good for up to 1 year for individuals depositing at least $5,000. See the table below for additional details.

Discount Brokerage Deals

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 a new qualifying account with HSBC InvestDirect and you could be eligible to receive up to 30 commission-free North American equity trades. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. n/a 30 commission-free trades. 60 days Winter free trade promotion March 15, 2016
Open a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) and receive $50 commission credit . Use promo code: kdkfnbbc $1,000 $50 commission credit none none none
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
Open and fund a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) with at least $1,000 and you may be eligible to receive 5 commission-free trades. Use promo code 5FREETRADES when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $1,000 5 commission-free trades 60 days 5 commission-free trade offer December 31, 2016
Open and fund a new qualifying account (registered or margin) with at least A) $1,000; B) $25,000 or C) $50,000 and receive either A) 1 month; B) 2 months or C) 3 months of commission-free trading. Use promo code UNLIMITEDW16 when registering. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $1,000 B) $25,000 C) $50,000 Commission-free trades A) 1 month B) 2 months C) 3 months 3 months unlimited trading March 4, 2016
Open and fund a new qualifying account (registered or margin) with at least A) $2,000; B) $25,000 or C) $50,000 and receive either A) 1 month; B) 2 months or C) 3 months of commission-free trading. Use promo code RSP2016 when registering. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $2,000 B) $25,000 C) $50,000 Commission-free trades A) 1 month B) 2 months C) 3 months RSP 2016 Promotion March 1, 2016
Open and fund a new online trading account with Questrade with at least $5,000 and you could be eligible to receive 25 commission-free trades good for use for up to 1 year. Use promo code NEWYEAR2016 when applying to be eligible for this offer. Be sure to read the full terms and conditions for this promotion. $5,000 25 commission-free trades Jan. 1, 2017 25 Commission-free Trade for 1 Year Promotion February 29, 2016
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 March 31, 2016
Open and fund a new account (or existing clients can transfer in new assets) at Credential Direct with at least A) $15,000; B) $50,000; C) $150,000; D) $500,000 or E) $1,000,000 and you may be eligible to receive at least A) $75; B) $125; C) $200; D) $500 or E) $1,000. Applicants need to use code CASH2016RSP and fund account in order to qualify for cash back offer. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $15,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $149,999 C) $150,000 – $499,999 D) $500,000 – $999,999 E) $1,000,000+ A) $75 B) $125 C) $200 D) $500 E) $1,000 Cash credited to account on Oct. 15, 2016. Cash Back Offer March 15, 2016
Open and fund a new National Bank Direct Brokerage account with at least A) $20,000 or B) $100,00 and you may be eligible to receive up to either A) $500 or B) $1,000 in commission credits. Use promo code CashBack2016 when registering for an account to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for additional details. A) $20,000 – $99,999 B) $100,000+ A) $500 in commission credit B) $1,000 in commission credit 90 days Cash back promo March 31, 2016
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new account at Scotia iTrade with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000; C) $100,000 or $250,000+ and you may be eligible to receive up to A) 75; B) 150; C) 300 or D) 500 commission-free trades. Use promo code TRADES-RSP16 when opening account 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+ A) 75 commission-free trades B) 150 commission-free trades C) 300 commission-free trades D) 500 commission-free trades 90 days Free Trade Offer March 31, 2016
Open and fund a new account at TD Direct Investing with at least A) $25,000; B) $50,000 or C) $100,000+ and you may be eligible to receive up to A) 50; B) 100 or C) 200 commission-free trades. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. A) $25,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 – $99,999 C) $100,000 A) 50 commission-free trades B) 100 commission-free trades C) 200 commission-free trades 60 days Commission-free Trading Offer April 15, 2015
Disnat Disnat is offering new & existing clients $500 in commission credits which can be used for up to 6 months. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code Disnat500. See details link for more info. $50,000 $500 commission credit 6 months Disnat $500 Commission Credit Promo March 31, 2016
BMO InvestorLine If you (an existing BMO InvestorLine client) refer a new client to BMO InvestorLine and they open an account with at least $50,000 the referrer and the referee may both be eligible to receive $50 cash. To qualify the referee must use the email of the referrer that is linked to their BMO InvestorLine account. See terms and conditions for full details. $50,000 You(referrer): $50; Your Friend(referee): $50 Payout occurs after 45 days (subject to conditions). BMO InvestorLine Refer-a-Friend June 30, 2016
Open or fund an eligible account with at least $100,000 and make at least one commission generating trade and you may be eligible to receive a $500 gift card for the Apple Store. Use promo code APPLEWATCH when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $100,000 $500 Apple Store gift card Gift card will be sent within 30 days of client meeting eligibility requirements. Apple Watch Promo March 31, 2016
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine, and fund it with at least A) $100,000 or B) $250,000 in net new assets and you may be eligible to receive either A) $200 cash back and 100 commission-free equity trades or B) $600 cash back and 100 commission-free equity trades. Use promo code WinterSD600 when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. A) $100,000 – $249,999 B) $250,000+ A) $200 cash back + 100 commission-free equity trades. B) $600 cash back + 100 commission-free equity trades. 60 days for equity trades. Cash back will be deposited the week of Oct. 10, 2016. Commission rebates will be paid week of Oct. 10, 2016. Winter 2016 Promotion March 1, 2016

