Qtrade Investor Review

Qtrade Investor is an online investment brokerage that provides investors with an easy-to-use trading platform that can be accessed virtually via desktop, laptop, or mobile device. In addition to offering the ultimate in convenience, Qtrade Investor also offers a low-fee alternative to traditional investment brokers thanks to its low commission structure. 

The platform offers several account types for investors to choose from to accommodate various investment needs. Plus, it provides a number of handy research tools that help investors make more informed decisions about investing. 

Qtrade Investor has a long track record of providing high-quality investing tools, so it’s one of the more well-known and commonly-used online trading platforms among Canadian investors. And because of its long-standing reputation and association with the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), it’s a safe place to trade. 

Let’s take a closer look at Qtrade Investor to help you determine whether or not this is the right platform for you to trade on. 

How Does Qtrade Investor Work?

Before you start trading, you’ll need to create an account and provide information about your financial profile, such as your income, assets, and net worth. From there, you’ll need to create a profile, add funds from your bank account, then fill out an online application.

Your application will then be reviewed, and once approved, you can log in to your Qtrade Investor online platform and start trading and managing your investments. You’ll get access to the markets and can quickly act on investments, along with comprehensive research tools to help you establish your goals, review your investment portfolio, and come up with investing ideas. 

There is also a trial account that you can download so you can test the waters at investing before paying for the service. 

You can choose a Qtrade Investor or Qtrade Investor Plus account. If you plan to trade very often, you may want to consider the Investor Plus account, which requires that you hold at least $500,000 in your account and make at least 150 trades every quarter. With this account, you’ll be charged lower fees compared to the standard Investor account.

Important Features To Consider When Choosing To Work With Qtrade Investor

Qtrade Investor comes with several features that you should get familiar with prior to trading with this platform:

• Free planning calculators. Quickly and easily forecast your net worth and develop an investment plan to achieve your financial goals using Qtrade’s free tools and calculators. 
• Screening tools. Sift through tons of stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds to find ones that best suit your goals.
• Technical research. Peruse and filter possible investments and assess appropriate entry and exit points based on specific technical indicators.
• Daily morning news call. Get up-to-the-minute news on stocks to watch, the current market, and relevant business and economic news.
• New issues for access to IPOs. Sign up to get notified immediately when an initial public offering is made available.
• Analyst recommendations. Make better decisions with the use of highly-researched reviews of investments from expert analysts, including top picks.
• Fundamental research. Get key performance metrics about various companies, including recent financial statements and data on performance history and ratings.
• Market orders. Use Qtrade’s market orders to buy and sell assets. 
• Stop-loss, stop-limit, or trailing-stop orders. These orders can be used to set specific parameters, such as the highest price you’re comfortable paying for a buy order, or the lowest price acceptable for a sell order.
• Real-time quotes. Accurately follow market movements to properly time your entry and exit points.
• Watchlists. Develop a portfolio of stocks that you want to keep tabs on.
• Portfolio review. Get a full picture of your accounts and holdings and compare their performance against benchmarks. 
• Account history. Easily check your transaction history on your account.
• Mobile app. Stay in touch with the markets, no matter where you are.

Account Types Available With Qtrade Investor

Choose from a number of accounts when you trade with Qtrade Investor, including the following:  

• Stocks 
• ETFs
• Mutual funds
• Bonds
• Options
• GICs
• New issues
• RRSP account
• TFSA account
• Margin account
• Cash account

How Much Does Qtrade Investor Cost?

What Perks Does Qtrade Investor Have?

There are many reasons why Qtrade Investor should be on your shortlist of online trading platforms:

• Quick and simple application process. Signing up for an account is easy and can be done in just a few minutes via the online application.
• Variety of account types. Qtrade Investor offers all major account types, including RRSPs, RESPs, TFSAs, cash accounts, and margin accounts.
• Many investment options. You’ll have several investment types to buy and sell available to you.
• Excellent customer service. Customer service representatives are readily available to take your questions. 
• No minimum balance. Qtrade Investor does not have a minimum account balance required to begin trading. 
• Long track record. Qtrade Investor has been around for 20 years, so it’s developed a long and successful track record of helping investors trade. 
• Many educational tools. You’ll have a number of training tools accessible to you to help you trade successfully. 

Who Is Qtrade Investor Best Suited For?

Qtrade Investor is ideal for investors who are looking to have a direct hand in managing their investments through a convenient online trading platform that offers educational tools, excellent customer service, and many investment options to choose from. Beginner and experienced investors alike will find this platform easy to use that will help them to achieve their investment goals. 

Overview Of Qtrade Investor

Is Qtrade Investor Safe?

Trading with Qtrade Investor is very secure, as it’s got many of the security features that you would find at a traditional big bank. It’s a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), so your funds are safe when held with Qtrade. Further, there are several safeguards put in place to keep your personal information protected from hackers.

Final Thoughts

Qtrade Investor is a great option for traders looking for a range of investment services and accounts and a robust online trading platform. With all the educational and trading tools available, as well as the market watches and timers, Qtrade Investor makes trading very efficient. 

That said, the platform does not offer futures, forex trading, or crypto assets, which is something traders may want to keep in mind before choosing this particular trading platform.