Personal Finance

Wealthsimple - your experience?

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Jr. Member
Feb 25, 2012
143 posts
5 upvotes
Austin

Wealthsimple - your experience?

Hi guys, how has your experience been overall with Wealthsimple? I currently have an account with them and have a little bit of money ($8k) parked there and haven't really interacted with any of the advisors or the platform. I was thinking of transferring my primary TFSA account into Wealthsimple but I wanted to check and see if users feel their client service, business health and platform are up to par to the point where you would feel okay with parking a large sum of money there. Has anyone paid any significant amounts in fees? Your views appreciated!
42 replies
Deal Addict
Jan 20, 2016
2028 posts
1013 upvotes
Houston, TX
ruff6708 wrote: Hi guys, how has your experience been overall with Wealthsimple? I currently have an account with them and have a little bit of money ($8k) parked there and haven't really interacted with any of the advisors or the platform. I was thinking of transferring my primary TFSA account into Wealthsimple but I wanted to check and see if users feel their client service, business health and platform are up to par to the point where you would feel okay with parking a large sum of money there. Has anyone paid any significant amounts in fees? Your views appreciated!
0.5% fee ON TOP of ETF's fee...making summary MER ~0.7%, almost twice more then e-series just to hold your ETF's??? No thank you. For less you can either go e-series imo

http://help.wealthsimple.com/hc/en-us/a ... le-charge-
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Sep 4, 2005
4113 posts
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Toronto
They had pretty funny commercials during the jay's game the other night.
Deal Addict
Dec 13, 2010
2506 posts
1279 upvotes
ON
Put my wife's funds in there.
My impressions so far:
Transferring RRSP was the easiest EVER.
Everything is done electronically through digital forms and electronic signing. No need to print off, sign, send back, etc.
I can't stress how incredible this experience was.

Transferring the LIRA has been more difficult. There is a hold-up with the other institution. Customer service is TOP NOTCH.
They definitely go above and beyond other brokers, they have been investigating, calling the other institution to resolve things and getting back to me quickly.

They are obviously making money here so the fee they charge will be more than if you did this yourself. However you get a lot for the fee.
1) you get a well balanced portfolio of broad based ETFs with Low MERs that are optimized for taxes/etc.
2) There are no fees for the buying of ETFs, the currency transfers needed to buy the best ETFs are also free.
3) They use dividends to buy more right away and they can buy partial shares... not something you could do yourself
3) No extra fees for buying/selling for the re-balancing that takes place. The re-balancing is done not based on a calendar timescale but when a balance threshold takes place. Example, if you are supposed to have 20% TSX, 20% American, when that changes enough ( I think it's 5% change) then it will get rebalanced.
4) You start with $5000 fee free, plus call in and mention the Young and Thrifty blog promo and you will get an additional $15k managed for free. I think these are free for 2 years.
5) For everyone you refer you and them get $5000 managed for free for 2 years. - if you sign up be sure to contact someone first to setup the referral
Member
User avatar
Aug 19, 2015
277 posts
313 upvotes
San Diego, CA
Just keep referring people and you don't pay Face With Tears Of Joy

I've got 10k free with them and then I'll invest using Quest-trade.
Jr. Member
Feb 25, 2012
143 posts
5 upvotes
Austin
thetipster wrote: Put my wife's funds in there.
My impressions so far:
Transferring RRSP was the easiest EVER.
Everything is done electronically through digital forms and electronic signing. No need to print off, sign, send back, etc.
I can't stress how incredible this experience was.

Transferring the LIRA has been more difficult. There is a hold-up with the other institution. Customer service is TOP NOTCH.
They definitely go above and beyond other brokers, they have been investigating, calling the other institution to resolve things and getting back to me quickly.

They are obviously making money here so the fee they charge will be more than if you did this yourself. However you get a lot for the fee.
1) you get a well balanced portfolio of broad based ETFs with Low MERs that are optimized for taxes/etc.
2) There are no fees for the buying of ETFs, the currency transfers needed to buy the best ETFs are also free.
3) They use dividends to buy more right away and they can buy partial shares... not something you could do yourself
3) No extra fees for buying/selling for the re-balancing that takes place. The re-balancing is done not based on a calendar timescale but when a balance threshold takes place. Example, if you are supposed to have 20% TSX, 20% American, when that changes enough ( I think it's 5% change) then it will get rebalanced.
4) You start with $5000 fee free, plus call in and mention the Young and Thrifty blog promo and you will get an additional $15k managed for free. I think these are free for 2 years.
5) For everyone you refer you and them get $5000 managed for free for 2 years. - if you sign up be sure to contact someone first to setup the referral
Ah thanks so much, great to know your experience has been good. I did not know about Y&T 20K promo or sign up through that, though I signed up for WS after reading their Robo advisor guide, can't believe I missed out!
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Jan 19, 2005
5202 posts
2486 upvotes
Vancity
asa1973 wrote:
0.5% fee ON TOP of ETF's fee...making summary MER ~0.7%, almost twice more then e-series just to hold your ETF's??? No thank you. For less you can either go e-series imo