Expired Offers
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine, and fund it with at least $100,000 in net new assets and you may be eligible to receive either A)$200 cash back plus 20 commission-free equity trades. Use promo code FALL2015 when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. $100,000 $200 + 20 commission-free equity trades Cash award will be paid the week of January 16, 2017. Trades are good for 1 year from signing up for promotional offer. Fall 2015 Promotion January 3, 2016
Open and fund a new account at Virtual Brokers with at least $5,000 and you could be eligible to receive up to 25 commission-free stock or ETF trades good for use for up to one year. Use promo code “TRADEFREE2015” when signing up to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions carefully. $5,000 25 commission-free trades 365 days 25 commission-free trades December 31, 2015
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new Scotia iTRADE account with at least A) $15,000 – $49,999; B) $50,000 -$99,999; C)$100,000 – $249,999; or D)$250,000+ and you may be eligible to receive a corresponding cash back or commission rebate. For commission-free trades use code: FTN-F15 or for cash rebates use code: NC-F15. Be sure to read the terms and conditions carefully for rebate and cash back eligibility. Contact Scotia iTrade for full details on this offer. A) $15,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 -$99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000+ A) 75 commission-free trades OR $75 cash back B) 125 commission-free trades OR $125 cash back C) 250 commission free trades OR $250 cash back D) 500 commission-free trades OR $500 cash back 120 days for commission-free trades; Cash for the cash back offer will be deposited directly by September 30, 2016. 500 free trade or $500 cash back promo December 31, 2015
Last Updated: Jan. 29, 2016 23:55 PT

Transfer Fee Deals

Company Brief Description Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount Minimum Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility Details Link Deadline
Transfer $15,000 or more to RBC Direct Investing and they will pay up to $135 in transfer fees $135 $15,000 Transfer Fee Rebate Details none
Transfer $25,000 or more from another brokerage and Credential Direct will cover up to $150 in transfer fees. Use promo code SWITCHME when signing up to qualify for the transfer promotion. $150 $25,000 Credential Direct Transfer Fee Rebate none
Qtrade Investor will reimburse your transfer fee up to $150 when transferring a balance of $10,000 or more. For reimbursement, please mail or fax a copy of your statement from the transferring institution that shows the transfer charge to Qtrade Investor at 604.484.2627 and indicate your Qtrade Investor account number. $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
Scotia iTrade Transfer at least $25,000 or more in new assets to Scotia iTrade when opening a new account and Scotia iTrade may reimburse transfer fees up to $150. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $150 $25,000 Free trade offer March 31, 2016
Transfer $25,000 or more into a CIBC Investor’s Edge account and they will reimburse up to $135 in brokerage transfer fees. Clients must call customer service to request rebate after transfer made. $135 $25,000 confirmed with reps. Contact client service for more info (1-800-567-3343) none
Transfer $25,000 or more to a National Bank Direct Brokerage account and they will pay up to $135 plus taxes in transfer fees $135 $25,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Disnat Disnat is offering up to $150 to cover the cost of transfer fees from another institution. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code Disnat500. See details link for more info. $150 $50,000 Disnat $500 Commission Credit Promo March 31, 2016
Scotia iTrade Transfer $15,000 or more to Scotia iTrade from another Canadian brokerage, and iTrade may pay up to $150 in transfer fees. $150 $15,000 500 Free Trade or $500 Cash Back Offer December 31, 2015
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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – December 25, 2015

It’s Christmas Day, and with markets closed there wasn’t a whole lot to do other than enjoy being with loved ones, giving and getting gifts, and for some eager beavers, getting a jump on the upcoming slew of deals and promotions for bigger and better trading monitors. Oh and then there was that beauty pageant thing.

As laughably painful as it was to sit through the ending of the Miss Universe contest, it brought to mind the challenges with crowning a winner in a contest when what’s being measured isn’t entirely clear. For Canadian discount brokerages, even though there may be no tiaras, there’s still the challenge of being crowned number one.

In keeping with the giving spirit, we decided to put together something special for the loyal readers of the end-of-year roundup. While ‘stats’ may not be high up on anybody’s wish list, for DIY investors looking to compare online brokerages, it turns out that stats may be one gift that keeps on giving. For traders, that’s the sign of a great ROI.

Of course in keeping with the roundup tradition, we’ve also got some festive discount brokerage tweets and a musical mashup to send us off into 2016.

