Canadians: what brokerage?

Investing
#1

Are there are any Canadians that have taken the course that want to share what brokerage they use. What index funds they have done research on. I am currently looking into Vanguard Canada and VUS or VUN total market index ETF.

#2

I’m not Canadian, but I think those are good options. I mention some Canadian ETFs you can use for a three-fund portfolio on this page:

#3

Hi there,

Fellow Canadian here. I use TD Direct Investing, but am hearing Questrade is a good option. Lower fees for transactions. I haven’t opened up an account yet. I’m looking at VUN for a total market index or VFV (S&P 500). VFV is 0.08% fee where VUN is 0.15%, and according to the course, they perform the same way over the long haul.

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#4

Jeremy, is there a reason that you selected ‘hedged’ funds, over non-hedged funds? I was looking at purchasing either VUN (total US market) or VFV (S&P 500)

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#5

Thanks Sumayya. This is very helpful. I have Scotia iTrade and was going to look into VUN through them via a TFSA (tax-free savings account). I will also look into VFV since you have brought it to my attention. What are you thinking in terms of the Bonds and non us stock market? Jeremy has suggested VEF and VGAB. Let me know if you have done some digging into those two.

#6

Did anyone get back to you on this? @Jeremy

#7

Hey @Sumayya!

I would suggest your choice should be between VUN (Total US Market) and VUS (Total US Market CAD-hedged).

The hedged version protects against currency fluctuations between the US and Canada. Since they have the same expense ratio, I opted toward the hedged version as it may results in slightly less volatility if you’re living in Canada. Although, this seems like an excruciatingly small detail between the two because Canada and the US have such intertwined economies and currencies I would be shocked if it ever made much difference. An argument for VUS is that it removes this hedging complexity from the fund, and simpler is almost always better.

Here’s some more you can read about CAD-hedging:

#8

Thanks @Jeremy! See you on Wednesday!

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#9

I looked at VEF but I think I’m likely going to go with XAW. I compared the two and it seems like XAW has outperformed VEF. I’m not going to be investing in bonds.