Are you looking for the Best Robo Advisors in Canada? Scroll through the list of fast growing and top Canadian trading platforms offering robo-advisory services.
Before that, let’s learn something about Robo-advisors, meaning and importance of having an account with a robo-advisor.
What are Robo-Advisors?
We are all aware that the future of everything in this world is AUTOMATION. We are able to see automation in each and every industry, be it in cooking, Fastags in toll booths, arms and ammunition, entertainment, machinery, agriculture, sports and investment market is no exemption to this.
Automation is of various types – artificial intelligence, natural learning processing, robotics, and predictive analytics. Robotics is where robots are utilized to read and analyze the data inputted, in order to aid independent decision making. In fact, Fintech startups have been growing at fast pace in Canada and robo-advisors are the key contributor to this revolution.
You get access to the services of a Robo-Advisor by opening a brokerage account. When signed up, it nudges us to fill up a questionnaire to get to know our age, investment goals, needs, objectives, time frame and risk profile. Based on your responses, the robo-advisors will invest your funds in a pre-determined investment portfolio that will best suit your asset allocation needs.
Thus, this type of a platform reduces our time and energy, as we don’t have to research, invest and follow up on the markets. However, with a surge in the number of robo-advisors in Canada, people are having to research on which platform to choose. We have made it easy for you, by listing the top 5 robo-advisors we deem offer the best services.
Best Robo-Advisors in Canada for Investors
These are not in any sequential order! A list of fast-growing and trending robo-advisors in Canada:
1. Wealthsimple Managed Investing
Wealthsimple, that was established in 2014, is not just Canada’s leading robo-advisor, but is also well recognized across the world. The company claims – You can set it & forget it, where you can be involved until your risk profile is set and you can forget about your funds, as well-equipped professionals take care of your money.
Wealthsimple offers the following types of accounts:
You can also explore Wealthsimple alternatives and learn more about how stock brokers work in Canada.
2. Questwealth Default Portfolio
Questwealth is one of the leading brokerage platforms in Canada and it is well known for its tools, technology, real time data and has been in the market from 1999. The portfolios are made up of Exchange Traded Funds and you can invest within registered accounts such as TFSA, RRSP, RESP and in non-registered account. We have listed the products and features below:
The socially responsible portfolios invest in companies that have good ethics, track history of health, safety standards, effective labour management, low carbon producing, and cleantech companies that optimize the utilization of natural resources.
3. Qtrade Guided Portfolio
Qtrade was founded in 2000 and has both default portfolio and manual investing. It offers both standard and socially investment portfolios that are classified as follows:
The standard portfolio uses a mix of ETFs such as FlexShares STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure Index ETF, iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF, iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, iShares Core MSCI EAFE IMI Index ETF, iShares Global REIT ETF etc.
The socially responsible portfolio invests in NEI Canadian Bond Fund, NEI U.S. Equity RS Fund, NEI Global Total Return Bond Fund, NEI International Equity RS Fund, NEI Canadian Equity RS Fund etc.
You can invest your funds both in registered accounts such as TFSA, RRSP and in non-registered accounts. You get a free trial to try out the default portfolios and a cash reward of $150 for transferring in your funds with Qtrade.
4. CI Direct Investing
CI Direct is a part of CI Financia which is one of Canada’s biggest investment companies.
CI Financial recently acquired WealthBar and WealthBar’s website has changed to cidirectinvesting.com. Within CI Direct Investing you can open default investment portfolios with registered accounts such as TFSA, RRSP or RESP and non-registered accounts. They offer a wide range of default portfolios such as:
The ETF portfolio has a blend of Vanguard, Horizon, iShares and BMO ETFs that are well established. The impact portfolio has socially responsible investments and the ones that supports causes such as affordable housing, natural resources, sanitation, and sustainable agriculture. With private portfolios, you get access to investments that are not usually available to retail investors.
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5. RBC InvestEase
It is one of the best robo-advisors in Canada and is the top robo advisor offered by the big five banks of Canada. If you are a bank account holder with RBC, then it is highly advisable for you to opt for its default investment options, given you are skeptical about do it yourself investing. You can open default investment portfolios with registered accounts such as TFSA, RRSP or RESP and non-registered accounts. The default portfolios are as follows:
Robo-Advisors in Canada
Thus, we can take advantage of market movements and grow our funds using robo-advisors at a low cost, without spending time and energy and without having knowledge of investment markets. This type of investments is best suited for investors who are beginners, those who have less funds to invest, those are tech savvy and those who do not have time for researching and following-up the markets.
Having said that, it is costlier than manual trading. If you look at the cost as an opportunity cost of time, then robo-advisors are best suited for you. You must note that with robo-advisory there is very less chance of personalization or customization, you do not have flexibility or control over your funds. In addition, there is very limited human interaction and the investments lack emotional touch to it.
Important: Please note that we are not endorsing any of the above mentioned robo-advisors in Canada. Please take professional advice before investing your money in different asset classes.
So, which is your favourite robo-advisor in Canada? Do share your feedback and experiences.