Window Dressing

2015 was a big year for many Canadian discount brokerages. With almost all of Canada’s brokerages now offering historically low commission prices for equity trades, the challenge for each discount brokerage has shifted to becoming ‘more valuable’ than their competitors.

Value, like beauty, however is in the eye of the beholder.

It was fitting, therefore, that in 2015 many Canadian discount brokerages opted to start with makeovers to make themselves look brighter and shinier than their former selves and more importantly than other brokerages.

This past year, there were no fewer than six brokerages that either overhauled or significantly changed their website, in the hopes of capturing the attention of a more demanding online user. The more intriguing story, however, is not so much about the cosmetics of the brokerages, but on the consensus (or lack thereof) when it comes to the judges of the competition. Specifically, the three major online brokerage rankings that are available to Canadian DIY investors.

As we’ve discussed on a number of occasions, there are several rankings that typically crown a “best online brokerage” in Canada every year. The three most active and influential voices are the Globe and Mail, JD Power & Associates and Surviscor.

What is important to note is that each of these sources have a different semi-quantitative approach to establish what makes one brokerage better than another. As such, their voices are the ones that many Canadian DIY investors turn to when considering which brokerages to entrust with their investing and trading accounts.

Given their different approaches, however, there are times where these voices agree and times where they don’t. Fortunately for DIY investors, we’ve pulled together the full set of rankings and ratings to show just where they agreed for 2015, where they didn’t and why it matters for choosing an online brokerage in 2016.

Setting the Table

Instead of relying on just one discount brokerage comparison or ranking, below is a table that combines and compares three of the most popular Canadian brokerage rankings for 2015.

In order to make sense of the three comparisons, there are a couple of important things to take note of.

First, we took both the average ranking each brokerage received and also calculated the standard deviation. The reason for calculating both is because averages alone only tell only half the story. For example, a brokerage could score 1st on one ranking but 10th on another. Looking only at the average (which would be 5th) wouldn’t necessarily communicate how far apart the opinions/rankings were. Calculating the standard deviation helps to show the degree of consensus or agreement between the different rankings. The degree to which the “experts” agree or disagree is something that is not easy for DIY investors to track down and put into context which is why we have included this here.

To help make sense of the rankings, the averages and the standard deviations, we’ve also grouped the information into three categories of ‘agreement’: ratings where agreement is high, ratings where agreement is low and ratings where there is some agreement.

In each of the average and standard deviations, we’ve put in a heat map of the scores with colour showing the scale from best (green) to worst (red).

Without further ado, here is what the rankings look like.

Table 1: Combined 2015 Canadian Discount Brokerage Rankings

Places where the rankings agree

One of the most interesting observations of the data is the standard deviation column. What this shows is that there are clearly places where these three different rankings agree (lower standard deviations mean high consensus) and places where they disagree substantially.

Starting first with where they agree the most, it is clear that HSBC InvestDirect is a brokerage that all the rankings felt did not measure up. HSBC InvestDirect came in last, on average, in each of the rankings. Following suit, CIBC Investor’s Edge also seemed to rank consistently lower on each of the major rankings – this despite having one of the lowest commission offerings of brokerages big or small. This is interesting given how much DIY historically have considered pricing and how the rankings may not be factoring this in as heavily going forward.

In terms of who consistently rated the highest, there are clear standouts albeit with somewhat less consensus.

Both Questrade and TD Direct Investing were consistently referenced as strong choices in all three rankings. Thus, even though BMO InvestorLine performed the best amongst all of the 2015 brokerage ratings in terms of average ranking, there is more disagreement about them than the solid 2nd or 3rd place offering that Questrade or TD Direct Investing seem to offer.

In fact, here is an example where the comparison of brokerage rankings using the standard deviations becomes particularly interesting.

Both Qtrade Investor and TD Direct Investing had the same ‘average’ ranking when all the ratings were combined, however they each have very different degrees of agreement between rankings. Qtrade Investor had a rating as high as 2 (out of 12) with the Globe and Mail and as low as 8 (out of 10) with the JD Power Investor Satisfaction ranking. Conversely, TD Direct Investing’s ratings ranged between 3 (out of 10) and 6 (out of 12).

To be clear, this doesn’t mean that TD Direct Investing is necessarily “better” than Qtrade Investor, per se, but it does mean that DIY investors likely have to do more homework to find out more about Qtrade Investor than TD Direct Investing.

Another interesting area where the brokerage rankings agreed for 2015 was with RBC Direct Investing. There was a very high level of agreement that RBC Direct Investing provided an “average” experience when it came to DIY investing.

Places where the rankings disagree

As shown in red in the table, two firms that had the highest level of disagreement between rankings were National Bank Direct Brokerage and Virtual Brokers.

