For over 150 years, Canadians have been using one of the big 5 banks to do their banking, be it personal banking, mortgages or investments. But in the last 20 years, others have joined the lucrative banking and investment arena, most in the form of online banking, with no physical presence. Wealthsimple is one of those, started back in September 2014 and increasingly growing in popularity last few years.
This article will review Wealthsimple’s service and offerings, their online app, and why you should or shouldn’t consider them for your banking, investment or other financial services.
Core Banking Services
Adding and Moving Money
To start, Wealthsimple allows you to add a new account or move (transfer) an account from another institution. When you choose to transfer an external account from another bank, you have the option to do this for different types of accounts, including TFSA, RESP, RRSP FHSA, Individual or joint non-registered accounts, even more complicated accounts such as a pension or LIRA.
As of the time of this writing, Wealthsimple will reimburse any transfer-out fees charged by your current financial institution when you move $25,000 or more in assets. Wealthsimple only supports RESP transfers into their Managed accounts. We will go into details about the different between their Managed vs. Self-directed accounts later on in this review.
When you choose to add money, you have to do so from an externally linked account, an existing account or even through Interact e-transfer. In fact, for the latter, they offer a convenient service of up to $3,000 within 30 minutes (even if the actual transfer from your bank takes up to a day or longer)
Managed vs. Self-directed Investment Accounts
Wealthsimple offers two types of investment accounts: Managed and Self-directed, with each being tailored for specific individual needs and depending on how comfortable with doing your own investments or letting an expert do it for you.
Managed Accounts
Wealthsimple’s managed investing account allows you to open from various portfolio accounts that are designed and managed by Wealthsimple. The 4 portfolios offered by Wealthsimple at the moment are as follows, and as a reminder, since these are managed by Wealthsimple, they have a 0.5% portfolio fee.
- Aggressive
- A 100% equity portfolio — ideal for long-term investors comfortable with significant market volatility. This is not recommended for people nearing retirement and who want access to all or most of their money in the short term. This portfolio has a 14.0% annualized 5-year return. As for geographical allocations and where investments are located, it goes as follows as of the date of this post, and although it may vary in the future, there shouldn’t be much of a big variation:
- USA: 40.7%
- Asia Pacific: 22.9%
- Europe: 18.8%
- Canada: 13.2%
- Africa & Middle East: 3.4%
- Latin America: 0.5%
- Growth
- Primarily equities with a touch of bonds — structured for high potential returns while maintaining strategic diversification. This is ideal for those that do want to be invested in the market and want a good return, but are generally playing it safe to some extent. This portfolio has a 10.8% annualized 5-year return and has the following geographical distribution:
- USA: 32.4%
- Canada: 26.2%
- Asia Pacific: 18.7%
- Europe: 15.1%
- Gold: 3.0%
- Africa & Middle East: 2.8%
- Latin America: 0.4%
- Balanced
- The traditional 60/40 mix — a reliable strategy that aims to balance steady growth with financial stability. Ideally, this would be suited for those who want to invest their money but want to play it safe for the most part, with only moderate appetite for risk. This portfolio is made up of 60% equities, 37% fixed income, with a tiny position in gold. The portfolio has returned an average of 7.7% over the lat 5 years, and has the following geographical distribution:
- Canada 38.2%
- USA 25.5%
- Asia Pacific 13.5%
- Europe 11.2%
- Gold 3.0%
- Africa & Middle East 2.0%
- Latin America 0.3%
- Conservative
- Largely bond-focused with limited equity exposure — designed to prioritize capital preservation while allowing for modest growth. Over a 5 year period, this portfolio has returned a modest 3.8%. This portfolio is made up of 35% equities, 63% fixed income, with a tiny position in gold. Geographically, it is heavy on North America, specifically Canada:
- Canada 59.1%
- USA 15.6%
- Asia Pacific 7.7%
- Europe 5.9%
- Gold 2.0%
- Africa & Middle East 1.2%
- Latin America 0.2%
Note: Important to remember, past results are no guarantee of future results, so do your research when investing.
Self-Directed Accounts
As the name suggests, these accounts are managed by the account holder and not Wealthsimple, and as such, there are no management fees. In fact, and this may be one of Wealthsimple’s main selling points, is there no-fee trading accounts. Where most of the big 5 banks charge around $7-10 per trade, Wealthsimple is free. They also offer the ability to both buy and DRIP fractional shares for stocks and ETFs.
In terms of their stock screener and dashboard, while they do have most of what you would expect in most other investing firms and stock brokers, there are a few things that are notably absent: mainly, they don’t display dividend rates, ex-dividend or payment dates. With so many users being interested in divined investing, this should be a basic feature and we hope to see Wealthsimple introduce it in the future.
Other Offerings (Mortgages, Tax Filing etc)
In addition to their various checking, saving and investment accounts, Wealthsimple also offers mortgages (through a third party partnership) and income tax filing services.
Cryptocurrency
Wealthsimple has made sure they don’t miss the crypto trend, launching their own cryptocurrency accounts, where you can purchase various virtual currencies, including Bitcoin, Etherium Solana and others. Various trading fees apply, depending on the type of account:
- Core – 2%
- Premium – 1%
- Generation – 0.5%
Referral Rewards
Last, and to encourage existing clients to spread the word, Wealthsimple has a referral program in place, where both the referrer and referee get $25 when a new member joins and funds their account with minimum of $100. Interested in joining? We would appreciate you using our referral code! Simply click on this link to sign up.
Summary: is Wealthsimple for you?
Wealthsimple is a fast-growing Canadian online platform offering banking, investing, crypto, and tax services. They have Managed portfolios (0.5% fee) and Self-Directed accounts (free trading, no management fee). Money transfers are easy, and RESP, RRSP, TFSA, and LIRA accounts are supported.
They also offer mortgages, crypto trading, and a $25 referral bonus. Getting started is simple and straightforward and their interface is easy to understand and navigate through. Ideally, Wealthsimple is great for beginners or those who want an easy and intuitive online experience.
Coming up in a future post, we will review the Wealthsimple app.
Reason to sign up for Wealthsimple:
If you are looking for low-cost investing with no-fee stock trading, access to modern digital banking, fractional shares, and hands-off managed portfolios, Wealthsimple can be an excellent, easy-to-use platform—especially appealing for beginner and intermediate investors.
Reason against signing up for Wealthsimple:
However, if you are an advanced investor who relies heavily on detailed dividend data, advanced research tools, or personalized financial advice, Wealthsimple’s platform might feel limited compared to more traditional brokerages or advanced trading platforms.