http://help.wealthsimple.com/hc/en-us/a ... le-charge-
If one likes their asset allocation algorithm, just implement it in a broker that doesn't charge for ETF purchases.
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Deal Expert
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Aug 2, 2010
15196 posts
5016 upvotes
Here 'n There
It's pretty simple to create wealth. Invest in a bunch of index funds according to your risk profile and time horizon rather than increase your annual fees by paying someone else to do what is insanely easy.
Member
Aug 12, 2015
209 posts
58 upvotes
Toronto, ON
eonibm wrote: It's pretty simple to create wealth. Invest in a bunch of index funds according to your risk profile and time horizon rather than increase your annual fees by paying someone else to do what is insanely easy.
When you're looking at larger balances the monthly fee for this service is actually quite expensive to have someone passively rebalance an already lazy portfolio. If it was an actual algo it might be worth it. Otherwise they're just good at marketing this while ripping you off.
Member
Aug 12, 2015
209 posts
58 upvotes
Toronto, ON
Not to mention if you go to their site, there's absolutely no charts, comparisons to indexes, sectors, commodities or other ETFs/Mutal Funds. Not even past performance figures on their Conservative, Balanced and Aggressive portfolios.

This is all I could find (which are bulls**t figures btw), how do they have the audacity to guarantee a static rate of return per year?

$25,000 invested today and $600 invested per month for 20 years at a 3% rate of return.
$25,000 invested today and $600 invested per month for 20 years at a 6% rate of return.
$25,000 invested today and $600 invested per month for 20 years at a 7.5% rate of return.

Would stay away.
Sr. Member
Aug 25, 2009
582 posts
143 upvotes
Been pretty satisfied so far. Have my wife and I's rrsp and tfsa there. I know you can manage your own etfs and save 0.5% in management fees but I don't have the time or interest in doing so. Actually prefer this to paying 2.5%+ in my previous mfs. Downside for quebec residents is no qesi grant or provincial liras yet. So I opened those accounts with bmo smartfolio and questrade in the meantime. They actually have higher mgmt fees (0.7℅). Also seems like wealthsimple is easier to modify recurring payments than bmo, not sure about questrade yet. Anyway there will always be haters saying you can manage your own things for less fees but I find that these robo advisors provide a good compromise between mfs and managing your own stuff
Deal Guru
Apr 11, 2006
12388 posts
6570 upvotes
Vaughan
hello007 wrote: Not to mention if you go to their site, there's absolutely no charts, comparisons to indexes, sectors, commodities or other ETFs/Mutal Funds. Not even past performance figures on their Conservative, Balanced and Aggressive portfolios.

This is all I could find (which are bulls**t figures btw), how do they have the audacity to guarantee a static rate of return per year?

$25,000 invested today and $600 invested per month for 20 years at a 3% rate of return.
$25,000 invested today and $600 invested per month for 20 years at a 6% rate of return.
$25,000 invested today and $600 invested per month for 20 years at a 7.5% rate of return.

Would stay away.
I doubt it would guarantee a rate of return, as that is illegal. It's probably suggestive and hypothetical, like if you contributed this much regularly and at a rate of return of x%, you would have approximately this. That is distinctively different than saying you will achieve this rate of return.
Deal Addict
Feb 25, 2007
1568 posts
1129 upvotes
Ottawa
WealthSimple is one of these services that you will tend to passionately love or hate based on how you feel about fee-for-convenience in general.

With their business model (including fees), it is a good, solid, simple cost effective way how to have someone take care of the gruntwork in investing. Their 0.5% yearly fee is a lot less than many people pay for investment "management", but of course it's 0.5% that compounds year after year if you compare it to DIY.