In the case of National Bank Direct Brokerage, they performed the best in terms of “investor satisfaction” on the JD Power survey (1st out of 10) but fared poorly according to both Surviscor and the Globe and Mail ratings. This extreme disagreement is interesting because it highlights the importance of knowing what each ranking is measuring and how they go about trying to measure it. It also makes the average ranking score a less reliable way to find out how NBDB stacks up to the rest of the field.

Looking at Virtual Brokers, there is an equally strong level of uncertainty in the rankings pool as to whether they are “the best” as claimed by the Globe and Mail’s Rob Carrick or near the bottom of the pack as ranked by Surviscor. With only two rankings to rely on, however, there is clearly room for confusion and uncertainty on the part of shoppers looking to choose this brokerage.

As was the case above, this disagreement with NBDB and Virtual Brokers means that more homework is required when considering either as an online brokerage. For DIY investors, it is therefore critical to know what about an online brokerage experience matters or is most important as this will determine whether or not a ranking, positive or negative, is actually relevant.

Qtrade Investor and Scotia iTRADE were also firms that had a high level of disagreement when looking at the combined set of discount brokerage rankings for 2015. In this respect, Qtrade Investor edged out Scotia iTrade, receiving both a stronger average ranking and stronger consensus.

Places where the rankings somewhat agree

In terms of this year’s rankings, this next group falls into the ‘grey area’ when it comes to agreement despite having very different average ranking scores.

Even though BMO InvestorLine had the best overall average score across the three major ratings, the relatively low Globe and Mail review pulled the consensus factor down. To clarify, the Globe and Mail ranking was more of a ‘neutral’ rating however numerically this introduced some uncertainty into the mix.

On the other hand, Desjardins Online Brokerage’s ‘average’ rating in investor satisfaction offset the lower scores from Surviscor and the Globe and Mail.

Finally, for Credential Direct, there were only rankings in the Surviscor and Globe and Mail ratings so investors would again need to probably do more homework to find out what other investors may think.

What does it all Mean?

As comparison shopping for products and services, including online brokerages, becomes more the norm, it’s now possible to use data to better inform those decisions and narrow down the field of choices.

What this series of analyses show, however, is that taking even the average of what the experts are saying doesn’t exactly tell the whole story. Consumers should take the title of “the best online brokerage” with a grain of salt as there is likely another source that disagrees with the claim.

According to the combined average rankings and consensus analysis, multiple rankings saw BMO InvestorLine, Questrade and TD Direct Investing as consistently strong choices in 2015 while HSBC InvestDirect and CIBC Investor’s Edge consistently scored low. Falling consistently in the middle of the pack was RBC Direct Investing.

For the rest of the Canadian discount brokerages, there is less clarity when it comes to rankings which means that more research is required or that these brokerages may need to offer more innovative or value-added incentives to get DIY investors to pay attention.

Ultimately, the good news for most DIY investors is that it is harder to make a poor choice than a good one when choosing an online brokerage. Ratings and pricing aside, it is now up to Canadian brokerages to offer better

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

Into the Close

That’s a wrap on the final roundup of 2015. From everyone here at SparxTrading.com, have a safe and enjoyable holiday season. Here’s musical recap to take you back through 2015 and to get your groove on heading into 2016.

 

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – December 4th 2015

Source: Vine

One of the great things about watching professionals in action is just how easy they make things look. If you’re Aaron Rodgers, airing out a game-winning pass with no time left on the clock just seems like a day’s work. While Canada’s discount brokerages don’t have quite the dramatic finishes that the NFL seems to produce, this past week brokerages have had their fair share of unexpected comebacks and champions that make winning look effortless.

This edition of the roundup is chalked full of commentary and perspective on one of the biggest weeks of the year. Kicking off the roundup is the review of this month’s deals and promotions and the signals that brokerages are moving more aggressively into 2016 than ever before. Next we dive into discount brokerage rankings season by looking at the two big names in Canadian brokerage rankings that published their results this week. Finally we take a look at the news and chatter across the discount brokerage space on social media and in the forums. Saddle up, this is going to be a fun ride.

Deals in Play

At the outset of December it looks as if at least two brokerages, HSBC InvestDirect and Questrade, are interested in spreading some holiday cheer in the form of new deals and promotions.

Starting first with Questrade. Late last month they relaunched their popular Apple Watch promotion – which is actually a $500 gift card to the Apple store. While the addition of yet another promotion brings the number of promotions to at least 8, the launch was interesting for two other reasons.

First, with the expiry date of this promotion well into March of 2016, this seems like one of the premiere offers Questrade will be putting forward heading into the coveted “RRSP season”. The timing of this offer just before the Christmas holiday buying season means that it might just be enough to tip someone into considering Questrade as an online brokerage. Further, the value of $500 at the Apple store for a $100,000 deposit makes it a competitive offering at this deposit level.

