Re: Canadian Brokers.
Read the article in the September issue of Canadian Business Magazine if you can find it. The full article is excellent, with Waterhouse getting best marks.
Here is a synopsis of the highlights from canbus.com
Broker sites
TD Waterhouse (formerly Green Line)
Overall, the country's biggest discount broker is also its best. TD Waterhouse has a good Web site that's getting better, and its voice-activated phone service is on the leading edge. But why is it so expensive compared with Waterhouse USA?
Royal Bank Action Direct
Action Direct isn't outstanding in any one area-but it's solid in most. Its mutual fund research tools are good and its customer service reps answer the phone quickly. The Web site will soon get a badly needed overhaul.
Bank of Montreal InvestorLine
InvestorLine is better than its mediocre reputation. If you want cheap online trades and mutual funds, it's one of the best deals around. If you also want research, though, go to the next guy.
Charles Schwab Canada
When it comes to research and advice, Schwab is really a cross between a discount broker and a full-service one. But it's expensive and elitist-small investors need not apply.
CT Securities
Confused about which mutual funds to buy? The folks at CT will tell you which ones they think are best. If the TD-Canada Trust merger is approved, chances are CT Securities will disappear into the TD Waterhouse fold.
E*Trade Canada
E*Trade's Internet service is quite good, even with all the bugs in it. It had better be-phoning a broker can be an exercise in frustration. Nobody leaves its clients on hold for longer.
HSBC InvestDirect
Absolutely, positively the best broker if you want to invest in Asian stocks. There are lots of goodies on the Web site, too. Two major drawbacks: no touch-tone service, and it's one of the worst brokers for mutual funds.
CIBC Investor's Edge
Mediocre in almost all respects. Let's face it: discount brokerage is just not a top priority for CIBC. One ex-customer warned us: "The [Web] site is unusable." She was right.
Sun Life Securities
Not bad for a total newcomer to the business. Sun Life offers research from First Marathon Securities, and they usually answer your call within seconds. But the Web site is thin on content, and only Schwab is more expensive.
National Bank InvesTel
At $24.50, the trades are cheap. But the Web site looks as if it were slapped together in an afternoon by a high-school computer class. There's simply nothing on it that's very useful. InvesTel also doesn't offer IPOs.
Scotia Discount Brokerage
As hard as we tried, we couldn't overcome the technical obstacles to trading online with Scotia. The service was shoddy, too. Most of its clients are people who already do business with Scotiabank. Is it any wonder? |
