Which Broker Do you Use?

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Which Discount Brokerages Do You Use select all that apply

Poll ended at 28 Feb 2017 21:05

BMO InvestorLine
18
17%
CIBC Investor's Edge
7
7%
Interactive Brokers
9
8%
National Bank Direct Brokerage
0
No votes
Qtrade Investor
1
1%
Questrade
5
5%
RBC Direct Investing
15
14%
Scotia Itrade
10
9%
TD Direct Investing
42
39%
Virtual Brokers
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 107

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AltaRed
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by AltaRed »

Pickles wrote: 11 Apr 2017 11:16
Shakespeare wrote: 08 Apr 2017 14:15 Transfer filled out and sent from branch.

Question for BMOIL RRSP holders: can you, like RBCDI, buy a stock in your RRSP and go negative, immediately selling HISA to cover?
When I have tried this, they've stopped the trade and phoned me to say I had to sell $$ from my HISA first, then buy the stock. I am a 5 star gold investor with BMOIL so they know I'm good for the money.... :roll: Seems picky to insist of the order of these transactions.
FWIW, that is the same limitation with registered accounts in Scotia iTrade. When I pushed back a year or so ago, they told me one cannot legally be short in a registered account and thus their systems insist on having the cash available before making a purchase. I then said, okay, I will sell X in my HISA with a settlement of T+1 and buy something with a T+3 settlement. They again said no because their system didn't differentiate between a GIC (immediate settlement), a MMF (T+1 settlement) or something with a T+3 settlement. Their 'toggle' algorithm must be focused on restricting any Buy as compared to type of Buy. That would be the easiest safeguard for them of course. C'est la vie.
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Pickles
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by Pickles »

AltaRed wrote: 11 Apr 2017 13:49
Pickles wrote: 11 Apr 2017 11:16
When I have tried this, they've stopped the trade and phoned me to say I had to sell $$ from my HISA first, then buy the stock. I am a 5 star gold investor with BMOIL so they know I'm good for the money.... :roll: Seems picky to insist of the order of these transactions.
FWIW, that is the same limitation with registered accounts in Scotia iTrade. When I pushed back a year or so ago, they told me one cannot legally be short in a registered account and thus their systems insist on having the cash available before making a purchase. I then said, okay, I will sell X in my HISA with a settlement of T+1 and buy something with a T+3 settlement. They again said no because their system didn't differentiate between a GIC (immediate settlement), a MMF (T+1 settlement) or something with a T+3 settlement. Their 'toggle' algorithm must be focused on restricting any Buy as compared to type of Buy. That would be the easiest safeguard for them of course. C'est la vie.
Fortunately, BMOIL is more flexible that Scotia itrade. As long as I sell some HISA units first, to cover the cost of the share purchase, I'm good to buy the stock, since it doesn't close until the HISA money transfer takes place.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by adrian2 »

Pickles wrote: 11 Apr 2017 13:58 Fortunately, BMOIL is more flexible that Scotia itrade. As long as I sell some HISA units first, to cover the cost of the share purchase, I'm good to buy the stock, since it doesn't close until the HISA money transfer takes place.
And TD Waterhouse trumps them both: their system is smart enough to know about settlement dates.
I can buy in a registered account if I have enough money in HISA. The system gives me a reminder at the time of purchase to sell HISA at the appropriate time, which is two business days later.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by AltaRed »

Personally I am indifferent. My RRSP is all GICs, bonds, debentures and my TFSA only sees one purchase a year. My issue a few years ago was stashing funds from a matured GIC in an HISA until I could buy a REIT at a reasonable price. That is no longer an impdiment to me.

PS. I should have qualified my post on Scotia iTrade above to say there was discussion then about them changing more to the BMO IL approach. I have no idea whether that has changed or not in the past few years.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by Thegipper »

Not sure what the problem is with AD. I handled my daughters investments with CIBC Investor's Edge and I can tell you I much preferred AD which I use for my own investments. I could list a lot of pros for AD. Notwithstanding you have to have a major compelling reason to switch brokerage accounts. It's not on my radar screen.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by pmj »

Pickles wrote: 11 Apr 2017 11:16
Shakespeare wrote: 08 Apr 2017 14:15 Transfer filled out and sent from branch.