A second reason this offer is interesting is because Questrade continues to offer more incentives and promotions than any (or almost all) other online brokerages. Going into December, Questrade alone accounted for just about half of all of the promotions being offered. Alongside the offer for the Apple Watch, Questrade is also offering up an iPad Mini promo as well as other commission-free trading promos. For other Canadian discount brokerages, the fact that Questrade has continued to offer the number and diversity of offers should demonstrate that DIY investors are clearly interested in brokerages who are prepared to give in order to receive.

The second online brokerage to get into the giving spirit this month is HSBC InvestDirect. From December through to March 2016, HSBC InvestDirect is offering up 30 commission-free North American equity trades for individuals signing up for a new account. While this is not the first time HSBC InvestDirect has put forward a commission-free trading offer, it is interesting to note that they too have set their expiry date on this promotion well into March and have launched this offer a month before the end of the year signaling that perhaps HSBC InvestDirect is preparing to compete a little harder for new clients than they have in the recent past.

Like most other competitive marketplaces, these moves by Questrade and HSBC InvestDirect will not go unnoticed. The fact that both of these offers stretch well into 2016 are a signal to other brokerages that it is going to be a very competitive RRSP season and that the sooner they can bring interesting offers to market, the better.

BMO InvestorLine Goes for the Three-peat

This past week financial industry ranking firm Surviscor released their updated set of Canadian online brokerage rankings crowning BMO InvestorLine as their choice for top online brokerage yet again. These past few weeks have been good to BMO InvestorLine as they also took the prize for top online brokerage from the Morningstar awards, which are also very similar in structure to rankings/analysis underpinning the Surviscor ratings.

Below is a video from BNN of Surviscor President Glenn LaCoste giving his thoughts on the latest rankings and trends in Canadian discount brokerages.

In terms of scoring, Surviscor’s rating system included some new elements that weren’t present in years past, namely a ‘Service Level Assessment’ as well as a ‘Mobile Accessibility’ consideration.

One of the interesting components about the Surviscor analysis is that it takes into account over 4000 criteria when coming up with the final score. Of course, since those criteria are proprietary it is difficult to know exactly the weights that lead to the scoring.Even so, a look at the distribution of this year’s scores also shows just how tightly clustered most of the brokerages are according to Surviscor’s analysis.

The graph below (a histogram for the stats nerds) shows that most firms in the ranking have a score between 65% and 74%. What stands out when looking at this chart is just how poorly HSBC InvestDirect performed on this analysis compared to the rest of the firms profiled.

Distribution of scores from Surviscor 2015 online brokerage rankings.

At the other end of the spectrum, BMO InvestorLine and Scotia iTRADE scored above most of the other brokerages but relatively close to one another. This is particularly interesting given the fact that standard commission pricing at both firms is very different.

In terms of BMO InvestorLine, standard commission pricing is in line with many other bank-owned brokerages at just under $10. Conversely, Scotia iTRADE’s standard commission pricing is still closer to $25. Thus, commission pricing is only part of what factors into making a firm rank well in these ratings and, according to these rankings, the overall experience between BMO InvestorLine and Scotia iTRADE may be too close for most to notice.

In fact, the scoring shows that according to these rankings, for about 50% of the brokerages, the experience is bound to be “pretty close” to another brokerage.

For DIY investors the take home message to keep in mind when considering the rankings is that these scores represent a snapshot in time. The industry is constantly evolving and so new features or improvements may show up in between ranking cycles which then in turn change the order in which these firms would be ranked. The fact that many discount brokerages are clustered around the same scores show that most firms do a reasonably decent and probably similar job in terms of the criteria measured by the Surviscor rankings, so it seems that personal preference will have a greater role to play for most DIY investors.

That said, these numbers also show that most brokerages are locked in a very tight race with one another. The big challenge in front of the brokerages for 2016 is just how they’re going to start separating themselves from one another.

2015 Globe and Mail Online Brokerage Rankings Released

Of course what would online brokerage rankings season be without the most widely anticipated and longest running ranking of Canadian brokerages?

Earlier today the Globe and Mail’s Rob Carrick published his annual review of twelve of Canada’s most popular online discount brokerages and there were certainly some surprises contained in this year’s rankings.

Starting first with the actual scores. In the 2015 rankings, there was a clear theme that the top three Canadian online brokerages according to Rob Carrick just happened to be non-bank owned brokerages.

Virtual Brokers has once again reclaimed its title as best online brokerage after having lost it last year to Qtrade Investor (who incidentally came in 2nd place this year). Following in third place was Questrade, a firm that has continuously been moving up the rankings for the past few years.

The battle between Qtrade Investor and Virtual Brokers may now be turning into somewhat of a rivalry as both of these firms continue to score well in the Globe’s brokerage rankings only narrowly edging one another out each year for the past 4 years. And, even though Questrade may have placed third, according to Rob Carrick’s comments on this brokerage, they may very well take top spot should they continue at their current pace.

