Brokerage investment savings accounts | Page 14 | General comparisons | Discussion forum

dougjp said

On that misinformed point, I was told a long time ago I could only get the "captive" banks' product, so never looked into it for awhile. When I was with TD Waterhouse years ago, I was DEFINITELY told only their own savings product was available.  

It is definitely brokerage dependent and may be additionally issuer dependent. Some brokerages will not allow the purchase of anything other than their in-house ISA product. Some of those same ones will not allow the purchase of Cash ETFs like CSAV which are publicly traded on the TSX. There was a G&M article not too long ago on this Cash ETF situation with brokerages like TDDI and RBC DI being culprits. It seems it is the brokerages who are thus primarily restrictive.

It also may well be that issuers of some ISAs may not want anyone else being able to sell their in-house ISA to their clients. That might seem odd but after all, these ISAs are actually deposit accounts and would BMO for example want CIBC IE to be able to sell BMO ISAs to their own clients? It would not be really different than Oaken peddling EQ Bank savings accounts to their own Oaken clients.

Anyways, there are various restrictions and complications that one does not know about until they try to purchase X via their current brokerage and it is only through sites such as this and/or media articles that we can flush out the possibilities and restrictions.

I am not fussed about any of this since I have both BMO Investorline and Scotia iTrade brokerage accounts and their ISAs are competitive. Further, with a big bank, I would have no problem having 7 figures in any one of those ISAs. CDIC insurance coverage simply is of negligible value for a AA rated big bank.

smayer97 said
So how are you getting DYN6000, through another broker?  

nbdb supports it but only reinvest the distribution

AltaRed said
I understand but the GIC market is one thing and ISAs are another newer, less understood market segment. IIRC, the G&M article was very clear about the likes of TDDI and others not offering competitor ISAs nor even the Cash ETFs available on the TSX. CIBC Investor's Edge and Scotia iTrade of the big bank brokerages were notable exceptions allowing the purchase of at least some competitor ISA products AND the purchase of Cash ETFs. The independent brokerages were also exceptions. I am too lazy to google and link the G&M article at the moment.  

IE and Itrade wants to compete more with the new comers like NBC and other platforms that offer $0 commissions etc. Kudo to both CIBC and Scotia to live in the modern world, as oppose to TD and RBC who clearly uses their sizes to offer substandard services at inflated prices if u ask me.

I wouldn't have thought it could be done but TD's (for example) fine print says "The TD Investment Savings Account may be margin able up to 95% through an approved margin account. Please consult your dealer advisor for further details" so I was wrong.

I suppose any time you can borrow money and pay less interest than what you're going to make (after tax) with the borrowed money it's a good idea. Have you looked into whether or not the interest you pay would be tax-deductible, AudreyG?

AndreyG said
Buying ISA on Margin - is there a flaw in this idea?  

no flaw, except the margin borrowing rate will ALWAYS be higher the ISA, its one of the few things in life that are guaranteed.

Disclaimer: I am talking regular margin rate compare to ISA rate, not some teaser 1.99% balance transfer rate that you see from some credit card promo from time to time. Those are NOT margin rate anyway.

Some of us have BMO Investorline accounts and can get the information while online in our accounts. BMO doesn't advertise their ISAs as being available to anyone else other than BMO clients so it may be a moot point for most.