Virtual Brokers – Page 21

Posted on July 31, 2015 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – July 31, 2015

Regardless of where you happen to be in Canada, it’s clear that the dog days of summer are here. The heat outside, however, pales in comparison to the heat felt by Canadian online brokerages to compete with one another.

With it being so close to the beginning of a new month, this edition of the roundup puts a heavy focus on just how competition is impacting the race to win over new clients with a deep dive on a newly launched promotion from one major online brokerage. Following that we take a look at a tactical move by another online brokerage to continue pushing into investor education and then review one discount brokerage’s strategy of taking advantage of low interest rates (while they’re still available). Finally we take a look at the discount brokerage tweets of the week and close out with a pair of fascinating conversations from the investor forums.

Let’s Make a Better Deal

As July winds down, the discount brokerage deals and promotions activity saw a slight uptick from two brokerages – BMO InvestorLine and Virtual Brokers.

Starting first with the latter, Virtual Brokers has decided to revive the deal that had technically expired at the end of June and extend it through to the end of August. The offer is for 25 commission-free trades that are good for use for up to one year.

At the other end of the deposit spectrum is the offer from BMO InvestorLine. In keeping with their nautical themed campaign imagery, BMO InvestorLine’s latest cash-back offer is a shot across the bow at the two other discount brokerages currently jockeying for clients with deposits of at least $100,000: Scotia iTrade and Questrade.

There’s a lot about BMO InvestorLine’s latest cash-back promotion that clearly signals they’re actively courting clients who have larger deposits/assets. First, the minimum deposit to qualify for this promotion is $100,000. The only other brokerage with an offer exclusively geared towards this deposit level is Questrade with their Apple Watch promo. That said, one of Scotia iTrade’s current cash-back promotions also has minimum qualifying tiers that match BMO InvestorLine’s almost exactly for deposits at or above $100,000. For that reason and because Scotia iTrade is a bank-owned brokerage, it is likely that the offer from BMO InvestorLine is going to compete with Scotia iTrade’s cash back offering rather than the Apple Watch .

With that in mind, comparing the BMO InvestorLine deal to the Scotia iTrade deal reveals that each discount brokerage seems to be trying to win particular segments of the marketplace (see table below).

While both are offering $1,000 cash back for deposits of $1 million or more, it appears that Scotia iTrade is offering a greater cash back offering at the $100,000 – $249,999 tier than BMO InvestorLine but at deposits between $250,000 and $999,999, BMO InvestorLine looks to be outbidding Scotia iTrade.

	Cash Back Amount
Minimum Deposit Amount	Scotia iTRADE	BMO InvestorLine
$15,000	$50
$50,000	$100
$100,000	$250	$200
$250,000	$350	$500
$500,000	$500	$750
$1,000,000	$1,000	$1,000

Curiously, both bank-owned brokerages seem to have created an incentive structure with diminishing returns. That is, the more that an individual deposits in absolute terms, the less the individual investor actually gets back in proportional terms. Here is a graph that compares the relationship between deposit size to cash back. As the graph clearly shows, the more an individual deposits, the lower the percentage cash-back they receive.

It begs the question as to why the incentive structure was built this way, especially if brokerages want to attract deposits (in industry lingo – to increase their share of wallet). Usually consumers are given extra incentive to purchase at volume, not less. Under the current structure of these offers, DIY investors have greater financial incentive to move their business across several brokerages instead of consolidating assets at one in order to maximize their return. Here’s how.

Within the current promotions being offered, if an individual wants to maximize their incentive, and they had the assets (and desire) to do so, opening an account with Scotia iTrade AND BMO InvestorLine would net them more than opening an account with just one.

For example, individuals with $200,000 or more in assets who open an account at only one of these brokerages would net $250 (at Scotia iTrade) or $200 (at BMO InvestorLine). If, however, they split that deposit into two $100,000 deposits at each of BMO InvestorLine and Scotia iTrade, they would receive $450. For those keeping score, that’s 0.225% on $200,000 instead of either 0.13% (Scotia iTrade) or 0.1% (BMO InvestorLine).

For those looking to have their $1 million dollars go further, the following table shows that settling for $1,000 cash back at one brokerage is leaving serious money on the table.

Hypothetically, splitting the $1 million deposit across the following current cash back deals (from BMO InvestorLine, National Bank Direct Brokerage, Questrade AND Scotia iTrade simultaneously) would actually only require $900,000 and net $1650 back resulting in a return of 0.18% (in aggregate) as opposed to the 0.1% from either of the top tier offers from Scotia iTrade or BMO InvestorLine.

Discount Brokerage	Deposit Amount	Cash Back	Rate of Return
Scotia iTRADE	$500,000	$750.00	0.15%
BMO InvestorLine	$250,000	$350.00	0.14%
NBDB	$50,000	$300.00	0.60%
Questrade	$100,000	$250.00	0.25%
Total	$900,000	$1,650.00	0.18%

While dealing with multiple providers/brokerages might be an inconvenience for some, others look at spreading assets across multiple providers as a risk management strategy and as a way to get access to exclusive features each brokerage offers. There’s also nothing preventing consolidating those accounts at a particular brokerage in the future for additional benefit (once the mandatory balance holding period is complete).

Of course, moving accounts around to get incentives isn’t necessarily as lucrative as certain fixed income low-risk strategies. That said, for those in the market for a discount brokerage and who don’t mind being more transient, shuffling between providers can actually work out to being more lucrative than parking in one place.

Most discount brokerages will not be thrilled about clients constantly turning over however the fix seems somewhat straightforward – value the clients with higher deposits equal to or greater (on a proportionate basis) than smaller deposits.

Exploring Options

With exciting initiatives planned for this fall (more on that as we draw closer to September) Desjardins Online Brokerage is once again playing the investor education card to reach out to DIY investors.

In their latest offer, Desjardins Online Brokerage has teamed up with investor education firm Learn to Trade Global to offer discounted options education training. The team at Learn to Trade Global may be familiar to anyone attending the options education seminars from the Montreal Exchange (including options education day) as both Jason Ayres and Patrick Ceresna conduct seminars on behalf the exchange.

In this latest offering from Desjardins Online Brokerage, individuals who are clients (or become clients) of Desjardins Online Brokerage receive a heavily discounted (90% off) price for options education training. For $99 individuals are eligible to receive 3 months access to a number of educational materials related to options investing as well as model portfolios and trading ideas. In addition there are six live online “strategy labs” that clients can access live or watch archived versions of.

A strong focus on investor education has paid off in years past for Desjardins Online Brokerage especially in their partnership with Tyler Bollhorn from Stockscores. With this latest venture with Learn to Trade Global, it should be an interesting proposition for DIY investors looking for a structured approach to learning more about options trading from two very recognizable figures in this space.

Questrade Refinancing Debt

While low interest rates have been a headwind to the online brokerages in many respects, one Canadian online brokerage has taken the opportunity to refinance some of their higher interest debt to presumably better terms.

In an article published earlier this week in the Globe and Mail (for subscribers only), it was reported that Questrade had raised $10 million dollars at an annual interest rate of 10% and has recently repaid the original lender, Crown Capital Partners. According to the article Questrade’s CEO, Edward Kholodenko mentioned that the loan has been mostly refinanced to more favourable terms.

Questrade, however, is no stranger when it comes to accessing capital at rather hefty interest rates. Additional research on some publicly listed entities that have provided capital to Questrade reveal that Questrade has financed several million dollars at rates as high as 16%.

Given that Questrade is a private corporation, it is difficult to get a specific and transparent understanding of its financials. That said, some indirect indicators, such as these financing figures, their continued aggressive expansion into wealth management, their low client acquisition costs and building out service capacity in their online brokerage segment means that Questrade continues to push forward in becoming a contender in the Canadian wealth management industry, regardless of the short-term cost.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

This week’s tweets show once again how Twitter is increasingly becoming a medium on which individual investors are addressing customer service issues with Canadian discount brokerages. Questrade and Scotia iTrade were on the hot seat for a number of reasons whereas many of the other brokerages were largely inactive or not mentioned at all.

View the story “Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week – 07/31/15” on Storify

From the Forums

We Interrupt This Program

In this interesting thread about TD Direct Investing’s maintenance schedule, several users from the Financial Wisdom Forum voice their collective discontent with not being able to get online when they feel they should be able to, especially when looking at overseas markets.

Too Good To Be Free?