For the bank-owned brokerages, the only bright spot appeared to be TD Direct Investing. With a revamped website and the implementation of long awaited features (such as the US Dollar RRSP account), TD Direct Investing scored the best among Canada’s bank-owned online brokerages with a grade of a B+.

The rest of the pack of bank-owned brokerages, however, seemed to draw less glowing praise, to put it mildly.

Interestingly, for the businesses with the biggest profits (i.e. the Canadian banks), the ability to create exceptional experiences (at least in the view of the rankings) fell far short of what they could do. One of the reasons often cited by industry insiders, is that the online brokerage arms of many banks just don’t get the resources and respect as some of the other banking units. Ironically, for many bank-owned brokerages, the marketing that their parent bank spends to create expectations for consumers tends to backfire when the bells and whistles and attention to product experience don’t make it to the wealth management arm of their business.

Perhaps the clearest case to be made in these results is that the smaller, independent brokerages are able to be more innovative than their bank-owned counterparts. Some might even argue that in order to compete effectively, the smaller players have to innovate to stay relevant.

Innovation, however, is not without its downsides either. With so much of today’s DIY investing experience tied to being online, being first to market or creating a new platform or website is one thing – having it work under normal and even stressful conditions, however, is something completely different. As we’ve seen time and time again this past year, releases of new software platforms, app updates and websites has not been smooth for any brokerage. For smaller brokerages in particular having technology go down (or misbehave) can create a cascading series of frustrations as they neither have the customer service resources nor the communication channels that larger brokers have to mitigate these kinds of scenarios.

In the case of this year’s Globe and Mail online brokerage rankings, however, there seemed to be an especially large component of the analysis, scoring and commentary devoted to the look and feel of brokerage websites. The argument for doing so, according to Carrick, is that commission pricing is no longer the biggest component to differentiating brokerages. Instead, client experience and more specifically, website experience is.

Another interesting observation about this year’s rankings was that they were not as lengthy or detailed as they have been in years passed (including compared to last year’s). While it is purely speculative, a great deal of the shine on DIY investing has been eclipsed by robo-advisors and a significant focus of the personal finance conversation has been about Canadian real estate. Add to that a fairly abysmal year for Canadian equities and it’s clearly been a tough time for DIY investing to get any positive headlines.

Clearly, many of Canada’s discount brokerages have their work cut out for them in 2016. With rankings season now over, the writing is on the wall for the Canadian discount brokerage industry: step up or step back.

The non-bank owned brokerages are going to have to continue to innovate in order to fend off their larger competitors. Large bank-owned brokerages clearly have to work both smarter and harder at becoming seen as leading edge technology firms – something that is tough and expensive to do given their size. Perhaps the clearest message of all, however, is that discount brokerages that are on ‘auto-pilot’ are probably at the biggest risk of making themselves appear obsolete. While it may be tough to rank first in multiple rankings, occupying the basement of multiple rankings is a sign that DIY investors will almost certainly use to stay away.

Event Horizon

Bundle up and hunker down, it’s a busy week ahead for discount brokerage-sponsored investor education events. Here are some upcoming sessions that may be of interest to yield hounds, those who are new to investing, curious about trading strategies, and options enthusiasts. Tax efficient investing, technical analysis, and registered accounts round out this upcoming week’s selection.

December 7

Scotia iTRADE – Dividends, Balanced Portfolios and the Quest for Yields with Larry Berman

December 8

TD Direct Investing – Alternatives to Mutual Funds: Learn What Else Is Out There

TD Direct Investing – Options as an Income Strategy

December 9

TD Direct Investing – The Evolution of Indexing

TD Direct Investing – Technical Analysis – Advanced Indicators

TD Direct Investing – Tax Efficient Investing

December 10

Desjardins Online Brokerage (Disnat) – Discover the Benefits of the TFSA

Scotia iTRADE – Trading The Double Top with AJ Monte

From the Forums

In this edition of the forums sweep we found an update to this post from the RedFlagDeals investing section that highlights what will be a disappointing change for many Norbert’s Gambit fans at one of Canada’s largest brokerages.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap for this week’s roundup. Now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, there still might be a chance to save big. Speaking of big saves, here’s a treat for the Leafs fans and their new goalie Sparks (yep, we already like him) getting into the saving spirit. Have an awesome weekend!

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – December 2015

*Update Dec 19th* With 2015 quickly drawing to a close, it looks like Canadian discount brokerages have already put forward their best deals and promotions to take investors into 2016. As the year winds down, DIY investors and traders are looking at places to spend their money rather than grow it, and as such, markets as a whole tend to wane. Still, there are 15 deals on the table and who knows, if DIY investors have been a good bunch perhaps there may be a surprise or two left under the tree before the month is through.

Once again, the month is off to a slow start with no new offers officially launching at the beginning of December. There were two noteworthy promotions that resurfaced through November that reiterated which brokerages are continuing to actively pursue bringing on clients, regardless of the time of year.

