Brokerage investment savings accounts | Page 32 | General comparisons | Discussion forum

smayer97 said

mordko said
That's fear-mongering. Questrade was established in 99 and is a solid business. Suggesting that it's an “adventure” is a really, really poor choice of words without any basis.

Brokerages rarely fail, when they do someone else would likely buy the company for its assets and the insurance is there largely to deal with the cost of bankruptcy which is likely to be small.

Armageddons can of course happen, but it's an unlikely scenario to put it mildly.  

Anyone remember Lehman Brothers, or Royal Bank of Scotland near failure with over US$3T in assets under management, just as a few examples? This was only back in 2007/08. Let's not forget history. In comparison, RBC and TD only have about US$1.4T in assets.

To each their own but don't rest on your laurels.  

Ok, but their brokerage clients did not lose a cent. Retail clients of the Lehman brokerage had their assets returned in full right away, intact. Institutional clients had to wait for some time but were made whole.

Good example.

No reason to have more than Norman1's chart, but if you wish https://mrthrifty.ca/investment-savings-accounts-maximize-interest-in-your-brokerage-account/

smayer97 said
Depending on how many $millions, multi-brokers might fit the bill, at $1M each.

Beyond that, it would have to be hard assets, me thinks.  

Is CIPF coverage $1M per account? Meaning if you have 4 seperate accounts at Questrade (like RRSP, TFSA, Margin, LIRA), total coverage will be $4M.

Thanks. I didn't know page 1 was updated.

AltaRed said
The value of the asset itself (the ISA) is CDIC insured by CIBC in the event CIBC goes insolvent. Whether the asset is stolen or otherwise sucked up in part or in whole as part of a bankruptcy by the brokerage is covered (with all other assets like stocks in the account) by CIPF insurance.

As for my comments on Questrade, it does not matter how innovative or how 'good' it is as a brokerage (or as Questwealth). That is not the point at all. I am pleased that Questrade is an innovator and competition to the big bank brokerages.

The point is Questrade is an independent not backed by the resources and reputational risk of a big bank. I would never have more than $1M of assets in the black box* that is Questrade or any other independent.

* Not publicly traded nor public financial statements.  

Questrade Financial Group's subsidiary, Community Trust Company, is a federally-regulated entity, so we have some colour into the finances of that subsidiary.

They also recently acquired Flexiti Financial, Inc., from the publicly-traded company that owns the Cash Money payday loan stores, so we got some detail in terms of their financial flexibility recently. Flexiti Financial is the second-largest private label credit card issuer in Canada after Fairstone Financial, Inc., as they absorbed much of the business of Desjardins when it exited the space.

As well, any current Questrade client, at least residing in B.C., can request an Annual Statement of Financial Condition of the dealer member firm, for free. This is very similar to the audited annual financial statements of a given company. The fact you can't link to them publicly does not make it not transparent. What we need is for current clients of Wealthsimple Investments and Questrade to make these requests and share their findings here. 🙂

I do know that Questrade has surpassed core National Bank Direct Brokerage and Desjardins Online Brokerage in terms of assets under custody and administration, with something like $50-60 billion in expected AUA for 2024 and Wealthsimple Investments about $40 billion in expected AUA, with probably $10-15 billion of that in Wealthsimple Cash.

Cheers,
Doug

AltaRed said
I am not suggesting the likes of Questrade and WS are not attracting AUM and getting most of it via transfer outs from the big bank brokerages. Both Questrade and WS have shaken up the industry with their innovations and offerings and that is a good thing for the rest of us who are happy where we are. I will be happy if Questrade and WS continue to succeed with a larger footprint.

For me personally, there is nothing I would do at Questrade and WS that I don't already do at big bank brokerages with comfort of continuity and expectation, clear CIPF insurance, convenience of everything being in-house, and at virtually no additional cost to me. My few trades at BMOIL and Scotia iTrade are almost all commission free ETFs, and their ISAs are competitive. Fund transfers between brokerage and bank are instant. It will also be easier for my POA and Executor to deal with a brick and mortar storefront someday.

It is amazing how far things have come just in the past 10 years, never mind 20 years. Life has never been so good for the DIY investor.  

I think every individual has a different expectation from their service providers. My requirement is no fee US ETFs like QQQ, VOO etc. I should also be able to buy them in small quantities without fees. Questrade currently serves that purpose.
Also US stocks with low fees.
I could not find it anywhere else.
I don't know if the big banks offer these 2 options together.

I think NBDB has had that pricing in place for about 2 years, maybe more?

Desjardins Online Brokerage quickly followed with $0 commissions.

Wealthsimple Trade, though, technically was the first to offer $0 commissions; at the time, it didn't offer a full slate of account types, but has since added RRSPs, TFSAs, and, just these past few months, LIRAs and locked-in RRSPs.

TD Direct Investing has launched a mobile app only service called TD Easy Trade; however, there are some significant drawbacks. While you can trade Canadian and U.S. listed stocks for free, for ETFs, you are limited only to TD's own in-house line up of ETFs manufactured by TD Asset Management.

There are also TradeZero and MogoTrade, both of which are only introducing brokers, which means they handle the trade execution and order processing, but the actual custody of accounts, statements, etc., are handled by a carrying broker (extra capital requirements are required to be a carrying broker). I think in both cases, their carrying broker is CI Investment Services, Inc., which used to be known as BBS Securities, Inc.).

Cheers,
Doug

Nehpets said

Doug said
......TD Direct Investing has launched a mobile app only service called TD Easy Trade; however, there are some significant drawbacks. While you can trade Canadian and U.S. listed stocks for free, for ETFs, you are limited only to TD's own in-house line up of ETFs manufactured by TD Asset Management.

This caught my attention, but on closer investigation, current clients who use TD Direct Investing would not be eligible to use TD Easy Trade as they are two distinct platforms and products, each requiring their own account enrolment.
https://www.td.com/ca/en/investing/direct-investing/direct-investing-vs-easytrade

Stephen  

yup, its basically 2 separate applications, 2 accounts essentially. I was going to get the TD Easy Trade or the National bank one for the free commission, but its more cumbersome to get funds in and out of the account (since I don't bank with either), and decided against it.

Freida: Webb's rehashing the plot of Jack London's 1908 novel, "The Iron Heel." He throws in a lot of new financial elements, plenty of conspiracy theories and some basic falsehoods and misrepresentations.

I bet many of you don't know that the author of "White Fang" and "The Call of the Wild" was a dedicated socialist, did you? Ironically, it was citizens of socialist countries that lost most or all of their assets after the revolutions.