Wealthsimple | Wealthsimple | Discussion forum

I use simple tax that was taken over by wealth simple. It’s free and they ask for a $20 donation which I obliged. I had a “ professional accounting firm” doing them for $125 each . My wife stayed home until our boys went to school. I asked for a reduction since my wife only had a couple T5 to claim. They said there was no reduction avail. I did my taxes on simple tax platform and was identical to the penny!! I went from 250 to $20 and would recommend them
I haven’t tried their free stock trading platform yet

It is about 13% of its staff https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/wealthsimple-laying-off-13-of-staff-amid-market-volatility-1.1779278 and it appears to be mostly associated with its growth (innovation) side of their business. I have actually lost most of my confidence in Wealthsimple over the past 2-3 years. They have become very gimmicky in their offerings, they cannot seem to land on reliable 'core portfolios' in their Wealthsimple Invest offering, the funds keep changing and they've become too trendy with ESG offerings and the like.

They are looking more and more to be a passing fad. There are far better robo-advisory offerings for that portion of the business. I cannot comment about Wealthsimple Trade but that also looks to be somewhat flaky too. Bottom line: I can't recommend them to anyone.

Personally I think WS Invest for CAD stocks and WS Tax are extremely solid and free offerings.

I appreciate that some people find their interface and marketing "simple" and would essentially pay to use the robo advisor, USD trading, or crypto. Not saying I suggest them but WS apps are often miles ahead of other brokers. Because of this I'm not worried about them.

Wealthsimple are they not owned by desjardins , the insurance people.. or power corp it’s all the same family, one of Canada’s richest.. doesn’t mean they wouldn’t let this incorporated company fold, but they would walk away from tens of millions they have put in

There is minimal risk of WS closing up shop. Too many deep pocketed investors such as Power Corp. If they closed up shop, they'd most likely sell their accounts (and holdings thereof) to another brokerage. There is no risk to the holdings which are segregated from WS business operations in any event. Registered accounts in particular are held in trust. Failing all that, there is CIPF protection up to $1M protecting the assets from malfeasance by WS.

My issue with WS is it is trying too hard to be 'new age' with wizardry, gimmickery, fashionable trends, and inability to 'stay the course' with its WS Invest robo-advisory options. If WS Invest would have just stuck with 'core' passive index ETFs from Blackrock, Vanguard, BMO or even Horizon if one has a love affair with their financial enginerring, they'd be doing themselves a favour. WS Trade is a whole different animal and is a build from its Canadian Shareowner origins which WS bought and renamed.

Edit: Disclosure - I stick with steady eddie type organizations like those from the big 6 banks, or Questrade et al. I don't want or need any bells and whistles that change regularly. It is a means to get a job done. Not a beauty contest but I suppose beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

I think most discount brokers recovered from the pandemic nicely with their answering phones. BMO IL has been answering in under a minute for some time, 18 seconds this past week. They advertise their average answering time every week on their login page. You can pay me now...