While many DIY investors are enjoying the benefits of fierce competition between online brokerages, there comes the point where it becomes natural to wonder how or if companies can afford to make money – especially when giving things away for free. In this post, one reddit user wonders aloud whether Questrade’s free ETF purchases are too good to be true.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap for this week’s roundup. After all that data it’ll be great to kick back and indulge in some regression of the non-spreadsheet variety. Have a great weekend and here’s a brief reminder of what we’re missing while beating the heat!

https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.sparxtrading.com/Pic_WeeklyRoundup_20150731_CloseBlizzard.gif

Posted on July 24, 2015 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – July 24, 2015

From spiking share prices of tech giants such as Google and Amazon to gold losing its luster with investors, this week showed that expectations about the future are what drive the rapid moves up and down in share pricing. Arguably, reputation is its own kind of currency and this week we saw examples of how Canadian discount brokerages are having to learn to navigate expectations of online investors via social media.

In this edition of the roundup, we continue with the lighter summer format by taking a look at some sneak peeks at what a couple of discount brokerages are up to over the summer. Next we look at who is facing the heat and why in the discount brokerage tweets of the week. From there we’ll take a look at the upcoming investor education opportunities on the horizon and cap the roundup off with some interesting forum chatter from the past week.

Trading Places

This past week, spent some time with several Canadian online brokerages in Toronto discussing what’s coming around the corner for this fall. Here’s a hint: there’s going to be more than a few big announcements that will get the attention of DIY investors.

Some of what can be shared comes a result of doing a walkthrough of the offices of two close competitors in the low-commission cost segment: Questrade and Virtual Brokers.

What was interesting about being able to go behind the scenes was the level of activity at each of the brokerages and the fact that they are both growing and planning for continued growth. Offices of both brokerages continue to expand and improve which is a testament to the interest these two firms have been receiving from commission-sensitive DIY investors.

As any good summer teaser would do, stay tuned in the upcoming weeks for more interesting content related to these latest adventures.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

The summer heat was definitely bearing down on social media this week as a couple of discount brokerages found themselves having to cool the nerves of some frustrated investors. In particular it was the bank-owned brokerages that seemed to end up in detailed back-and-forth conversations for issues such as delayed account openings and platform glitches.

This week’s tweets offer a unique and instructive read for anyone interested in what challenges online trading can present and how online brokerages (including the big bank-owned brokerages) respond on Twitter.

Mentioned in this week’s tweets were Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTrade and TD Direct Investing.

View the story “Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week – 7/24/15” on Storify

Event Horizon

Despite it being near the end of July, there is a lot of activity for those interested in learning about investing. Check out some of the interesting sessions below:

July 27

TD Direct Investing – Planning Your Retirement | Tips for Winding Down Your RSP

July 29

TD Direct Investing – Introduction to Investing in Options

TD Direct Investing – Advanced Options

TD Direct Investing – Options as an Income Strategy

Scotia iTRADE – Concepts in Technical Analysis with Recognia

July 30

NBDB – Learn About Investment Basics – [Fr]

From the Forums

Wading Poll

Discount brokerages were on the minds of a few DIY investors this past week in the RedFlagDeals.com investing forum. An informal poll of users of the site asking them which discount brokerage they used provided the following results (based on 78 respondents). Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, TD Direct Investing was the dominant online brokerage that voters mentioned (29.49% or 23 of 78 visitors) followed by Questrade (17.95% or 14 out of 78 visitors) and then BMO InvestorLine in third place (12.82% or 10 out of 78).

With small numbers of respondents, there are obvious limits to the kinds of conclusions that can be drawn. It was, however, noteworthy that Questrade was the second most popular answer and that other fairly well-known brokerages, such as Interactive Brokers, were not mentioned. User comments below the survey results also pointed out some of the gaps and interesting observations.

Upside vs Downside

The decision to become an independent or self-directed investor is definitely an important one. Aside from the usual conversations regarding how much effort is involved, or even which online brokerage is best, the following post from the Financial Wisdom Forum on the downsides of using discount brokerages was a really interesting look at some perspectives of DIY investors on the downsides of the discount brokerages.

Into the Close

That does it for this edition of the roundup. Have a great weekend wherever you happen to be and congrats to the Canadian athletes for the strong Canadian showing at this year’s Pan Am games.

Posted on July 3, 2015 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – July 3, 2015

With both Canada Day and Independence Day arriving at the beginning of July is the kind of month that should literally come in with a bang. Once the fireworks die down, however, it’s also the time when you can hear the crickets chirping. Oddly enough, this characterizes the Canadian discount brokerages heading into July where, at least on the surface, it seems things have quieted down some.

We continue with the summer edition of the roundup with a quick look at the new deals/promotions lineup for July as well as some interesting news from discount brokerages in the US in terms of trading activity and interesting initiatives for older clients. From there we take a look at upcoming investor education events as well as the week for Canadian discount brokerages on Twitter. Finally, we close out with investor chatter on the forums and an interesting video in honour of the leap second that made July that much later this year.

Deals on Tumbleweed

This past week, the latest selection of discount brokerage deals were posted and things are looking a little, um, spacious.

The downward trend in the number of deals continues heading into July with 14 offers distributed over seven different brokerages. Interestingly a significant chunk of those promotions (six) are from just one brokerage – Questrade.

While summer is typically less busy than earlier portions of the year (such as the lead up to the RSP contribution deadline), the forum chatter continues to show that money doesn’t sleep nor does it take a vacation for the summer. There are still plenty of people out there curious about brokerages and their offerings.

It’s an interesting strategy to pull back going into the summer, especially considering the competitive landscape.

One of the challenges many of the bank-owned brokerages have is how DIY investors will differentiate between these brokerages. In a forum thread on Canadian Money Forum earlier this week, a user by the name of CalgaryPotato nailed it by saying:

“Most of the big banks are pretty similar with their do it yourself investing accounts”

While the discount brokerage rankings might argue otherwise, there’s clearly a growing perception that a bank-owned online brokerage is a bank-owned online brokerage.

With that in mind, it was interesting to see brokerages such as BMO InvestorLine back away from the $100,000+ deposit segment for the moment by retiring a deal geared towards that group and replace that deal link on their homepage with one that describes all of the recent discount brokerage ranking awards they’ve won. That leaves Scotia iTrade as the sole bank-owned brokerage that has a (non-referral) promotion for that segment.

Compared to the past few months, there’s a definite dip in discount brokerage promotion activity at the outset of this month (and it is still early in this month). The fact, however, that a dozen or so brokerages have to find ways to get investors not only to know that they’re out there but also to get excited suggests (and perhaps necessitates) bigger, bolder moves on the promotion horizon.

Interactive Brokers on Data-Driven Roll

With the rollover into a new month, Interactive Brokers has once again published their trading stats for the previous month (June). While Interactive Brokers has historically provided a great deal of information about its trading activity, recently there have been additional disclosures that provide a very interesting window into the world of online trading in the US as well as the inner workings of a discount brokerage.

Although most of their metrics of interest are slightly off last month’s pace, one of the most interesting ones that is up is new accounts. Interactive Brokers gained 18% on a year over year basis and 1% on a month over month basis to come in at 310,000 accounts. While that might pale in comparison to the number of accounts at some of their bigger competitors, those accounts placed an average of 447 (annualized) trades per account which works out to about 37 trades per month. Also interesting to note is their average commission for stock trades is $2.66 with an average order size of 2795 shares. Clearly these aren’t the typical buy and hold types.

On a year over year basis, however, the figures are still fairly impressive: 21% higher trades cleared, 22% higher client equity and 23% higher margin loan balances.

While it is unfortunate for Canadian DIY investors that this kind of transparency and granularity doesn’t exist with discount brokerages here, what these numbers paint a picture of is an online brokerage that continues to grow and win new clients who are active traders.

Rankings and ratings may help the cause of getting attention, but these kinds of figures reflect individual traders voting with their dollars and they have been for some time now.

Protecting Seniors

An interesting article on the potential for fraud or mishandling of seniors’ funds via brokerage accounts highlights the current landscape facing older adult DIY investors in the US are facing.

The groundswell of an aging population combined with the proliferation of technology that makes financial transactions so effortless means that brokerages may find themselves in the position of having to police their client’s trading habits.

The demographic shift has not been lost on the discount brokerage (and wealth management more generally) industry.

About a year ago, BMO InvestorLine published results of a study they commissioned on the rise in wealth transfer that could accompany an aging population. More recently, BMO Wealth Management also published a series of papers on caring for aged parents as further recognition of the impact that aging individuals will have on the financial services requirements of older adults and those who care for them. Also, Canadian Securities Administrators have placed a special emphasis on educating and empowering individuals and especially seniors about recognizing fraudulent investment opportunities.

As more investors start aging, however, the questions being debated now in the US will inevitably come up regarding Canadian investors. Given the extent to which policies in the U.S. tend to shape decisions here in Canada, this will be an interesting issue to follow in the months to come.

