The Canadian online brokerage industry lives under the shadow of the Globe and Mail rankings, to a far greater extent than the Banks worried about the old Gomez online banking surveys.  I believe those surveys, while useful indicators, can result in dysfunctional investment, and all the while the customer is lost.

Consider the facts:

Globe & Mail	Market Share
Qtrade	TD
ETrade	RBC
Credential	BMO InvestorLine

 

 

 

 

 

The surveys are useful indicators, but they drive Banks and Brokers into a functionality race, so customer and community engagement is lost.

” No. 1 / Qtrade Investor / qtrade.ca / Parent: Privately held

Report Card

Fees and commissions 21/25 Tools and research 12/20 Trading 16/20 Customer satisfaction 9.5/10 Account information 9/10 Investment selection 8/10 Website 4.5/5 Total 80/100 Grade A

” No. 2 / E*Trade Canada / canada.etrade.com / Parent: E*Trade Financial Corp.

Report Card

Fees and commissions 24.5/25 Tools and research 12/20 Trading 15/20 Customer satisfaction 7.5/10 Account information 6/10 Investment selection 8/10 Website 4.5/5 Total 77.5/100 Grade A-

” No. 3 / Credential Direct / credentialdirect.com / Parent: The credit union movement 

Report Card Fees and commissions 19.5/25 Tools and research 13/20 Trading 14/20 Customer satisfaction 9.5/10 Account information 9/10 Investment selection 8/10 Website 4/5 Total 77/100 Grade A-

” No. 4 / BMO InvestorLine / bmoinvestorline.com / Parent: Bank of Montreal

Report Card Fees and commissions 14.5/25 Tools and research 17/20 Trading 16/20 Customer satisfaction 7.5/10 Account information 9/10 Investment selection 8/10 Website 4/5 Total 76/100 Grade A-

” No. 5 / TD Waterhouse / tdwaterhouse.ca / Parent: Toronto-Dominion Bank

Report Card Fees and commissions 12/25 Tools and research 18/20 Trading 17/20 Customer satisfaction 6.5/10 Account information 6/10 Investment selection 6.5/10 Website 4/5 Total 70/100 Grade B

” No. 6 / ScotiaMcLeod Direct Investing / scotiamcleoddirect.com / Parent: Bank of Nova Scotia 

 Report Card Fees and commissions 15/25 Tools and research 14/20 Trading 15/20 Customer satisfaction 8/10 Account information 6/10 Investment selection 5/10 Website 3/5 Total 66/100 Grade C+

” No. 7 / CIBC Investor’s Edge / investorsedge.cibc.com / Parent: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Report Card Fees and commissions 13/25 Tools and research 13/20 Trading 15/20 Customer satisfaction 6/10 Account information 6/10 Investment selection 6/10 Website 3.5/5 Total 62.5/100 Grade C

” No. 8 / RBC Direct Investing / actiondirect.com / Parent: Royal Bank of Canada 

Report Card Fees and commissions 14/25 Tools and research 16/20 Trading 13/20 Customer satisfaction 4.5/10 Account information 5/10 Investment selection 6/10 Website 3/5 Total 61.5/100 Grade C

 

Source: Canadian Banks & Insurance

Relevance to Bankwatch:

Surveys become self fulfilling, and feed on themselves.  As an example, in the detail here, G&M refer to the one thing that InvestorLine are lacking in “analyst research”, but this year they have addressed that.  I would be more interested in the association of analyst research with the InvestorLine business model, and the customer engagement they are seeking to develop.

tags: surveys, rankings, business+model