# Any Investor's Edge clients here?



## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

I'm doing a brokerage review of CIBC IE, and I was hoping to get some quotes or opinions from some current or former (not too former) customers.

You can comment on whatever you want, but I'm looking for:

1) Trading platform/interface - are these ok/good/bad?
2) Customer service - any impressions you might have.
3) Research reports and tools. Do you use these and are they any good?

You can comment here or PM me or email at mike AT moneysmartsblog DOT com

thx, Mike 
__________________


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## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

Hey Mike!

I did a review a little while back as I've been with them for a while. My thoughts are here:

investors edge review


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

FrugalTrader said:


> Hey Mike!
> 
> I did a review a little while back as I've been with them for a while. My thoughts are here:
> 
> investors edge review


Thanks FT.

Just out of curiosity, are there any brokerages that you *haven't* been a client at?


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## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

LOL, I have accounts with Questrade, IB, CIBC and iTrade. So that leaves out RBC, BMO, and TD.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

I am not an Investor's Edge client.


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## Belguy (May 24, 2010)

I am an Investor's Edge client.

No problems but I don't trade much or ask much of them. I just invest for the long run mainly in broad-based ETF's and trade periodically for rebalancing purposes.

In any surveys that I have come across, they are not among the most highly rated--in fact, they are near the bottom.


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## scomac (Aug 22, 2009)

Four Pillars said:


> I'm doing a brokerage review of CIBC IE, and I was hoping to get some quotes or opinions from some current or former (not too former) customers.
> 
> You can comment on whatever you want, but I'm looking for:
> 
> ...


I've been a CIBCIE client for many years, in fact we do all of our banking with CIBC. This has a lot to do with the strength of relationships we have with the individuals at the local level. That said, I don't feel as though we are missing out on anything.

I will preface my remarks by stating that I am typically a buy and hold type of investor. Our investments consist of common and preferred shares, a few trusts/REITs, investment grade bond ladders and a high interest savings account. My taxable investment account is marginable.

1) The trading platform is fine for my needs. Execution is quick and I'm not getting whip sawed on the spread. The interface between the web broker and on-line banking is seamless which really simplifies moving moneys around. Margin interest rates are pretty typical at prime +2.5-3. The only weak spot from my perspective is with the bond desk. The inventory isn't as broad as some of their competitors and spreads can be plenty wide at times. Never-the-less, with patience, I've always managed to find something that would work for our bond ladders. If I was predominantly invested in fixed income securities, then I might be more likely to switch to a provider with a broader inventory such as BMOIL.

2) My experience with customer service has been generally excellent. Sometimes, you may not get the most knowledgeable individual on the other end, but all issues have been solved readily. No problems executing _Norbert's Gambit_ on several occasions or connecting with a knowledgeable bond trade to source corporate strip bonds.

3) I do most of my own research, so I don't rely on the brokerage's research reports. That said, I have full access to CIBC World Markets, Reuters and S&P research. The equity research from CIBCWM is pretty typical of sell-side analysts. I find the economic reports more useful. For US stocks, the S&P reports are particularly well done and provide a very good overview without a lot of bias. For those who like to read, there is a lot of choice. 

In terms of tools, I'm not really keen on the functionality of their proprietary stock selector tool. They have a few pre-set screens that may offer something to others. The universe of stocks I follow is generally fairly small, so these features don't have a lot of value to me.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Once again - thanks so much for all your replies. 

Very helpful.


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## mario 1 (Nov 6, 2009)

In a nutshell.
Great pricing , if you're a trader.
Terrible platform/interface.
Decent customer service and research tools.


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

Resurrecting an old thread about CIBC Investor's Edge.

I am considering having a TFSA opened to shelter an inheritance (for the $63k that will be available Jan 2019) for someone who will otherwise piss it away. Hoping I can convince them to allow me PofA for the account, invest in something like a single asset allocation solution such as MAW104 or VBAL, and then set up a VPW so they are paid monthly, initially planned to age 90. I'm not too worried about a monthly sell commission if necessary.

I'm somewhat familiar with CIBC Imperial Investor Services accounts where everything passed through an 'advisor'. I don't want that. I'm not a user of CIBC, but for reasons of a couple of existing beneficiary chequing accounts there, it at least makes sense to consider them.

Is anyone here a CIBC Investors Edge user? Am I correct in understanding that a CIBC-IE TFSA would be a 'self-directed' account in which we could hold any MF, etf, equity, etc. and could monitor on-line.

Thanks for any comments.

https://www.investorsedge.cibc.com/en/accounts-and-investments.html
https://www.investorsedge.cibc.com/en/pricing.html


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Yes a CIBC-IE TFSA would be a 'self-directed' account ... though I haven't checked whether MAW104 is available (previous comments indicate not all offer it).

There are differences from other brokers (likely not an issue for you) but yes, you can buy/sell/monitor online.


Cheers


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

Thanks Eclectic. I'll check further into this then. It seems the way to go in this case.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

OnlyMyOpinion said:


> Thanks Eclectic. I'll check further into this then. It seems the way to go in this case.


