Free stock trading at Wealthsimple

[Lews Therin]

Anybody have any information on the fact that Wealthsimple is putting in place free trades for stocks?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/wealthsimple-fidelity-free-investing-1.4787710

[Intrigue]

It's not available yet and they do not know when it will be available.

But yes, you will be able to trade without commission.
It's going to be the "robinhood" of canada.

When it will be live, you will only have non-registered accounts and they plan to have registered account later on.
Also, you won't be able to transfer funds to it, only cash. (this will change with time)

I've been following them closely since then.

[meghan88]

I have a couple of small accounts with Wealthsimple, including a TFSA.  They are OK.

Sometimes they have issues when they implement a new offering.  Case in point:  they recently began to offer HISAs (high interest savings accounts).

So I opened a brand-new HISA with Wealthsimple, thinking it would make it easier/faster to transfer funds there first and then from my Wealthsimple HISA to my TFSA.  I should have inquired before bothering to open the HISA, because I was told by them after the fact that it would actually be faster to transfer $ from my big-six bank account into my TFSA than from the Wealthsimple HISA.

Maybe they've since ironed out the process, but ... that's counter-intuitive.

I sure hope that when the trading accounts open, it will be instantaneous and seamless to transfer from the HISA to the trading account.  Same as it is when I transfer funds from my big-six bank account to the big-six discount brokerage.

I'll be asking questions first, once they launch.

[Prairie Moustache]

If they offered the ability to perform PAD's and executed trades on ETF's automatically like their roboadvising portfolios that would be pretty great to set up an effortless portfolio of low cost ETF's.

[Prairie Moustache]

Looks like this went live recently. I downloaded the App to check it out but didn't see any option to set up PAD's for ETF purchases. That might have more to do with regulations though. I remember seeing a post on Reddit about Questrade no longer allowing PAD's for trades.

[meghan88]

Looks like this went live recently. I downloaded the App to check it out but didn't see any option to set up PAD's for ETF purchases. That might have more to do with regulations though. I remember seeing a post on Reddit about Questrade no longer allowing PAD's for trades.

What's a PAD?  Pre-authorized debit?

The downsides: (1) have to do it through the app only; (2) takes time to transfer finds in-out.

And, for registered accounts, what are the funds earning in between active trades?

It might make sense for non-registered accounts.  Although, as silly as it sounds, the $9.99 fee that I pay TD for each trade makes me think twice about what I buy and sell.

[Prairie Moustache]

Yes, sorry, a pre-authorized debit. I enjoyed taking the urge to time the market out of the equation as well as really putting my finances on autopilot when I had my accounts over at Wealthsimple.

I'm a bit unclear on the active part? I would just hold ETF's as per usual. But the whole point is moot because you can't automate it at this time anyhoo!