If your next-best alternative is either buy some random mutual funds or stocks based on the mood of the moment, then WealthSimple is a great improvement. They will be much better at growing your money.
If your next-best alternative is to work with an "advisor" who does little for you other than sign you up for some products roughly in line with your investment horizon, then WealthSimple is a great improvement. You will pay less in fees (many of which you may only be murkily aware that your advisor is receiving, though that is improving) and get either equally good or better results.
If your next-best alternative is to not get around to investing your money because you're not sure how to do it sensibly, then WealthSimple is a great improvement. Their approach is sensible, and the fact they will do it simply and calmly in the background will likely encourage you to save/invest more, a good thing.
If you're a DIYer at heart, and have the time to learn about investing and can trust yourself to be rational in executing your strategy, then the sooner you take the time to do that the better and WealthSimple's fees are just a waste of your money.
If you have a complex financial situation, then WealthSimple will be too generic and you either need to learn to DIY or you need to pay an advisor to provide real help (custom financial planning, tax optimization, etc.)
If you can't bear the thought of any loss or volatility, then WealthSimple won't help you.

In general, there's a ton more people in the first 3 buckets than the last 3, and that's why on average they're a Good Thing. However, the RFD community skews heavily to the 4th bucket, and that's why they catch some flak here. [Disclosure: I don't use them, since I fall into bucket 5. But I have recommended them to friends and family who fall into one of the first three.]
Deal Addict
Dec 13, 2010
2506 posts
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ON
jeeva86 wrote: With these 10k/20k promos, is it absolutely fee-free?
I think the promos only last 2 years and then the fees start
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Jul 4, 2005
9018 posts
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Ottawa
thetipster wrote:
jeeva86 wrote: With these 10k/20k promos, is it absolutely fee-free?
I think the promos only last 2 years and then the fees start
Right, but does it eliminate all fees. I see folks talking about ETF Fees + MER fees. I want to play around with it, so it'll be more enticing if there are no fees. Do they have a transfer out fee for registered and non-registered accounts?
Deal Addict
Dec 13, 2010
2506 posts
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jeeva86 wrote:
thetipster wrote:
jeeva86 wrote: With these 10k/20k promos, is it absolutely fee-free?
I think the promos only last 2 years and then the fees start
Right, but does it eliminate all fees. I see folks talking about ETF Fees + MER fees. I want to play around with it, so it'll be more enticing if there are no fees. Do they have a transfer out fee for registered and non-registered accounts?
I think you should call them up. They are very happy to answer all your questions.
In short all fees are taken care of.
The only fees that cannot be taken care of are the MER fees built into the ETF themselves.
Jr. Member
Feb 11, 2012
140 posts
20 upvotes
I am investing through Tangerine MFs right now...and want to move to welthaimple.

I have few questions if someone can answer, it will make decision easier for me.

- What are the pros and cons for both Tangerine and wealthsimple.
- How do I check YTD return on ETF before investing?
- Does ETF have indexed ETFs like Tngerine MFs.
- Can I schedule a weekly transfer from my bank account to Wealthsimple ETF?
- In case if I need to sale my investments, how easy is it?
- With tangerine its my 1st year so when should I expect dividends to be deposited in my account so I can plan a switch? Also its TFSA so I want to cash out before year end so my contribution room will be back in 2017.
- Currently my MF investment is about to reach 4k. Should I only bother moving to wealthsimple if investment is above certain amount?
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Feb 25, 2014
2170 posts
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Mississauga
Open an account with National bank with free etf offer and manage your money yourself.
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Deal Addict
May 18, 2015
1803 posts
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Ottawa,Ont
mark121 wrote: I am investing through Tangerine MFs right now...and want to move to welthaimple.

I have few questions if someone can answer, it will make decision easier for me.

- What are the pros and cons for both Tangerine and wealthsimple.both very easy to use, Tangerine MER of 1.07 and wealthsimple about 0.75 after fees
- How do I check YTD return on ETF before investing?YTD is irrelevant
- Does ETF have indexed ETFs like Tngerine MFs.YES
- Can I schedule a weekly transfer from my bank account to Wealthsimple ETF?YES
- In case if I need to sale my investments, how easy is it?takes a couple days,same as tangerine
- With tangerine its my 1st year so when should I expect dividends to be deposited in my account so I can plan a switch? Also its TFSA so I want to cash out before year end so my contribution room will be back in 2017.december...only about 60$ on 4k
- Currently my MF investment is about to reach 4k. Should I only bother moving to wealthsimple if investment is above certain amount?no, i would move now

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