Question for BMOIL RRSP holders: can you, like RBCDI, buy a stock in your RRSP and go negative, immediately selling HISA to cover?
When I have tried this, they've stopped the trade and phoned me to say I had to sell $$ from my HISA first, then buy the stock. I am a 5 star gold investor with BMOIL so they know I'm good for the money.... :roll: Seems picky to insist of the order of these transactions.
Hmm. Definitely have done this at BMOIL, several times over the last two years, I think in all three accounts. One of these was where I was caught-out by the fee not yet being accounted for in the cash balance. Maybe there's been a change to the system?
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by AltaRed »

Thegipper wrote: 11 Apr 2017 18:52 Not sure what the problem is with AD. I handled my daughters investments with CIBC Investor's Edge and I can tell you I much preferred AD which I use for my own investments. I could list a lot of pros for AD. Notwithstanding you have to have a major compelling reason to switch brokerage accounts. It's not on my radar screen.
The folks already said.... $1000 cash to switch. What is not to like? Is AD something different than RBC DI?
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by Wing »

AltaRed wrote: 08 Feb 2017 22:47 I use Scotia iTrade and BMO Investorline and had some prior experience with RBC Direct Investing with their circa 2008 1% bribe.

Am happy with both BMO and Scotia which have quite different research and tools, most of which I do not use. I like both BMO's Market Pro and Scotia's Flight Desk trading software though am most familiar with Scotia's offering and use it almost exclusively....though since I hardly ever trade, I use them mostly for charting, watchlists and price alerts. I have had no problem with getting responses (email or otherwise) from BMO and Scotia and it is very rare for them to be 'down'. For me specifically:

Scotia PROS: A lot of things can be done online, including journals, IPO expressions of interest, buying GICs, and having bank accounts and brokerage accounts on the same home page. Can set up EFTs to non-Scotia banking institutions if one does not want to bank at Scotia (can't do that with RBC DI). Scotia also seems to have a broader range of GIC offerings from a few lesser known institutions, and thus better rates. Starting with 2016, all tax documents can be obtained online. Good trading platform. Some ETFs can be purchased/sold without commissions.
Scotia CONS: Still don't have true USD RRSP and TFSA accounts which is a deal breaker for some. I don't have any USD assets in registered accounts so it does not matter to me.

BMO IL PROS: USD RRSP and TFSA accounts (which matters to many). Online GIC purchases (standard offerings). Good trading platform. Has a linked chequing account which allows one to write cheques, do bill payments, etc. with the cash sitting in one's non-reg account, albeit only 2 free transactions per month.
BMO IL CONS: No way to access IPOs (not an issue with me), no common page for banking and brokerage accounts that I know of.

Overall, I am probably not the best one to provide opinions since I don't use many/most of the features of either brokerage.
Can you buy USD GIC online with Scotia itrade and/or BMO IL?
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by AltaRed »

Wing wrote: 14 Apr 2017 13:37 Can you buy USD GIC online with Scotia itrade and/or BMO IL?
Edited: You have already asked this question http://www.financialwisdomforum.org/for ... 5&t=120088
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by Wing »

AltaRed wrote: 14 Apr 2017 13:45
Wing wrote: 14 Apr 2017 13:37 Can you buy USD GIC online with Scotia itrade and/or BMO IL?
Edited: You have already asked this question http://www.financialwisdomforum.org/for ... 5&t=120088
On the other thread, I was asking a TDDI user if it could be done on his account. Here, I'm asking another user (ie you) with other brokerages (Scotia and BMO) if he could do it on theirs. I don't think these questions are the same. Brokerages list GICs online but some of them can only be purchased over the phone.

I respect your choice if you don't want to share the information.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by AltaRed »

This is a thread about 'which broker do you use' and then logically, the primary reasons for doing so. You have a plethora of questions scattered around several threads that make reasoned answers difficult without context. It would be better to concentrate your questions in just a few threads. I also suggest you research our Finiki for answers to a number of your questions, as already recommended to you, for example, in the Social Security thread you just started.

