Up to about 8 years ago I had most of my investments in managed accounts with CIBC, that sound similar to what you are doing with TD. The service was awful and the fees were high. Up to a point I was successful negotiating lower fees with CIBC, but eventually they would not get down to a fee level I could accept. I also had funds with a mutual fund dealer called Fundex, and a small amount in Tangerine index mutual funds. Total was a few hundred $k including RRSP, LIRA, TFSA and non-registered.
The thing to remember with banks and brokers is they are not in business to make money
for their clients; they are in business to make money
from their clients. Going to a big bank or broker expecting low costs and DIY support is like going to a Rolls Royce dealer and asking for a good price on an economy car. It's just not in their business model.
The first thing I did was read a lot about how to DIY invest, and create a plan for myself. Then I pulled together $50k and opened a non-registered account with TD Direct. I had other banking with TD, so TDDI was a natural fit, and not being an active trader, the trade costs was not a significant factor for me. At that time $50k was the minimum to get $10 trades, otherwise trades cost $30. That was typical of the trading commissions back then. I built a couch potato style portfolio based on the recommendations of Canadian Couch Potato. It dropped about 15% the first year, and took more than a year to get back to my original investment.
My next step was to move all my non-registered and TFSA from CIBC to TD Direct. Then another year later I moved my RRSP and LIRA from CIBC to TD. TD covered the registered transfer costs from CIBC, and threw in a bunch of free trades (most of which I never used).
As others have mentioned you can move investments in cash or in kind (i.e. move the existing holdings) from one broker or bank to another. Although if any of your investments are proprietary to one bank or dealer you may not be able to move them in kind. Examples would be funds from companies like Tangerine or Investors Group. You don't even need to tell the advisor at TD you are moving... the new broker can initiate the transfer from their end.
I suggest you start by really learning investing, and creating a plan for what you want to do. Otherwise you risk getting paralyzed by analysis or making mistakes when the market gets turbulent (like now). Here are some resources I like:
If You Can: How Millennials Can Get Rich Slowly by William Bernstein is a free eBook. The author says more in 16 pages than many say in hundreds. It is US based, but the same principles apply in Canada if you substitute Canadian ETFs for the ones he lists.
https://www.etf.com/docs/IfYouCan.pdfMillionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School by Andrew Hallam is an inspirational story of frugal living and low-cost investing. The author is a Canadian with a global perspective. I borrowed it from the library.
https://www.amazon.ca/Millionaire-Teacher-Wealth-Should-Learned/dp/1119356296Finiki, the Canadian Financial Wiki is a great online resource for Canadian investing and personal finance:
https://www.finiki.org/wiki/Getting_startedhttps://www.finiki.org/wiki/Portfolio_design_and_constructionhttps://www.finiki.org/wiki/Simple_index_portfoliosThe Finiki forum also has a thread where you can ask for portfolio advice. It's Canadian and has some very experienced posters if you are having a hard time building a plan or strategy.
https://www.financialwisdomforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=116284Good luck.