Event Horizon

This upcoming week there are a flurry of investor education opportunities. If you’re looking to learn about options, the technical indicator MACD or some basics on options or short selling, check out one of the sessions below.

July 7

NBDB – Introduction to Technical Analysis: Trends – [Fr]

Scotia iTRADE – Trading Options in 3-D with Pro Market Advisors

TD Direct Investing – Chart Smart – Using the MACD

July 8

TD Direct Investing – Introduction to Investing in Options

July 9

TD Direct Investing – Understanding Margin & Short Selling

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

This week on social media there were a number of interesting glitches on data feeds that got the attention of a few DIY investors. Mentioned this week are BMO InvestorLine, Questrade, Scotia iTrade, TD Direct Investing and Virtual Brokers.

View the story “Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week 7/3/15” on Storify

From the forums

Dress Rehearsal

Diving into the world of investing head first is something most beginner DIY investors should probably rethink. On the other hand, wouldn’t it be nice to be a total expert before putting real money on the line? Of course folks have to take the plunge at some time, however it is always better to learn the ropes with a safety net in place. In this post from the reddit Personal Finance Canada section, there are a number of interesting suggestions put forward to one reddit user who wanted to get the hang of investing before playing for keeps.

Coming up Short

When it comes to trading online, there’s probably one law that every DIY investor (and perhaps discount brokerage too) should keep in mind: Murphy’s Law. Yes, a healthy dose of paranoia is always in order when considering just how many moving parts there are to executing a trade and just what can go wrong in the process. With that scary prelude out of the way, this post from the RedFlagDeals investing forum highlights what went wrong for one investor trying to go short.

Into the close

That’s a wrap for this week’s discount brokerage roundup. In case you missed it, June was extended by an extra second (the ‘leap second’) and if that doesn’t seem like much, here is something interesting to watch that showcases some spectacular leaps that can happen in much less than a second. Hope you find lots of great reasons to jump for joy this weekend!

Posted on July 1, 2015January 30, 2021 by user — 2 Comments

Discount Brokerage Deals and Promotions – July 2015

Summer is a great time for taking vacations, staycations and generally taking it easy. While Canadian discount brokerages are keeping busy behind the scenes, heading into July it looks as though most of them have given the deals and promotions a break to cool off.

At the start of this month there are 14 offers currently available from seven different brokerages. Of those, nearly half (43%) come from Questrade, signaling once again that Questrade is the discount brokerage offering the most deals or incentives of the field.

With some rather prominent discount brokerages on the sidelines, it will be interesting to observe just how much traction brokerages like Questrade may gather in the summer simply because the field is less crowded. If history is any indicator, however, they won’t be left unchallenged for too long and the field may ramp up rather quickly once this holiday-shortened first week has passed.

Expired Deals

Several noteworthy deals came to an end in June. Among the most interesting was Virtual Brokers’ 25 free trade offer. Questrade launched a 25 trade offer of their own however with Virtual Brokers electing to not renew this particular deal, there is a definite gap in the segment of offers that allow clients ample time to use them. Another interesting observation was that BMO InvestorLine decided to let their ‘Five Star’ promotion come to an end. For the moment, this means that BMO InvestorLine is not currently advertising an offer geared towards large deposit accounts. Finally, Scotia iTrade and Questrade both had offers that expired in June.

Extended Deals

With so many deals scheduled to expire at the end of June, there were bound to be some extensions granted. In this month’s case, there were 3 offers that had their deadlines extended. First on deck, BMO InvestorLine extended their youth promotion (this go around naming it “phase II”) until the end of August. Next Desjardins Online Brokerage bumped the expiry date of their $500 commission rebate offer until the end of September as did Scotia iTrade with their refer-a-friend promotion.

New Deals

Late last month, Questrade launched a cleverly worded promotion that gives clients 25 commission-free trades which are good through the end of 2015. This deal requires a deposit of at least $25,000 in order to be eligible for the commission-free trades. See table below for more details.

As always if there are any offers that we may have missed or that you would like to share, feel free to drop us a note directly or to post in the community section for deals & promos.

Discount Brokerage Deals

Company	Brief Description	Minimum Deposit Amount	Commission/Cash Offer/Promotion Type	Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer	Details Link	Deadline
	A Sparx Trading exclusive offer! Use the promo code “Sparx Trading” when signing up for a new account with Jitney and receive access to their preferred pricing package and a massive 45% discount on the Real Tick trading platform.	n/a	Discounted Commission Rates	none	For more details click here	none
	For individuals between 18 and 35 who open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine, they may be eligible to receive 35 commission-free trades, an eBook on investing, $50 cash back and potentially waived account minimum fees. Use promo code “YOUNG” when signing up. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer.	A) for commission free trades: n/a B) for cash back: $25,000	A) 35 commission-free trades B) $50 cash back + 35 commission-free trades	90 days	Youth Promotion	August 31, 2015
	Open a new account with HSBC InvestDirect and you may be eligible to receive up to 30 equity trades (North American listed equities only) commission free. Only trades placed within the first 60 days of account opening will be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for full details on this offer.	n/a	30 commission-free trades (commission will be rebated within 90 days after 60 day trading period)	60 days	HSBC InvestDirect Summer Promotion Terms & Conditions	August 31, 2015
	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 at Questrade with at least A)$1,000, B)$25,000 or C)$50,000+ and you could be eligible to receive either A)1 month, B) 2 months or C)3 months of commission-free trading. Use offer code UNLIMITED2015 when opening an application to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions on this offer.	A)$1,000 B)$25,000 C)$50,000	A) 1 month commission-free trading B) 2 months commission-free trading C) 3 months commission-free trading (*note trading commissions will be rebated within 10 business days of trade execution)	A) 1 month B) 2 months C) 3 months	Unlimited Trading Promotion	August 31, 2015
	Open and fund a new account at Questrade with at least $5,000 and complete at least one commission-generating trade and you may be eligible to receive a $50 gift certificate from Amazon. Use promo code AMAZON2015 when signing up to qualify. Be sure to read the terms and conditions associated with this offer.	$5,000	$50 Amazon gift certificate	Gift certificate emailed within 30 days of eligibility requirements being met.	Amazon gift certificate promotion	July 30, 2015
	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	September 30, 2015
	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; D)$250,000 – $499,999; E) $500,000 – $999,999 or F)$1,000,000+ you may be eligible to receive a corresponding cash back or commission rebate. For commission-free trades use code: THSP15 or for cash rebates use code: RNYDMN. 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 – $499,999 E) $500,000 – $999,999 F) $1,000,000+	A) 50 commission-free trades OR $50 cash back B) 100 commission-free trades OR $100 cash back C) 250 commission free trades OR $250 cash back + KeeneOnTheMarket Subscription D) 350 commission-free trades OR $350 cash back + KeeneOnTheMarket Subscription E) 500 commission-free trades OR $500 cash back + KeeneOnTheMarket Subscription F) 1000 commission-free trades OR $1,000 cash back + KeeneOnTheMarket Subscription	120 days for commission-free trades Cash back to be deposited by February 13, 2016.	$1000 or 1000 free trade offer	September 13, 2015
	Open and fund a new registered or margin online trading account with Questrade with a deposit of at least $25,000 and you may be eligible to receive up to 25 commission free trades. Use promo code “TRADEFREE15” when signing up. Be sure to read full terms and conditions.	$25,000	25 commission-free trades	Trades good for use until December 31, 2015.	Canada Day Campaign	July 31, 2015
	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	September 30, 2015
	National Bank Direct Brokerage is offering either A) a 16GB iPad Mini or B) $300 cash back to new clients who sign up for the InvestCube service and deposit at least $50,000. Use either promo code “Mini2015” for the iPad or “Cash2015” when signing up to be eligible for this offer. Be sure to read the terms and conditions of this promotion carefully.	$50,000	A) iPad Mini (16GB) B) $300 cash back	Within 45 days of the eligibility date either A) the order for the tablet will be processed or B) cash back will be credited to the account.	InvestCube Tablet or Cash Back Promotion	August 31, 2015
	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	October 30, 2015
	Open a new account (registered, margin, or FX & CFD) with at least $100,000 in new assets and execute at least one commission-generating trade and you may be eligible to receive an Apple Gift Card worth $500.00. Use promo code APPLEWATCH2015 when registering. Be sure to read the full terms and conditions on this offer.	$100,000	$500 Apple Store gift card	Apple Store gift card will be emailed within 30 days of eligibility requirements being met.	Apple Gift Card Promo	August 31, 2015
Last Updated: July 1, 2015 15:15 PT

Transfer Fee Deals

Brief Description	Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount	Minimum Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility	Details Link	Deadline
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	1000 Free Trade or $1000 Cash Back Offer	September 13, 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 is offering up to $150 to cover the cost of transfer fees from another institution. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1-866-873-7103 and mention promo code Disnat500. See details link for more info.	$150	$50,000	Disnat $500 Commission Credit Promo	September 30, 2015

Posted on June 26, 2015 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – June 26, 2015

Heading into the last weekend of June, it looks like trading action is everywhere. NHL’ers & NBA’ers are trading players, politicians are trading blows and it even looks like Vancouver and Toronto have traded weather. For all the trading going on everywhere, Canadian discount brokerages are hoping DIY investors feel inspired to trade during the typically sluggish summer season.