As has been the case for most of 2015, Questrade continues to offer more promotions than any one of the other discount brokerages. This month, Questrade has a whopping 8 of this month’s 15 16 open offers. The next nearest brokerages are BMO InvestorLine and Scotia iTrade which each have two offers each and are the only two major bank-owned brokerages with advertised promotions. Other brokerages with offers this month include Desjardins Online Brokerage, Jitneytrade and Virtual Brokers.

We’ll be sure to check in on the brokerages regularly throughout December to see if there are hints of any other deal miracles. In the meantime, if there are any other offers that we might have missed, please let us know.

Extended Offers

There was one online brokerage that took the opportunity to revive one of their longstanding refer-a-friend offers. After a brief absence from the November deals section, BMO InvestorLine updated the terms and conditions of their refer-a-friend program which now states that the promotion runs from November through to January 3rd 2016. As seen in the following tweet, the deadline date was the source of some confusion until the update occurred.

The extension of this program is not a long one so it looks like whatever changes were being contemplated to the refer-a-friend program may show up at the beginning of 2016.

Expired Offers

Heading into December, there were a pair of promotional offers from bank-owned brokerages that expired.

The first was a free trade promo from TD Direct Investing. Although TD has typically not been as active with promotions as some other bank-owned brokerages, they have run promotions during the fall period for two consecutive years now suggesting that they have preferred spots during the year to run promotions. Spring is another of the key seasons, especially for discount brokerages, so stay tuned for what could transpire in early 2016.

The other promotional offer that expired was a commission-free trade offer from National Bank Direct Brokerage.

New Offers

*Update Dec. 19th* For some DIY investors looking for a good deal, Christmas came early in the form of an offer from National Bank Direct Brokerage. Earlier this week NBDB launched a commission-credit promotion that offers up to either $500 or $1,000 in commission rebates for individuals opening a new account with at least $20,000 or $100,000 respectively. The credits are applicable to trades made within 90 days of signing up. See table below for more information.

*Update Dec. 3rd* It looks like at least one Canadian discount brokerage is getting into the holiday spirit. HSBC InvestDirect has launched a commission-free trading offer for individuals who open a new account with them. The offer is for 30 commission-free North American equity trades (i.e. it does not include options trades) which are good for use for up to 60 days. Unlike many of the offers currently on the market, this one does not appear to require a minimum deposit. See table below for additional details. Thanks to Tim for sharing that with us!

While there were technically no new offers that arrived at the outset of December, shortly before the beginning of this new month Questrade once again launched their Apple Watch themed promotion. Specifically, individuals who open a new Questrade account with at least $100,000 may be eligible to receive a gift card from Apple worth $500.00 CAD. While the promotion is certainly suggesting that individuals could receive an Apple Watch, in reality, qualifying individuals can use the $500 gift card towards any other Apple product. Interestingly, the expiry date for this promo has been set to fall right in the middle of the infamous “RRSP” season which means this is likely to be one of the more valuable offerings Questrade puts forward going into the New Year.