Someone here with a CIBC-IE account should be able to ask by Secure Message whether they sell MAW104.... or just phone them. I know RBC-DI does not (likely due to competition against their PH&N) but Scotia iTrade does (I own it in my TFSA).


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## new dog (Jun 21, 2016)

I have investor edge and use it just for trading and don't do any research or anything like that on it. I find if I try to do any research or whatever it is almost always screwed up and never works.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

new dog said:


> I have investor edge and use it just for trading and don't do any research or anything like that on it. I find if I try to do any research or whatever it is almost always screwed up and never works.


Sure, but to help OMO out, just use their Secure Message option and ask them if they sell MAW104. Doesn't mean you are buying it.


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## new dog (Jun 21, 2016)

I was actually commenting to the title of the thread in general and would probably never use the Secure Message option because of the uselessness of the site. However you never know down the road where this option might be important to me for some reason.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

OMO, from this page https://www.investorsedge.cibc.com/en/contact-us.html I would suggest you phone the 1-800 number and ask directly if they sell Mawer mutual funds to DIY investors.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

CIBC IE does trade MAW104 - here's a short copy and paste (sorry don't know how to do snapshot and paste on CMF at the moment). I tried to "buy" the fund and it even identified the benefits of the "D" series in addition to this A series.

Global Neutral Balanced
Mawer Balanced Series A (MAW104)
$28.6971 CAD
Last trade as of previous close 4PM EST May 31, 2018
Snapshot
Charts
Performance
Portfolio
Lipper Leaders
10dy3mo1yr3yr5yr 
Current stock quote for Mawer Balanced Series A MAW104
Investment typeMIXEDMULTI Total Net Assets2.6K
ManagerGreg Peterson Tenure2/12/88
Net Asset Value28.70 MER0.92
Redemption charge--
* Not applicable to all Load Types
Fund codeMAW104
Inception Date3/31/88 Price at launch10.01
Current fund currency	CAD
Domicile	Canada
Legal structure	CATRUST
Initial charge	--
Income handling	Paid
Distributions Per Year	1
Manager's Declared
Yield & Date	None declared


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

Just to confirm, I had sent an email off to CIBC-IE as well regarding mutual funds that do not pay trailer fees, e.g. Mawer, Beutal Goodman, etc. Here was their email response:


> Thank you for contacting CIBC Investor’s Edge.
> 
> The Mawer Balanced Fund (MAW104) is available at Investor’s Edge, as are a number of other Mawer funds. We also do offer Beutel Goodman funds.
> 
> ...


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

Thanks for the legwork Beaver and AltaRed. Glad to know this acc will work. 
Now the challenge of establishing a PofA for their own good. I managed to convince them to take a small pension rather than a lump sum a few years ago, and we did sit down with someone at the bank last year to set up a 'locked-in' jt chq account from which rent is PAD'd. 
Challenges I don't relish spending my time at during my so-called retirement.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

The legwork to set all this up takes time BUT the key is to use the KISS principle. Keep number of accounts to a minimum and use simple products, e.g. ETFs, or select mutual funds. The advantage of Mawer over the Vanguard asset allocation ETFs is maintenance (re-investment of distributions, no commissions, etc.). They are, of course, different products and Vanguard may ultimately have a more consistent and better return. Only time will tell, but marginal differences in performance are of no important when being a POA for parental accounts. I repeat... KISS principle.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

AltaRed said:


> The advantage of Mawer over the Vanguard asset allocation ETFs is maintenance (re-investment of distributions, no commissions, etc.). They are, of course, different products and Vanguard may ultimately have a more consistent and better return.


Another big difference is that Mawer has already proven strong long term performance. The Vanguard wrapper products are brand new and have not yet proven any history of strong performance. Just because they contain index ETFs, does not necessarily mean they will end up performing well, or even outperforming Mawer's.

Even if Mawer's is not an option, there are other excellent mutual funds (balanced funds) in Canada that might be in scope here, that also have great long term track records and proven their strong performance.


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## newfoundlander61 (Feb 6, 2011)

AltaRed said:


> The legwork to set all this up takes time BUT the key is to use the KISS principle. Keep number of accounts to a minimum and use simple products, e.g. ETFs, or select mutual funds. The advantage of Mawer over the Vanguard asset allocation ETFs is maintenance (re-investment of distributions, no commissions, etc.). They are, of course, different products and Vanguard may ultimately have a more consistent and better return. Only time will tell, but marginal differences in performance are of no important when being a POA for parental accounts. I repeat... KISS principle.


Well said.


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## newfoundlander61 (Feb 6, 2011)

I purchased Mawer 104 in my CIBC Investors Edge account a few years back and still hold it. Placed a trade for the intial $5k to get in and then setup auto purchases. Didn't call in just got my feet wet with my first trade and it went perfect. I prefer to not check the markets daily etc so holding stocks for me is not what I do, the easier the better.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

AltaRed said:


> The legwork to set all this up takes time BUT the key is to use the KISS principle. Keep number of accounts to a minimum and use simple products, e.g. ETFs, or select mutual funds.




with all due respect, keeping number of accounts to a minimum is today, in the light of the constant privacy invasions & e-hackings that keep occurring, an unwise approach imho, particularly for large accounts.

diversifying financial e-assets across two, three, four or more accounts at different financial institutions helps to protect the client who is the UBO.

it's true that this complicates life with account numbers, passwords, 2-step verification procedures & all. But the medical experts keep saying that an aging brain is best kept sharp by frequent use. 

this week the e-services of concern are BMO & the cibc's Simplii, but next week there'll be new financial e-thefts, some not even reported.

double, triple, quadruple or more diversified protection plus a brisk workout for the grey cells. Required drill for our times, no?