This week’s roundup will be an aptly attired short edition. On the grill will be a look at one brokerage’s ongoing ‘quest’ to beat other discount brokerages at the deals & promotions game; a quick look at some headline making brokerages and trading technology from the US; some of the interesting social media observations, and finally, what DIY investors are talking about in the investor forums.

Questrade Launches Deal for Canada Day

Whether it was in anticipation of all the deals set to expire at the end of June or if it was timed just around Canada Day, Questrade continued to keep the deal produce fresh by rolling out their latest ‘Canada Day’ themed promotion. In their latest promo, Questrade is willing to provide 25 commission free trades which are good for use for the rest of the year or about six months for individuals who deposit at least $25,000.

The clever copywriters in the Questrade marketing department have pitched the offer as ‘trade free for the rest of the year’. And, while it is definitely not the first time this hook has been used, it is also a good example of a ‘made you look’ message. Questrade is not alone in this department as other discount brokerages try to grab the headlines with large numbers of free trades or cash back offers for very large deposit amounts. Remember, always check the fine print.

With eight deals set to expire at the end of June, it should be interesting to see which, if any, promotions will be extended and whether other discount brokerages will be looking to make a summer splash with an offer in July. Stay tuned.

Wrist vs. Reward

As an informal scientific poll, the next time you happen to be walking down the street – have a look around at how many folks are holding onto or even looking down at a screen. (If you happen to be reading this while on one of those screens, don’t forget to look up and around every once in a while!) Chances are pretty good that most younger folks are attached to some kind of smart device.For the more tech-savvy or tech-addicted traders and investors, the new ‘wearable’ technologies that are emerging will add yet another layer to how investors scan, research, monitor and buy/sell securities.

In this article from thestreet.com, there is an interesting breakdown of the possible impact of watch-based trading platforms on investors as well as some interesting data on how investors are using the different devices now available to them. While most Canadian brokerages have yet to deploy a dedicated Apple Watch trading app, there are some interesting lessons to learn from the early winners and losers in the race going on in the US.

Blunder Down Under

Endeavouring to become a truly global discount brokerage is an ambitious undertaking. Sometimes, however, things can go slightly off the rails as they did for Interactive Brokers in Australia. This past week Australia’s securities regulator halted Interactive Brokers from trading currencies because they did not have the appropriate licensing to do so. While not a large part of their overall business, going offline in any market is no fun for anyone involved and a lesson to DIY investors to do some extra legwork to ensure their provider isn’t on anyone’s naughty list – least of all the securities regulator.

Event Horizon

Just as many elementary students are going into summer vacation, the investor education offerings also have thinned out considerably going into the upcoming holiday week. Investor education event coverage will pick up again going into the 2^nd week of July where there is much more activity to look out for.

Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week

This week on Twitter, the chatter from DIY investors about discount brokerages highlighted some of the hiccups that mobile trading technology can face. Sometimes it’s just one person, other times it’s a much bigger issue. It looks like Questrade had a minor issue with their mobile trading however they weren’t the only brokerage to be bit by a technology bug. A user on Scotia iTrade’s app also found a bit of glitch with accuracy of quotes. Interestingly this week there were a few discussions on price – with CIBC Investor’s Edge getting a nod as well as the independent brokerages Questrade and Virtual Brokers. Click below to read more.

View the story “Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week – 6/26/15” on Storify

From the Forums

Advisors Getting the Boot

With the upcoming changes to the way in which financial advisors will have to start disclosing their fees to clients, there were a couple of interesting posts that might be ‘canaries in the coal mine’ for many advisory services. In this post, from Canadian Money Forum, one user was curious to know whether going it alone on CIBC Investor’s Edge was worthwhile and in this post, from reddit’s Personal Finance Canada section there was a detailed explanation behind the pros/cons of going it alone.

House of Shorts

The old adage of being greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy comes to mind when listening to the hype around Canadian real estate. While its not normally something we cover here, the conversation has shifted to how some investors would look to short Canadian real estate in the same way that some folks did in the US prior to their housing bubble bursting. Check out this interesting post on reddit’s Personal Finance Canada section for more.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap for this edition of the roundup. For the traders out there, remember that Canadian markets will be closed on July 1^st (Wednesday) in observance of Canada day and that US markets will be closed on July 3rd (Friday) in observance of Independence Day. In the words of the new (and well played marketing ploy) Eh Moji’s:

Posted on June 19, 2015 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – June 19, 2015

As June quickly draws to an end, there is something that a lot of the little kids out there may be celebrating or dreading. No, it’s definitely not dinosaurs nor is it Donald Trump announcing his candidacy for US President. Nope, if there’s something that discount brokerages and students can commiserate about at this time of year it is getting report cards.

In this week’s roundup we take a look at some the interesting moves being made by two online brokerages in separate social media spaces. Following that we take a look at a recent report card on mobile trading platforms that was less than flattering for almost all Canadian discount brokerages. Of course, with all the fun that summer entails, we close out the roundup with a quick spin through the upcoming investor education events, discount brokerage tweets of the week (there are some interesting ones in there) and of course the forum chatter. Oh and a cute animal video just for kicks at the end.

The Missing Link

Over the past several weeks, we’ve been tracking some of the interesting developments of brokerages on social media. This past week, social media was again on the radar with two discount brokerages making some important moves on LinkedIn and YouTube respectively.

Earlier in the week, Scotia iTrade announced on LinkedIn that they are winding down their company page on July 6, 2015 and instead publishing company updates and content on their showcase page.

Screenshot from Scotia iTrade LinkedIn page.

For most self-directed investors, there will likely be no noticeable difference between the two however, for Scotia iTrade, the switch may be a lot more noticeable.

With three weeks to go before they switch over, the difference in follower count between the two different pages is almost ten-fold. Scotia iTrade’s soon to be shuttered company page has amassed 1767 followers (at the time of writing) whereas their new showcase page has 143. As a financial services provider, building a community of followers online, especially on social media, is no easy feat.

There are several active competitors on LinkedIn which each have similar content strategies. BMO Wealth Management, Credential, National Bank Direct Brokerage, Qtrade Financial and Questrade are also actively producing and sharing investor focused content. As in the ‘real world’ the social media space is a lot more crowded than it was just a few years ago.

I Screen, You Screen

The other online brokerage ramping up production of investor-focused content is Qtrade Investor. Just this week they officially launched a YouTube account and published their first video – an investor education piece on ‘how to diversify your portfolio beyond Canada.’

While Qtrade Investor is not the only discount brokerage to have a YouTube channel (see table below), their choice to focus on investor education out of the gate is an interesting one. Typically, other online brokerages have been using YouTube to share information about their services, post commercials and a few have actually provided education-only videos.

As with other social media sites, the table below shows that Questrade is out in front by a wide margin on YouTube. They have been on the medium longer, have a larger subscriber base and have more views that the other brokerages combined. That said, they have also produced and released more videos than their peers.

One of the most interesting observations for the data shown in the table is that for the amount of time and resources spent, there aren’t a lot of folks eagerly waiting and watching to see what a brokerage puts out next. And that’s basically the challenge confronting most brokerages when it comes to building content. Most discount brokerages, and financial services providers, are much better at focusing on providing brokerage services than they are at consistently producing content that investors are drawn to.

While Qtrade Investor is likely not the last to step into the social media pool, especially on YouTube, the challenge in front of them will to be to keep things fresh, frequent and most importantly, interesting.

Select Canadian Online Brokerages on YouTube
Brokerage	Subscribers	Total Views	Year Joined	# Videos
Questrade	2788	1140720	2007	150+
Scotia iTrade	312	61594	2010	39
Qtrade	2	14	2015	1
Virtual Brokers	70	40518	2010	24

A Platform for Change

This past week BMO InvestorLine’s mobile (i.e. tablet and smartphone) platforms were recognized by financial service rating firm Surviscor as being ‘the best’ amongst the Canadian discount brokerages.

As this was the first year this analysis was performed, it was interesting to note just how far apart first place was from everybody else.