Discount Brokerage Deals

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 a new qualifying account with HSBC InvestDirect and you could be eligible to receive up to 30 commission-free North American equity trades. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. n/a 30 commission-free trades. 60 days Winter free trade promotion March 15, 2016
Open a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) and receive $50 commission credit . Use promo code: kdkfnbbc $1,000 $50 commission credit none none none
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
Open and fund a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) with at least $1,000 and you may be eligible to receive 5 commission-free trades. Use promo code 5FREETRADES when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $1,000 5 commission-free trades 60 days 5 commission-free trade offer December 31, 2016
Open and fund a new online trading account with Questrade with at least A)$1,000 or B)$10,000 and you could be eligible to receive either A)10 or B) 100 commission-free trades. Use promo code 100LOWCOM2015 when applying to be eligible for this offer. Be sure to read the full terms and conditions for this promotion. A)$1,000 B)$10,000 A) 10 commission-free trades B) 100 commission-free trades 60 days Commission-free Trade Promotion December 31, 2015
Open a new online trading account (registered, margin or FX and CFD) with Questrade and deposit at least $5,000 in order to be eligible to qualify for a $50 Amazon.ca gift certificate. Clients must also place at least one commission-generating trade within 60 days. Use promo code AMAZON50 when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $5,000 $50 Amazon.ca gift certificate The Amazon.ca gift certificate will be awarded in CAD and emailed to the client within 30 business days of the account reaching the minimum funding requirement of $5,000 and execution of one commissionable trade in the eligible account. Amazon.ca Gift Certificate Promotion December 31, 2015
Open and fund a new account at Virtual Brokers with at least $5,000 and you could be eligible to receive up to 25 commission-free stock or ETF trades good for use for up to one year. Use promo code “TRADEFREE2015” when signing up to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions carefully. $5,000 25 commission-free trades 365 days 25 commission-free trades December 31, 2015
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 December 31, 2015
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new Scotia iTRADE account with at least A) $15,000 – $49,999; B) $50,000 -$99,999; C)$100,000 – $249,999; or D)$250,000+ and you may be eligible to receive a corresponding cash back or commission rebate. For commission-free trades use code: FTN-F15 or for cash rebates use code: NC-F15. Be sure to read the terms and conditions carefully for rebate and cash back eligibility. Contact Scotia iTrade for full details on this offer. A) $15,000 – $49,999 B) $50,000 -$99,999 C) $100,000 – $249,999 D) $250,000+ A) 75 commission-free trades OR $75 cash back B) 125 commission-free trades OR $125 cash back C) 250 commission free trades OR $250 cash back D) 500 commission-free trades OR $500 cash back 120 days for commission-free trades; Cash for the cash back offer will be deposited directly by September 30, 2016. 500 free trade or $500 cash back promo December 31, 2015
Open and fund a new National Bank Direct Brokerage account with at least A) $20,000 or B) $100,00 and you may be eligible to receive up to either A) $500 or B) $1,000 in commission credits. Use promo code CashBack2016 when registering for an account to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for additional details. A) $20,000 – $99,999 B) $100,000+ A) $500 in commission credit B) $1,000 in commission credit 90 days Cash back promo March 31, 2016
Open a new online trading account (registered, margin or TFSA) with Questrade and deposit at least $25,000 in order to be eligible to qualify for free advanced data and 30 days of unlimited commission-free trades. Use promo code ADVANTAGE14 when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions for full details. $25,000 30 days unlimited commission-free trades and free advanced data 30 days 30 days unlimited commission-free trades and free advanced data December 31, 2015
Disnat Disnat is offering new & existing clients $500 in commission credits which can be used for up to 6 months. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code Disnat500. See details link for more info. $50,000 $500 commission credit 6 months Disnat $500 Commission Credit Promo December 31, 2015
BMO InvestorLine If you refer a new client to BMO InvestorLine and they open an account with a)$50,000 – $249,999 or b)$250,000+ the referrer and the referee will both receive cash. The new account must be opened with the referral code specific to the referrer. A) $50,000 – $249,999 B) $250,000+ A) You(referrer): $200; Your Friend(referee): $50 B) You(referrer): $300; Your Friend: $100 Payout occurs after 60 days (subject to conditions). BMO InvestorLine Refer-a-Friend January 3, 2016
Open or fund an account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) with at least $100,000 and you may be eligible to receive an iPad Mini 2. Use promo code IPADMINI15Q4 when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $100,000 iPad Mini 2 60 days IPad Mini 2 Promotion December 31, 2015
Open or fund an eligible account with at least $100,000 and make at least one commission generating trade and you may be eligible to receive a $500 gift card for the Apple Store. Use promo code APPLEWATCH when signing up. Be sure to read terms and conditions carefully. $100,000 $500 Apple Store gift card Gift card will be sent within 30 days of client meeting eligibility requirements. Apple Watch Promo March 31, 2016
BMO InvestorLine Open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine, and fund it with at least $100,000 in net new assets and you may be eligible to receive either A)$200 cash back plus 20 commission-free equity trades. Use promo code FALL2015 when signing up to be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer. $100,000 $200 + 20 commission-free equity trades Cash award will be paid the week of January 16, 2017. Trades are good for 1 year from signing up for promotional offer. Fall 2015 Promotion January 3, 2016

Expired Offers
Last Updated: December 19, 2015 11:50 PT

Transfer Fee Deals

Company Brief Description Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount Minimum Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility Details Link Deadline
Scotia iTrade Transfer $15,000 or more to Scotia iTrade from another Canadian brokerage, and iTrade may pay up to $150 in transfer fees. $150 $15,000 500 Free Trade or $500 Cash Back Offer December 31, 2015
Transfer $15,000 or more to RBC Direct Investing and they will pay up to $135 in transfer fees $135 $15,000 Transfer Fee Rebate Details none
Transfer $25,000 or more from another brokerage and Credential Direct will cover up to $150 in transfer fees. Use promo code SWITCHME when signing up to qualify for the transfer promotion. $150 $25,000 Credential Direct Transfer Fee Rebate none
Qtrade Investor will reimburse your transfer fee up to $150 when transferring a balance of $10,000 or more. For reimbursement, please mail or fax a copy of your statement from the transferring institution that shows the transfer charge to Qtrade Investor at 604.484.2627 and indicate your Qtrade Investor account number. $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 $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 info (1-800-567-3343) none
Transfer $25,000 or more to a National Bank Direct Brokerage account and they will pay up to $135 plus taxes in transfer fees $135 $25,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Disnat Disnat is offering up to $150 to cover the cost of transfer fees from another institution. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code Disnat500. See details link for more info. $150 $50,000 Disnat $500 Commission Credit Promo December 31, 2015