Frequently Asked Questions

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These are a selection of questions we are commonly asked:

  • It's an online investing service to help you reach your financial goals. It's simple and easy to use, so you don't need to spend a lot of time making decisions about your investments. An interactive questionnaire matches you with a smart, well-diversified portfolio designed around your goals. Your investments are continuously monitored, and if market forces shift your asset allocation, your portfolio is automatically rebalanced so it always stays aligned with your target mix.

    Despite the term 'robo-advice', we're actually real people: a team of experienced portfolio managers, registered representatives, and technology specialists. We combine the latest technology with investing expertise to help you create a better financial future.

  • Qtrade Guided Portfolios is a trade name of Aviso Financial Inc., which is a division of Aviso Wealth.

    Aviso Wealth is a national, integrated financial services company. We serve the wealth management needs of virtually all of Canada's credit unions, as well as a range of independent financial organizations, along with individual investors.

    Our expertise in online investing and financial technology comes from our online brokerage service, Qtrade Investor, which has consistently been ranked among Canada's top online brokers for over a decade. Our expertise in portfolio design comes from our investment management organization, NEI Investments, a Canadian leader in Responsible Investments.

    Aviso is owned by the provincial credit union Centrals, CUMIS and Desjardins.

  • Qtrade Guided Portfolios is part of Aviso Financial Inc., which is where your money is held. Aviso Financial Inc. is a Member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund, which protects investors from losses should their brokerage become insolvent.

  • As a  Qtrade Guided Portfolios client, your money is in good hands. Qtrade Guided Portfolios is part of Aviso Wealth, a national, integrated financial services company with decades of experience, which is a trusted partner to hundreds of credit unions and independent financial institutions across Canada.

    Aviso Wealth is owned by the provincial credit union Centrals, CUMIS and Desjardins.

    Qtrade Guided Portfolios accounts are protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. The CIPF protects assets and cash you have invested up to $1 million in case of the bankruptcy of a member firm.

  • Qtrade Guided Portfolios is part of Aviso Financial Inc., which is a Member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). In Canada, regulation of the securities industry is carried out by provincial securities commissions and self-regulatory organizations (SROs), which includes CIRO. CIRO monitors client complaints and disciplinary matters to proactively identify emerging regulatory issues at Member firms. When you open an account, Qtrade Guided Portfolios will provide you with a copy of the CIRO brochures “How CIRO Protects Investors” and “An Investor's Guide to Making a Complaint.”

  • A single low management fee will be collected from your account quarterly that covers professional portfolio management, oversight and rebalancing, trading fees and account reporting as well as support from a team of Qtrade Guided Portfolios representatives.

    The management fee is calculated on the average daily value of your portfolio during the quarter at a blended annual rate based on the tiers set out in the table below.

    Portfolio value Annual rate
    First $2,000 to $100,000             0.60%
    Next $400,000 0.50%
    Next $500,000 0.40%
    Above $1 million 0.35%

    If you were introduced to Qtrade Guided Portfolios through an investment advisor, your management fee may be higher due to additional services offered by your referring advisor. Please refer to your Investment Plan for details.

    To help minimize your fees, if you have multiple Qtrade Guided Portfolios accounts in your name or household, the management fee for each account will be calculated based on the aggregated value of all the accounts.

    Other fees may apply for account administration requests.

    As with all ETFs and mutual funds, the investments in your portfolio have embedded Management Expense Ratios (MER), which are charged by the fund company to manage these underlying investments. The MERs of the products we use in our portfolios are relatively low, and are the same or less than what you would pay if you purchased them on your own.

  • Qtrade Guided Portfolios will automatically group together all accounts with the same residential address to aggregate the value of the assets, ensuring you pay the lowest available fee.

  • Management fees charged may be tax deductible for non-registered accounts. (Please consult your tax professional for advice specific to you.)

  • There is no minimum amount to open a Qtrade Guided Portfolios account. Once your cash balance reaches a minimum of $2,000, it is automatically invested in the portfolio that is suited to your needs.

  • Adding money to your account is easy. You can use Electronic Funds Transfer or bill payment from your financial institution. You can also transfer in cash from another investment account. And, you can set up automatic monthly contributions to ensure you save and invest regularly.

  • Cash added to your account is invested in your portfolio when the cash balance reaches $2,000.

  • Through Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Mutual Fund products, Guided Portfolios invests in hundreds of companies worldwide. The investments in our portfolios include a mix of everything from small Canadian companies to big brands that everyone knows. Our portfolios are diversified across geographies, industries and sectors, so they are always well balanced. 

  • Responsible Investing (RI) is a strategy that incorporates an analysis of a company’s environmental, social and governance impact into the investment decision-making process. By performing traditional and ESG analysis, portfolio managers are able to select investments that provide sustainable value and reduced risk. All while supporting companies that are aligned with the values of their investors. 

  • ESG refers to an organization’s Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance performance. How a company performs in these areas often has a direct link to how it performs for its investors. By analyzing what environmental, social or governance risks a company faces, fund managers can engage with companies to help them avoid costly mistakes, or they can avoid investing in them altogether.

  • Qtrade Guided Portfolios uses ETFs to invest across the market, building diversified portfolios that include a wide variety of organizations. Qtrade Guided Portfolios RI invests with portfolio managers that analyze how companies perform on ESG criteria to create diverse, responsible portfolios.  

  • Qtrade Guided Portfolios partners with our sister company, NEI Investments, to create our portfolios. We offer the same simple management fee structure for both traditional and RI investing options, however you will notice differences in the underlying MER fees. Traditional investing employs low-cost ETFs, which track index performance and require very little management or oversight. This keeps the management fees and operating costs very low. RI portfolios require more active management, both in up front research and in ongoing maintenance, so their fees tend to be higher. In either case, our partnership with NEI allows us to offer portfolios with very low MER fees, which are typically only available to high net worth investors.

  • Asset allocation refers to the specific proportion of different types of investments in your portfolio, such as stocks, bonds and cash instruments. Investing success largely depends on asset allocation and diversification, which includes holding a mix of assets from different industries and economic regions.  Because investments within these industries and regions do not move in lock step, combining them in portfolios can help provide exposure to upside, while limiting volatility and downside exposure.

  • Over time, your contributions or withdrawals, along with the ups and downs of the market, can cause the asset allocation in your portfolio to stray from its original target. If it strays too far, it may no longer reflect your goals or your personal tolerance for risk. Rebalancing means periodically buying and/or selling holdings to restore the target asset allocation. Qtrade Guided Portfolios continuously reviews your portfolio and automatically rebalances any asset classes that drift beyond their prescribed thresholds.

  • We encourage you to update us if, at any point, your financial circumstances, investment objectives or your personal risk tolerance change. We'll review your new profile and, if appropriate, propose adjustments. Once you confirm the new proposal, we'll reallocate your portfolio to fit your new profile.

  • Your portfolio performance is shown on the home page dashboard when you log in and from there you can easily see your account performance and activity.

  • Yes! There is an easy-to-use mobile app available through the App Store and Google PlayStore.