BMO InvestorLine scored a 91% on the ranking whereas 2^nd place Scotia iTrade was given a 57%. The company that fared the worst in this ranking was National Bank Direct Brokerage which Surviscor rated at 14%. In fact, the average score for the 11 discount brokerages measured worked out to 42% with a standard deviation of about 22%. For the stats keeners, there’s definitely something strange in the mobile trading neighbourhood.

Surviscor Canadian Discount Brokerage Mobile Trading Ratings
Brokerage	iPhone	iPad	Android SmartPhone	Android Tablet	BlackBerry Touchscreen	Score	Rank
BMO InvestorLine	B+	A	B+	B+	B+	91%	1
Scotia iTrade	C+	B-	C+	C+	C+	57%	2
Questrade	C+	C+	C+	B-	C+	54%	3
RBC Direct Investing	C+	C+	C+	C+	C+	51%	4
Qtrade Investor	B-	C+	B-	D	B-	49%	5
TD Direct Investing	C+	C	C	C+	C	43%	6
CIBC Investor’s Edge	C	C	C	C	C	33%	7
Credential Direct	B-	N/A	C+	N/A	C+	25%	8
Virtual Brokers	C-	C-	C-	C-	C-	25%	8
Desjardins Online Brokerage	C+	D-	C+	D	C+	21%	10
National Bank Direct Brokerage	C	D-	C	D	C	14%	11
source: Surviscor

As we’ve mentioned on several occasions with all brokerage rankings and ratings, the importance of understanding what is being measured and the method by which it is measured is key to really understanding what these numbers mean.

In the case of these latest rankings & ratings, it is the presence or absence of certain features and functionality on smartphones and tablets. Exactly what those features were was not elaborated on in the press release or Surviscor site, however, the following “categories” were assessed:

Getting Connected
Application Design
Customer Support
Market Intelligence
Mobile Transactions
Mobile Resources

According to the figures presented, BMO InvestorLine’s app is somewhat of a black swan in the pond of other mobile trading apps. An alternative interpretation would be that there’s something particular about the test construction that is rendering these results. In fact, it may be a combination of the two.

BMO InvestorLine may have a feature-rich app, however individual investors may not consider having all of the features important – especially if the app becomes an intensive user of device resources (i.e. battery life). Surviscor’s assessment, on the other hand, bases the scoring of the mobile experience in large part on what’s available on a brokerage’s full website. As such, some brokerages may be designing their mobile experience to be intentionally different than the full web experience which would, in turn, help account for some of the differences observed between the mobile and desktop website.

In reality, some discount brokerages and DIY investors may believe there are certain features that are better suited to bigger screens. There is only so much filtering, charting or technical analysis one can effectively do with ones thumbs or with swiping. Thus, a distinction should be made between having a feature (which is a yes or no question) and having it work effectively (which is matter of degree).

While it is undeniable that many DIY investors are embracing the ability to stay on top of their investments ‘on the go’ or simply without having to power up a laptop or desktop, exactly what makes for a quality mobile experience, especially for DIY investors, is still a moving target.

Given how fast the definition and technologies associated with “mobile” are changing, it will likely be the responsiveness of brokerages’ IT departments as well as their websites or apps that determines who will lead the pack.

Event Horizon

June 23

Scotia iTRADE – Introduction to Bonds with Scotia McLeod

TD Direct Investing – Understanding Margin & Short Selling

TD Direct Investing – Generating Income in a Low Rate Environment

June 24

Scotia iTRADE – Options Fundamentals with Montreal Exchange

June 25

TD Direct Investing – Introduction to Technical Analysis

#DiscountBrokerage Tweets of the Week

The chatter about and to discount brokerages on Twitter this week featured BMO InvestorLine, Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTrade and brief mention of TD Direct Investing.

View the story “Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week – 6/19/15” on Storify

From the Forums

Taking an Interest in GICs

With talks of interest rates rising on the horizon, it will be ‘interesting’ to see if/when more folks start asking about GICs. In this post from RedFlagDeals’ forum, one user wants to find out whether a big bank-owned online brokerage or independent brokerage offers direct access.

For Better or Worse

Now that summer is here, RRSP season may be in the rear view mirror but for a lot of folks it also happens to be ‘wedding season’. In this post, from Canadian Money Forum, spousal RRSP contributions are the focal point at one bank-owned online brokerage.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap for this week’s roundup. For all the dads out there, here’s to a very happy Father’s day filled with tools, ties, socks and stocks! (ok maybe not that last one). Have a great weekend – although perhaps not as great as this little rascal.

Posted on June 5, 2015 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – June 5, 2015

Even though summer is technically still coming, for Game of Thrones fans, winter looks like it’s finally arrived. While Canadian discount brokerages may not have to worry about a horde of the undead or flying dragons, they do have to keep an eye out on each other.

In this week’s discount brokerage roundup, we take a look at the latest battleground for brokerages – deals and promotions – and the newest challenger that has stepped on the field. Next we take an in-depth look at one independent online brokerage that happens to be crushing their account growth numbers and what that might mean for DIY investors in Canada. Following the trend from the last several roundups, we’ll take a look at the latest discount brokerage tweets to see what was lighting up social media before closing out with upcoming investor education events and some enlightening chatter from the investor forums.

Deals updates

With a new month, it’s that time again to check on the deals and promotions being offered by Canadian discount brokerages. While the deal activity seemed like it was going to quiet down heading into summer, June was barely a few days old when the deals and promotions space took an interesting turn.

At the outset of the month there were 15 deals we spotted, with one new offer by Questrade included in that count. By the end of the first week, however, two more deals had joined the list: one from Questrade as well as one from HSBC InvestDirect.

Those offering promotions included the ‘usual suspects’ of Questrade, Scotia iTrade, BMO InvestorLine and Desjardins Online Brokerage, however it was HSBC InvestDirect’s offer that got our attention.

The deal itself is not groundbreaking – it is 30 commission-free (equity) trades that are good for 60 days, something that is similar to what other brokerages have offered. What is noteworthy is the lack of required minimum deposit to qualify and the fact that HSBC InvestDirect has decided run this offer from June through to the end of August as a “summer” promotion, perhaps hinting at deals that may be coming in future seasons.

In terms of activity level for promotions, HSBC InvestDirect has run/advertised very few. Aside from offers that were timed around their win of various Dalbar client service awards, HSBC InvestDirect has largely been on the sidelines with promotions. Clearly something has prompted a change.

Alongside the launch of HSBC InvestDirect’s latest promotion was Questrade’s revival of their Amazon gift certificate offer. Questrade’s addition of yet another promotion means that of all the Canadian brokerages, Questrade is offering the largest number of promotions (7 out 17 that we’re tracking).

Another noteworthy observation was that Virtual Brokers extended their commission-free trade offer until the end of June.

June should prove to be an exciting moment for promotions/deals as just about half of the 17 offers have expiry dates scheduled for the end of this month. If the rest of this month continues at this pace, it seems like a little bit of volatility might be in order – something that may play out in the favour of DIY investors in the market for an online trading account. Stay tuned.

IBKR kicking butt and taking names

As we do from time to time, we keep an eye out as to what is happening in the US space and in particular with what’s happening at Interactive Brokers (since they have a Canadian subsidiary as well).

This past week, it was interesting to see what the US discount brokerages were up to at the recent Sandler O’Neill Global Exchange and Brokerage Conference that took place in New York.

Although there were interesting presentations from E*Trade and TD Ameritrade, as well as some pot shots at the Toronto Maple Leafs making the Stanley Cup finals (apparently even Americans know that factoid about Canada even if they don’t really know our geography ) it was the presentation from Interactive Brokers’ founder & CEO Thomas Peterffy that caught our attention. For those diehard fans/followers of the online brokerage space – the session can be accessed here.

One of the biggest takeaways is that Interactive Brokers has experienced a blistering pace of account and asset growth, and, show no real signs of slowing down. According to their CEO it was a series of long-term commitments to automation that have enabled them to compete so effectively on pricing. Their ambitions extend well beyond the US markets and so it is interesting to see the moves taking place within Canada that will enable them to compete against brokerages here.

Coinciding with their appearance at the Sandler O’Neill Global Exchange and Brokerage Conference was the announcement by Interactive Brokers of the launch of their investor marketplace – something that shows once again that they are looking ahead of the curve. In case you missed it, here’s a commercial from earlier this year, which comically points out how this new feature would speak to investors or advisors.

While it is hard to know what from the US will make its way to Canadian DIY investors, it’s hard to argue with the growth figures of Interactive Brokers.

Within Canada, it appears that Interactive Brokers is chipping away at the DIY investor market. With their recent introduction of registered accounts, it should be interesting to see them start to appear on the major discount brokerage rankings now that this qualifying feature is in place.

On the horizon, however, their new marketplace may offer an integrated way to access advisors, or even robo-advisors, that have captured so much interest of late. All this while staying under the “Interactive Brokers” umbrella.

