Still in 2021, Questrade (web: questrade.ca) is one of the leading Canadian discount brokerages, geared at eliminating excessive fees while providing outstanding service. Over the past 2-3 years Questrade has been constantly growing in popularity, officially solidifying itself as Canada’s leading online platform.
What started as a niche service targeting new investors with modest profiles who are looking for low fees as a priority above all else, has since evolved into a much more diverse service. Nowadays, Questrade is really the complete package, offering adequate solutions for investors of all types, most notably its free ETF purchase. Some say it is the closest Canadian relative of Robinhood (one of the top brokerage firms in the U.S, notorious for its low fees and gamified user experience).
Read the following Questrade review to under the ins and outs of the company, its trading platforms (including Questrade IQ Edge), associated fees, tips, and an amazing Questrade offer code for CA$50 .
View a very up to date and detailed Questrade review by FT @MDJ.
Questrade Review Summary – In a Gist:
✅ Very Low Fees
✅ No Annual Fees
✅ Great Service (Inc. Chat)
✅ Great promo offer
✗ Mobile App Needs Improvement
Discount Brokerages in Canada – Intro
If you want to invest for as cheaply as possible (eliminating the crippling fees that result from the mutual fund/commissioned-advice model) you need to take a serious look at the world of discount brokerages. Gone are the days of aggressive men standing on the floor of stock exchanges taking telephone calls from banks, which then pass along incredibly high costs to retail customers.
All of Canada’s major banks now offer fully-online platforms that look beautiful and are very user-friendly, but if you’re looking to keep your investment strategy simple and cut costs to the bone, then the discount brokerage that comes out on top is Questrade.
Queatrade Trading Fees
Most of the big bank brokerages around the world charge a minimum of $9.95 per trade in addition to ECN fees. Questrade by comparison cuts that down to $4.95. While saving five bucks might not seem like a big deal, it can mean a huge difference in the growth of your nest egg when you consider the effects of compounding over the long term. That five dollar difference every time you purchase shares of your favorite dividend stock, or units of your index ETF, will eventually mean hundreds and even thousands of dollars of foregone investment returns.
In addition to the per-trade savings, Questrade also offers substantial advantages when it comes to no-fee registered accounts and transition fees. Most banks or investment services will hit you with a fee when you ask to withdraw your investments and/or switch brokerages. Questrade offers to immediately refund any of these costs if you switch over to them. Once again, while a $25 or $50 annual fee on your RRSP or TFSA account might sound inconsequential, you are greatly diminishing the size of your retirement snowball as it tries to grow and pick up speed on its way down the mountain of your working life. You work hard for your savings – keeping it working for you instead of padding the bottom corporate line should be a priority!
Conclusion: Best in Canada ★★★★★
No-Fee ETF Purchases
By far my favourite perk when it comes to Questrade relative to other discount brokerages is the fact that they charge exactly zero dollars when it comes to purchasing exchange traded funds (ETFs). That’s ALL ETFs, not just a small pre-approved list used for marketing purposes. Now, you will be charged the standard $4.95 plus ECN fees when you sell the ETFs, but if you’re a relatively young investor that won’t be selling any of your portfolio for several years, you can essentially invest for absolutely free.
If you’re wondering why Questrade would do something like this, (not making any money off of customers is generally a poor business move) I think the answer probably is that the brokerage know that most investors eventually succumb to their inner animal spirits and try actively trading stocks instead of sticking to a proven, long-term, index-based strategy (popularly known as couch-potato investing). When you combine Questrade’s no-fee ETF purchase policy with the incredibly low MERs that most index ETFs now charge due to increasing competition, you are left with a great way to grow your money – without sacrificing any of it to the pinstriped Wall Street types that thrive on a bevy of little-understand fees and levy.
Conclusion: Unique Feature ★★★★★
Questrade Promo Code
Questrade offers a generous promotion – $50 upon completion of your sign up. That’s 10 free trades based on their ultra-low fees! All you have to do is input the following offer code
a1b9d1d9
Eligibility: only for first first time clients who have no signed up with the firm previously. Only valid using our referral links or our promotion code.
Conclusion: Generous Offer ★★★★
QuestradeWealth – Questrade’s venture into Robo Advisors
Very recently Questrade announced the launch of Questwealth – their very own Robo Advisor service. Robo Advisors are a hugely popular tool which allows you to automate investing and enjoy significantly lower fees compared to other trading options.
While Robos are a common thing in Canada for many years now, Questrade decided to offer them just now. This means that one hand their product isn’t yet polished, but they are offering very competitive rates and a great promotional code for new users.
Robo advisors use a model based on Nobel prize winning research to help investors choose the right products. Coupled with extremely small fees and a very low minimum balance requirement, they are perfect for first timers who want to get their feet wet without risking too much.
Conclusion: Standard ★★★
Overall Rating
Don’t push this decision to the backburner. If you’re still stuck paying ridiculous MER fees on your mutual funds (Canada has the highest in the world), do your future self a favour and take control of your own investment portfolio. Using one of the Big Banks’ brokerages is a major improvement on mutual funds, but will still leave you paying more than you have to. Questrade will allow you to keep more of your money working for you – and leave less going to pay for some rich banker’s seventh sports car. We recommend signing up with them today. Feel free to comment to this Questrade review and add your comments.
Or just input the following Questrade promo code- a1b9d1d9
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