As for your question... I have no idea about USD GICs in any brokerage account nor do I understand why you would want any of those.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by Shakespeare »

Well, my BMOIL account is active (since yesterday) but empty. MY RBCDI money disappeared Monday night and is now floating in the aether. I hope it will show up tomorrow.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by optionable68 »

My BMO account is live and also shows a zero balance. Still awaiting transfer proceeds.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

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A warning to those who transfer, at least from RBCDI: download all your statements and confirmations first. My RRSP data has gone poof! - although that doesn't matter for an RRSP.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by kcowan »

Recognize that all foreign fund receipts need to be adjust by stating country of origin and as well as conversion. And I delete all the T5008s that are for rollovers to clean up the clutter. Only keep the sale transactions.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

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Shakespeare wrote: 19 Apr 2017 23:29 A warning to those who transfer, at least from RBCDI: download all your statements and confirmations first. My RRSP data has gone poof! - although that doesn't matter for an RRSP.
My online information also disappeared when I closed an RRSP account at RBCDI. But RBCDI sent a paper copy of the final statement for the account.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by Shakespeare »

Transfer timing so far:

RBCDI account disappeared last Monday night (Apr 17).

Stocks, ETFs, and RRBs appeared at BMOIL Wednesday.

Cash and HISA appeared Thursday night.

Three GICs still MIA.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by Shakespeare »

Full portfolio now transferred, eight days after RBCDI account closed.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by mjpaslawski »

I use Questrade for TFSAs, RESPs and Non-registered. I like it fine for short selling and regular trading, but heaven help you if you need customer support. ETFs are offered with no commission as well. I also don't like the way they do US trades, although you can hold US dollars in the account. It's when you use margin for US accounts that I have had issues with. But all in all the platform is fine.

I use RBC Direct Investing for my RRSP and it always works well - no complaints with the system ever, and if you have questions, they're good. A little pricier for trades than Questrade, but a better platform.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

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Shakespeare wrote: 25 Apr 2017 23:57 Full portfolio now transferred, eight days after RBCDI account closed.
That seems to be my experience in transfers from one brokerage to another. Think the various lags in transfers are due to holdups by intermediaries, not the brokerages themselves. Example: Zag Bank would have to be "involved" in the transfer of a Zag GIC from one brokerage to another and thus the elapsed transfer time will be dependent on how soon the issuer 'gets around to handling the paperwork'. Same thing with a mutual fund. Maybe less so with exchange traded stocks.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

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Shakespeare wrote: 25 Apr 2017 23:57 Full portfolio now transferred, eight days after RBCDI account closed.
Its been nearly 3 weeks for me. My BMO IL account is open but still shows a ZERO balance, My current RSP still showing as not transferred

Will nudge BMO tonight
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by AltaRed »

When that happens, there is a glitch in the transfer arrangement, e.g. an account number, name spelled incorrectly, etc. My experience is it is up to you to make the enquiry since no one will phone you to say the transfer is f*cked up and you can wait until the next millenium since each side is in 'not me' form. Seems only the client can kickstart the inertia.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by brucecohen »

Does BMOIL carry Mawer Balanced Fund (MAW104) . If so, what fee(s) does BMOIL charge on this?
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

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brucecohen wrote: 04 May 2017 16:03 Does BMOIL carry Mawer Balanced Fund (MAW104) . If so, what fee(s) does BMOIL charge on this?
Bruce, I went into BMOIL and proceeded to order, stopping at the Review page. Clearly you can buy MAW104 at BMOIL, says No Load and no flag that says there is a commission. On that basis, I'd say you can buy it at no cost. They do probably have a minimum 90 day hold period for mutual funds... on the assumpton they'd get paid a trailer, which in the case of Mawer funds, there is no trailer.

FWIW, Scotia iTrade confirmed to me a few months back that one can buy Mawer funds there with no fees (I was asking simply thinking about advising my ex to invest in MAW104 in her registered accounts.

P.S. I'd suggest you call them to make sure... FWIW, I have put in a MyLink query to BMOIL for my own interest.
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Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Post by CROCKD »

I have owned MAW104 in my BMOIL RRIF for the last 2 years.
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