As the momentum with Interactive Brokers continues to pick up in the US, there is a strong chance that Canadians will start to hear and see them being talked about if not through commercials, then by the growing crowd of traders from the US and internationally who are clearly flocking to Interactive Brokers.

#DiscountBrokerage Tweets of the Week

In this week’s discount brokerage tweets of the week, there were an assortment of vents, apologies and pointed remarks that make the world of DIY investing such a colourful one to follow.

As has been the case over the past several weeks, Questrade continues to be the most active on Twitter amongst the Canadian discount brokerages. Other online brokerages may be online, but as the tweets below show, few of them capture much attention other than when things go awry for clients.

View the story “Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week – 6/5/15” on Storify

Event Horizon

June 8

Scotia iTRADE – Trading Psychology Part 2 with Stefanie Kammerman

June 9

Scotia iTRADE – Sources of Income and Yield Using ETFs with Horizons ETFs

TD Direct Investing – Introduction to Investing in Options

June 10

TD Direct Investing – Introduction to Investing

TD Direct Investing – Options as an Income Strategy

NBDB – International Investing – [Fr]

June 11

TD Direct Investing – Introduction to Technical Analysis

From the Forums

When is a TFSA not a TFSA

From time to time there have been stories of fabled, almost mythological, balances of TFSAs. The news that the CRA is looking into a limited number of individuals’ “very high” TFSA balances is concerning to DIY investors on a number of levels. In this post from the reddit Personal Finance Canada section, a fascinating discussion of how these balances may have gotten so big and what the CRA may or may not be able to do highlights how important getting clarity on the rules about TFSAs are.

Breaking up is Easy to Do

For many Canadian investors, having a financial advisor is one way to help manage and navigate the complex world of investments and investment products. For the DIY investor crowd, however, there is very little love for the ‘typical’ financial advisory. In this post from the Canadian Money Forum, readers chime in on one individual’s question as to how to go about breaking things of with an advisor they’re just not that into.

Questrade VS RBC Direct Investing

An independent brokerage that advertises low commission prices or a big bank that kicked of the ‘fee-asco’ of falling commission rates. It’s a question many investors wrestle with. In this post from reddit’s personal finance Canada section, there was an interesting debate about the merits and drawbacks of picking one brokerage over the other.

Into the Close

That does it for this week’s roundup. Whether it’s Game of Thrones, the Stanley Cup or a frosty beverage on a patio (or all of the above), however the ice makes its way into your weekend, we hope it keeps you cool!

For those of us who hate to pay fees for seemingly small requests, this is an entertaining real-life example of some batman like drive and applied math in action to beat one airline’s administrative fees.

Posted on June 1, 2015January 30, 2021 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Deals and Promotions – June 2015

*Updated June 16*

With summer now just around the corner, June should prove to be an interesting month for discount brokerage deals and promotions.

On the one hand there has been a pullback in the number of deals as we head into the summer, however the same core group of discount brokerages continue to run active promotions. In particular, BMO InvestorLine, Questrade and Scotia iTrade each have multiple offers, with Questrade aggressively putting forward 6 of the 15 offers at the outset of June.

What is interesting to observe is that 50% of the current offers are timed to expire at the end of June. This signals that DIY investors can expect some deal turnover to happen through and towards the end of this month.

Another interesting observation is that the latest offers from Questrade and Scotia iTrade have deadline dates well into the end of August or mid-September.

We’ll definitely be monitoring June closely to see what’s going to unfold.

Expired Deals

There were five noteworthy discount brokerage deals that expired at the end of May. In particular there were three concurrent offers from Scotia iTrade that consisted of cash back and/or free trades that expired and were replaced by the deal referenced below.

Questrade also saw their $250 prepaid Visa offer expire as well as one of their 100 free trade offers.

Extended Deals

Not wanting to be excluded from the deal pack, Virtual Brokers extended the deadline for their “25 commission-free trade for a year” from the end of May through to the end of June.

New Deals

*Updated June 16:

After taking a bit of a break, National Bank Direct Brokerage has stepped back into the deals & promotion pool with a new offer linked to their ‘InvestCube’ service. Until August 31st, NBDB is offering up either a 16gb iPad Mini (estimated value $329 CAD) or $300 cash back for a minimum deposit of $50,000 into a new InvestCube account. See table below for additional details.*

*Updated June 3:

There are sometimes in life when a Ron Burgundy quote seems entirely appropriate. In this case, it’s that things ‘escalated quickly’ with regards to deals and promotions at discount brokerages in June. Although it was quiet to start off June, barely 3 days into the month there are two new offers that have launched.

The first is from a very unlikely candidate – HSBC InvestDirect, who has kicked off the summer with a commission-free trading promotion. This offer is for 30 commission free trades that are good for use within 60 days. Check out the table below for full details.

The second offer is yet another promotion being launched by Questrade. In their latest promo, Questrade has revived the Amazon gift certificate deal although this time it is aimed at smaller depositors than their previous one. Questrade is now offering a $50 Amazon gift certificate for deposits of at least $5,000. More details below.*

In keeping with their ongoing strategy of offering up multiple promotions, Questrade launched a smart(watch) offer in May and has resurrected another headline grabbing deal for June.

Midway through May, Questrade made a timely decision to capitalize on the interest in the Apple Watch by launching a promotion with the smartwatch as a theme.

Digging into the fine print, the offer was actually for a $500 Apple Store gift card for deposits of at least $100,000. While it is technically just enough to land the base model of the Apple Watch, the $500 Gift Card offer is still a pretty substantial offering for the $100,000 deposit.

There were more than a handful of tweets and forum posts that highlighted that Questrade has their fingers on the pulse of what their key demographic of clients is hungry for.

In addition to their new shiny promotion, starting this month Questrade is bringing back their “3 month unlimited trading” offer. Specifically, this promotion offers individuals one, two or three months of unlimited commission-free trading based on deposits of at least $1,000; $25,000 or $50,000. As a note, commissions are charged at the time of trading and then reimbursed within 10 business days. See table below for more details.

Finally, Questrade has recently changed their refer-a-friend offer away from commission credits and replacing it with a substantially lower cash back offering. We’ve updated the table below with the new referral code info. For individuals interested in using this promotion, be sure to read the terms and conditions as there are requirements for minimum balance amounts to held for minimum periods of time.