.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

I disagree. The FIs keep clients/customers whole with hacked accounts. When a parent is no longer capable, a POA has enough to manage. We reduced our mother's accounts to one bank account, one TFSA and one non-reg brokerage account when she could no longer manage to even deal with utility bills, a debit card, or a credit card. It is not the accounts that are frozen in a hack. Pre-authorized debits continue to happen. It is the accompanying plastic cards that are frozen and they are not being used anyway by incompetent parents. If one is really freaked out, then have 2 bank accounts....for a just-in-case.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

we are thinking of 2 different kinds of investors. me i am thinking of competent investors who manage their own affairs. for them, i believe diversification among FI's offers enhanced security & privacy.

incompetent persons who need to be taken care of under a tutelage or power-of-attorney are a whole other story. Especially when the caretaker is the thoughtful, generous & meticulously responsible kind of attorney that you have aways shown yourself to be. In such cases whatever approach suits the caretaker is the best approach imho. 

but your final sentence is ambiguous. "if one is really freaked out." How would a party who can no longer recognize a credit card be compos mentis enough to be "freaked out?" i mean, he or she would probably think the internet is just a tiny TV, no?

to everyone who is still capable of waving a credit card around, i think Divide & Conquer is worth consideration as a security precaution. Please notice i'm not saying one must encumber one's portfolio with meaningless complications. An investor could own the Six-Pack in twin mirrored versions at 2 different institutions.

such diversification is the same principle as folks who have multiple GICs from different issuers in order to lockdown CDIC insurance for each $100k bloc.

.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

humble_pie said:


> we are thinking of 2 different kinds of investors. me i am thinking of competent investors who manage their own affairs. for them, i believe diversification among FI's offers enhanced security & privacy.


 My response was to the query on Investor's Edge and the need for simplicity as a POA.




> but your final sentence is ambiguous. "if one is really freaked out." How would a party who can no longer recognize a credit card be compos mentis enough to be "freaked out?" i mean, he or she would probably think the internet is just a tiny TV, no?


 Again, I was responding to a POA situation only. Drooling incompetents don't use (or shouldn't have access to) debit and credit cards.



> to everyone who is still capable of waving a credit card around, i think Divide & Conquer is worth consideration as a security precaution. Please notice i'm not saying one must encumber one's portfolio with meaningless complications. An investor could own the Six-Pack in twin mirrored versions at 2 different institutions.
> 
> such diversification is the same principle as folks who have multiple GICs from different issuers in order to lockdown CDIC insurance for each $100k bloc.
> 
> .


Of course. I have one each of Visa and MC in event one is compromised or doesn't work when traveling, especially Internationally. Well, I actually also have a US domiciled bank account and Visa card too for US travel or wherever the USD is the currency of choice. 

I never used to have more than one CAD bank chequing account BUT we do now since I entered my current relationship since each of us has our own personal bank accounts and one joint bank account for household expenses. I agree all of us 'competents' should have at least one alternative.

Added: I have in my Guidance document to my eventual POA and similarly in my Guidance document to Executor, a flow chart showing all of my FI accounts and in which direction money can be flowed, e.g. via Bill Payment, me2me transfers, etc. so that my eventual POA can decide which accounts to close and consolidate into one of each. Basically, everything would consolidate to Scotia as my primary FI.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

Just noticed Investor's Edge has updated/improved its platform, now including an "Account Performance" function where your ROR is calculated and graphed easily based on your time period (or money-weighted) metrics. Has anyone been playing with it? It looks pretty neat.


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## newfoundlander61 (Feb 6, 2011)

I have been using it for a number of years and just do stock trades on a non-reg account and our TFSA's. The ability to select a tab in the online banking side is great, much easier than having to login at the actual Investor's Edge website. The ability to download holding; statements etc works very well. As for research I only do this from other sources due to their not much specific they have that will help me. They have made some minor upgrades over the years but nothing significant that would rank it much higher than it usually scores on the yearly discount brokerage reviews. I have had no real issues over the years, that send me a well laid out and detailed tax package each March and it has everything in it needed to report dividends/capital gains etc. If you have it linked to your bank card which I do and you replace your card but get a different # you can only update the new card by logging into the Investors Edge site not the CIBC banking website even though you can access your accounts via the Investing tab. Overall a good solid broker if you don't need any help. My wife was able to open her TFSA online and with some secure email interaction without every having to call in or speak to anyone directly, that went very smoothly. Stock trades of $6.95 are reasonable as well. You can setup a "Dividend Sweep" for non-reg type accounts but you would need to call in to set that up.


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