Discount Brokerage Deals

Company	Brief Description	Minimum Deposit Amount	Commission/Cash Offer/Promotion Type	Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer	Details Link	Deadline
	A Sparx Trading exclusive offer! Use the promo code “Sparx Trading” when signing up for a new account with Jitney and receive access to their preferred pricing package and a massive 45% discount on the Real Tick trading platform.	n/a	Discounted Commission Rates	none	For more details click here	none
	For individuals between 18 and 35 who open a new qualifying account with BMO InvestorLine, they may be eligible to receive 35 commission-free trades, an eBook on investing, $50 cash back and potentially waived account minimum fees. Use promo code “YOUNG” when signing up. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more details on the offer.	A) for commission free trades: n/a B) for cash back: $25,000	A) 35 commission-free trades B) $50 cash back + 35 commission-free trades	90 days	Youth Promotion	June 30, 2015
	Open a new account with HSBC InvestDirect and you may be eligible to receive up to 30 equity trades (North American listed equities only) commission free. Only trades placed within the first 60 days of account opening will be eligible. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for full details on this offer.	n/a	30 commission-free trades (commission will be rebated within 90 days after 60 day trading period)	60 days	HSBC InvestDirect Summer Promotion Terms & Conditions	August 31, 2015
	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 a new account (margin or registered account) with Questrade and deposit at least A)$1,000 or B)$10,000 and you may be eligible to receive A)10 commission-free trades or B)100 commission-free trades. Use promo code 100FREEML15Q3 when registering. Be sure to read the full terms and conditions for this offer.	A)$1,000 B)$10,000	A) 10 commission-free trades B) 100 commission-free trades	60 days	100 free trades/multileg offer	June 30, 2015
	Open and fund a new account at Questrade with at least A)$1,000, B)$25,000 or C)$50,000+ and you could be eligible to receive either A)1 month, B) 2 months or C)3 months of commission-free trading. Use offer code UNLIMITED2015 when opening an application to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions on this offer.	A)$1,000 B)$25,000 C)$50,000	A) 1 month commission-free trading B) 2 months commission-free trading C) 3 months commission-free trading (*note trading commissions will be rebated within 10 business days of trade execution)	A) 1 month B) 2 months C) 3 months	Unlimited Trading Promotion	August 31, 2015
	Open and fund a new account at Questrade with at least $5,000 and complete at least one commission-generating trade and you may be eligible to receive a $50 gift certificate from Amazon. Use promo code AMAZON2015 when signing up to qualify. Be sure to read the terms and conditions associated with this offer.	$5,000	$50 Amazon gift certificate	Gift certificate emailed within 30 days of eligibility requirements being met.	Amazon gift certificate promotion	July 30, 2015
	Open a new account with Questrade and deposit at least A)$5,000 or B)$25,000 and you may be eligible to receive A)$50 cash back or B) $75 cash back. At least one commission-generating trade must be executed in order for cash back to apply. Use code TFSA2015 when registering to qualify. Be sure to read the full terms and conditions for this offer.	A)$5,000 B)$25,000	A)$50 B)$75	Cash rebates applied within 60 days of funding eligibility and trade execution confirmation.	100 free trades offer	June 30, 2015
	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	June 30, 2015
	Open and fund a new account at Virtual Brokers with at least $15,000 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 “TRYUS2015” when signing up to qualify. Be sure to read full terms and conditions carefully.	$15,000	25 commission-free trades	365 days	Free trades for one year promotion	June 30, 2015
	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; D)$250,000 – $499,999; E) $500,000 – $999,999 or F)$1,000,000+ you may be eligible to receive a corresponding cash back or commission rebate. For commission-free trades use code: THSP15 or for cash rebates use code: RNYDMN. 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 – $499,999 E) $500,000 – $999,999 F) $1,000,000+	A) 50 commission-free trades OR $50 cash back B) 100 commission-free trades OR $100 cash back C) 250 commission free trades OR $250 cash back + KeeneOnTheMarket Subscription D) 350 commission-free trades OR $350 cash back + KeeneOnTheMarket Subscription E) 500 commission-free trades OR $500 cash back + KeeneOnTheMarket Subscription F) 1000 commission-free trades OR $1,000 cash back + KeeneOnTheMarket Subscription	120 days for commission-free trades Cash back to be deposited by February 13, 2016.	$1000 or 1000 free trade offer	September 13, 2015
	Open a new Scotia iTRADE account with at least $15,000 by June 30, 2015 and you could be eligible to receive up to 100 online trades commission-free (equities, options, ETFs). Use promo code HUN-SP when registering to qualify. Be sure to carefully read full terms and conditions.	$15,000	100 commission-free trades (+ free trial of FightDesk platform for 60 days)	60 days	100 Free Trades Offer	June 30, 2015
	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	June 30, 2015
	National Bank Direct Brokerage is offering either A) a 16GB iPad Mini or B) $300 cash back to new clients who sign up for the InvestCube service and deposit at least $50,000. Use either promo code “Mini2015” for the iPad or “Cash2015” when signing up to be eligible for this offer. Be sure to read the terms and conditions of this promotion carefully.	$50,000	A) iPad Mini (16GB) B) $300 cash back	Within 45 days of the eligibility date either A) the order for the tablet will be processed or B) cash back will be credited to the account.	InvestCube Tablet or Cash Back Promotion	August 31, 2015
	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	October 30, 2015
	Open a new account (registered, margin, or FX & CFD) with at least $100,000 in new assets and execute at least one commission-generating trade and you may be eligible to receive an Apple Gift Card worth $500.00. Use promo code APPLEWATCH2015 when registering. Be sure to read the full terms and conditions on this offer.	$100,000	$500 Apple Store gift card	Apple Store gift card will be emailed within 30 days of eligibility requirements being met.	Apple Gift Card Promo	August 31, 2015
	Open and fund a new qualifying account at BMO InvestorLine with at least A)$100,000 – $249,999; B)$250,000 – $499,999 or C)$500,000+ in net new assets and you may be eligible to receive either: A)$250 cash back OR 125 commission-free trades; B) $500 cash back OR 250 commission-free trades; C)$1000 or 500 commission-free trades. Use promo code 5CASH for cash back promotion or 5TRADE for commission-free trade promo. Be sure to read full terms and conditions for eligibility and further details.	A) $100,000 – $249,999 B) $250,000 – $499,999 C) $500,000+	A) $250 cash back OR 125 commission-free trades B) $500 cash back OR 250 commission-free trades C) $1000 or 500 commission-free trades.	Cash back: 6 months – 7.5 months Commission-free trades: 90 days (note: commission fees rebated within 45 days after 6 month credit period)	Five Star Promotion	June 30, 2015
Last Updated: June 3, 2015 10:00 PT

Transfer Fee Deals

Brief Description	Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount	Minimum Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility	Details Link	Deadline
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	1000 Free Trade or $1000 Cash Back Offer	September 13, 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 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	June 30, 2015

Posted on May 29, 2015 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – May 29, 2015

When the weather starts to get this nice, it’s harder to enjoy it from behind a desk or a window. Perhaps that was also to blame for the market sell-off going into the weekend. While folks across the country are probably looking forward to some grill time, many discount brokerages, on the other hand, would definitely welcome the break from getting grilled.

In this ‘nice weather’ edition of the roundup, we’ll take a look at one small brokerage that landed a rather big financial services partner in order to compete strategically with the bank-owned brokerages. Next we take a look at another Canadian discount brokerage who’s showing signs of winning with investors. Following that, we take a quick scan at the deals/promotions set to expire and then move on to the home stretch where we continue with our discount brokerage tweets of the week, investor education event horizon and close out with two very interesting forum threads.

Funds in the Sun

When you’re not the biggest online brokerage in the room, there’s a fair bit of creativity required in order to maneuver around the DIY investor market. One way in which to do this is to create strategic partnerships.

This past week, Qtrade Securities Inc. (which controls Qtrade Investor) announced that they’re partnering up with Sun Life Financial to enable Sun Life’s financial advisors to connect their clients to Qtrade’s investment advisors and/or to Qtrade Investor directly.

Last year, at just about the same time of year, Qtrade also announced a similar partnership with Great-West Life with a familiar strategy in mind.

As the battle between online brokerages for new clients and new client assets continues to intensify, so too does the cost of acquiring new clients. And, in a falling commission revenue environment, there’s definite pressure to innovate.

From a strategy perspective, getting clients from referrals (instead of having to spend lots of resources on marketing) is much more cost effective. This is something other smaller brokerages have turned to in order to compete with the bigger banks who can typically “cross sell” their customer base on an online brokerage account while visiting an ATM or bank website.

That said, bank-owned brokerages still command the lion’s share of online brokerage accounts in Canada. As the year progresses, it will be interesting to see what else firms like Qtrade will be up to in order to win attention away from larger and smaller competitors alike.

Interactive Brokers Canada Building the Bench

As was mentioned in last week’s roundup – there are some interesting signs of what Canadian discount brokerages are up to based on some of the activities observed online. This week we turn our attention to a popular online brokerage: Interactive Brokers Canada.

Although there was a fairly large response from investors to the news that Interactive Brokers Canada began accepting registered accounts, the initial buzz has appeared to have died down.

While it is difficult to speculate on just how many individuals have decided to open up either a TFSA and/or RRSP at Interactive Brokers, recent postings for additional customer and technical service support at the Interactive Brokers Canada offices in Montreal seems to suggest that extra hands might be required.

Even though hiring of client service reps aren’t that abnormal (RBC Direct Investing also posted for a client service rep this week), in IB Canada’s case, the headcount is generally kept pretty small. The relatively low headcount is why, according to recent reports, they averaged about $1.3M in revenue annually per employee.

Screenshot from Interactive Brokers website.

In addition to the new staff it appears they’re also advertising their new account offerings online – something they typically haven’t done within the Canadian market.

With a very low cost structure to begin with, Interactive Brokers will naturally attract price sensitive investors. Putting these pieces together, however, suggests that their strategy to attract more attention by offering registered accounts and shoring up support might be paying off.

Deal Preview

Heading into a new month means deals and promotions require a quick check-up.

After a busy first quarter of 2015, the deals and promotions from Canadian discount brokerages has slowed down in May. Our sources have suggested that several bank-owned brokerages have been working on promotions, however at this point nothing concrete has surfaced.

With that in mind, there was one extension to report on from Questrade which bumped back the deadline of their prepaid Visa card promotion to the end of this month. That brings the count to 2 of deals from Questrade that are timed to expire at the end of May. The other brokerage offer that is scheduled to expire at the end of May is from Scotia iTrade. Their landmark $500 AND 500 free trade promotion is one of the most aggressive they’ve ever put forward and it was timed specifically around the launch of their investor centre in downtown Toronto.

We’ll be keeping an eye out for anything that surfaces over the weekend and at the launch of the new month.

#DiscountBrokerage Tweets of the Week

In this week’s edition of the tweets of the week, it’s clear once again to see how much activity to and from Questrade takes place on Twitter.

Questrade was busy fielding comments on topics from technology to features. Other brokerages were also on the ball when it came to keeping an ear out for folks interested in them – in particular RBC Direct Investing and Scotia iTrade. One interesting observation was from frustrated tweeters about Virtual Brokers’ customer service, both of whom remained unanswered as we went to publication.

View the story “Canadian Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week – 5/29/15” on Storify

Event Horizon

Vancouver seems to be where it’s at this weekend.

The Montreal Exchange’s Options Education Day takes place this Saturday – preregistration is required.

Also, the Canadian Investor Conference – also known as Canvest – will take place on Sunday and Monday. For more information or to register, click here.

From the Forums

Reviews of Questrade

If there’s one thing that Questrade has appeared to do far more successfully than its online brokerage peers, it has been building “street cred” with Canadian investor forum users and on social media. Unlike on Twitter where individuals either rant (mostly) or rave about a brokerage, on the forums there are typically more complete conversations that include positive things to say about a brokerage. While character length may have something to do with it, the self-policing nature of forum communities generally means that different perspectives help form a more accurate version of what’s going on. In fact, there are often some relatively heated debates involving folks sticking up for their brokerage – something that has yet to appear on Twitter, at least for Canadian brokerages.

In this thread on reddit’s Personal Finance Canada thread, it was particularly interesting to see what individuals really liked or spoke out about regarding Questrade. Worth a read for those thinking about Questrade.

The Dividend Did It

Learning about the nitty gritty of what discount brokerages do is not something most brokerages telegraph well. After all, who’s got the time to explain how the whole thing works (assuming they know themselves!)? In this post from the financial wisdom forum, one user noticed a fluctuation in a limit order they placed that was cause for concern. This one is of particular interest to the dividend enthusiasts.

Into the Close

That’s a wrap for this week’s roundup. After spending a fair portion of the week wrestling with social media (#FirstWorldProblems) an interesting topic that ended up trending was #AdviceForYoungTraders. It was a fascinating thread filled with all kinds of interesting trader maxims. Of course, one of the most, um, concise, was from WWF Wrestling Superstar and often NSFW Iron Sheik (who doles out this ditty regularly):

Posted on May 22, 2015 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – May 22, 2015

Like some kind of odd celestial alignment, the convergence of shorts weather on a short work week just as the S&P 500 hits a new high and causes yet another squeeze on the shorts. Yup, seems like shorts are the theme for this week’s roundup, and as such, this discount brokerage roundup will try to, um, keep it short.

In this edition of the roundup we take a look at the latest deal launched by one bank-owned online brokerage and why it might be a signal for the upcoming summer discount brokerage deals season. Next we gaze into the tea leaves with some interesting signals from one brokerage’s activity patterns as well as look at one looming threat to brokerages that may turn out to be more sizzle than steak. We’ll also take a look at what the chatter about discount brokerages was like on social media with our new #TweetsOfTheWeek. Finally we’ll take a look at the upcoming investor education events and some very interesting chatter from the investor forums.

Cash (or Free Trade) Me if You Can

Just in time for summer, Scotia iTrade has resurrected their 1,000 free trade/$1,000 cash back offer once again albeit with several twists.

When it first launched in January of 2015, it was the only offer that offered a specific promotion for deposits over $500,000 as well as the largest headline number for a cash back or free trade promotion. At the time the offer consisted of either cash back or commission free trades, and included a trial of the Scotia iTrade platform FlightDesk.

In its latest incarnation, the $1,000 cash back or 1,000 free trade offer now includes a 6 month subscription to the US based KeeneOnTheMarket.com trade alert service for individuals who deposit more than $100,000. As was the case in January, it appears that Scotia iTrade is looking to distinguish its promotions from other brokerages with bigger, bolder numbers of deposits sizes, free trades or cash back and now a stockpicker’s subscription service.

Interestingly, through the remainder of May, they will have several concurrent offers which could offer deal hunters a narrow window to pick the best one of the bunch.

Another noteworthy component to the latest deal from Scotia iTrade is that the offer expires well into September. Many other offers from bank-owned brokerages aren’t set to go that long but it looks like Scotia iTrade has firmly placed their bets on this flagship offer for the rest of the summer.

Finally, there is clearly an interesting spin on this offer that is geared towards active traders of US equities/options. Scotia iTrade continues to court this highly prized segment with their $4.99 active trader commission pricing, platform, service offering and now promotions.

It will be interesting to see if any other bank-owned online brokerage steps up to challenge Scotia iTrade in the active trader segment. The recent fee hikes from the major Canadian banks likely saw long-term investment accounts take some collateral damage with disgruntled clients jumping ship. The priority will likely therefore be on winning back those clients with incentives rather than chasing active traders. Whatever the case, Scotia iTrade has opted step into summer swinging with big headlines that other bank-owned brokerages will have to seriously ante up to beat. Should be an interesting summer.

Starting to Sizzle

Between the major news announcements, there are always some minor blips on the radar that indicate that the Canadian online brokerages are working away on something.

One bank-owned brokerage in particular seems to be finding its way back on to the radar more regularly. CIBC Investor’s Edge has been mentioned several times in recent roundups and stories for rolling out new pricing, promotions and seminars this year – something that was distinctly different from most of 2014. This past week they have yet again changed their homepage imaging and seized upon a timely trend by pitching visitors to their website the benefits of TFSA – something that up until now only Questrade had really picked up the ball on.

source: screenshot from CIBC Investor’s Edge Homepage

While it is still early, it appears that there is a trend amongst Canadian discount brokerages to increasingly focus on the content and design of their sites.

Recently CIBC Investor’s Edge and BMO InvestorLine have been building their respective benches in these areas by looking to hire designers and user experience specialists. BMO InvestorLine recently rolled out their new website front-end along with Desjardins Online Brokerage earlier this year and we’ve had confirmation from several other brokerages they are poised to do the same within the next 6 months. CIBC Investor’s Edge looks like they might be gearing up for some substantial design changes in the not too distant future.

CIBC Investor’s Edge bold commission pricing drop has put them back into minds of many DIY investors as well as their competitors, however their most recent maneuvers might signal that competition on user experience between bank-owned brokerages is going to get even hotter.

Don’t Believe the Hype?

For many DIY investors, the recent spike in attention given to robo-advisors has got more than a few feathers ruffled.

In an interesting story from International Adviser, however, one of the groups singled out as being threatened by the robo-advisor trend may breathe a sigh of relief. The reason: profitability.

While there has been lots of interest on the part of retail investors in these robo-advisors, the article points out the numerous challenges to successfully growing to scale where they can threaten the discount brokerage space. The point, as it is in many industries, is that only the strong will end up surviving. It’s a familiar refrain for discount brokerages who know all too well that success hinges on having a critical mass of clients AND being able to stick out from their competitors. For robo-advisors, the fight is only just beginning and it’s likely to expect discount brokerages won’t be letting them advance unchallenged for much longer.

#DiscountBrokerage Tweets of the Week

This week it looks like Twitter users from Questrade were again having trouble sourcing stocks to short. Given that certain markets are pushing all-time highs, it’s interesting to see a) that so many traders are attempting shorts and b) that Questrade users are encountering challenges shorting. While tweets to and from Questrade dominated the news feed, one user vented about the customer service experience at Virtual Brokers – something that has also been getting attention from other users posting to our forum.

View the story “Canadian Discount Brokerage Tweets of the Week – 5/22/15” on Storify

Event Horizon

May 26

NBDB – Introduction to Call Options – [Fr]

TD Direct Investing – Understanding Margin & Short Selling – [Mandarin]

Scotia iTRADE – Options Trading For Beginners with Sarah Potter

May 27

Scotia iTRADE – Options Trading – Building A Collar with Montreal Exchange

TD Direct Investing – Advanced Options

TD Direct Investing – Understanding Margin & Short Selling

From the Forums

Keeping count

There are many reasons individuals may decide to open multiple accounts with discount brokerages. Chief among them are risk management (think eggs in baskets), CIPF protection and special features, one of the drawbacks is keeping them all straight. In this post from the financial wisdom forum, it was pretty interesting to see just how many discount brokerage and banking accounts certain individuals admitted to using.

Small Potatoes

It’s becoming trickier for smaller, inactive investors to park their money at a discount brokerage. In this post from Red Flag Deals, the inactivity fee took one investor at Qtrade by surprise. Check out what the community had to say about their options.

At the Close

That’s a wrap for this week. Remember that US markets will be closed on Monday for Memorial Day so for the US traders it will be a short week. Wherever you happen to be this weekend, hopefully you are blessed with great weather or some wildly entertaining stuff to watch. To help launch you into the weekend on a high note, here’s more great footage of people flying – a Canadian in shorts no less!