Happy May to all, here’s some news from the world of Canadian DIY investing.

HISA rates are stable

HISAs, for those in the know, are “High Interest Savings Accounts” and offer a nearly zero risk¹ way to earn some interest on your cash holdings. Read all about them here. “Class F” funds are usually available via your online broker, often bought and sold in the same module as mutual funds, although they are NOT mutual funds.

The periodically updated HISA table I maintain has been updated for May. No changes seen from last month, which is unsurprising, given both Canada and the USA have held interest rates steady over the past month. Here it is:

Provider	Fund	Link	Rate Sheet	Rate
RBC	RBF2011, RBF2021, RBF2031, RBF2041	RBC	Link	2.55%
Scotiabank	DYN6004, DYN5004, DYN3065, DYN3055, DYN3075	Scotiabank	Link	2.70%
Equitable Bank	EQB1001, ETR1001	Equitable Bank	n/a	2.55%
TD	TDB8151, TDB8156, TDB8158, TDB8160	TD	n/a	2.55%
Renaissance	ATL5071	Renaissance	n/a	2.55%
Home Trust	HOM101, HOM201	Home Trust	Link	2.65%
B2B	BTB101	B2B Bank	n/a	2.75%
Manulife	MIP610, MIP810	Manulife	n/a	2.40%
National Bank	NBC200, NBC6200, NBC8200	NBI Altamira CashPerformer	n/a	2.55%

Here are the USD rates offered:

Provider	Fund	Link	Rate Sheet	Rate
RBC	RBF2015	RBC	Link	4.15%
Scotiabank	DYN6005, DYN5005	Scotiabank	Link	4.15%
Equitable Bank	EQB1101, ETR1101	Equitable Bank	n/a	3.80%
TD	TDB8153	TD	n/a	4.15%
Renaissance	ATL5075	Renaissance	n/a	4.15%
Manulife	MIP611	Manulife	n/a	3.30%
National Bank	NBC201	NBI Altamira CashPerformer	n/a	4.15%

Questrade Plus Launches: Meh

In other news, Questrade launched a new subscription service². Dubbed “Questrade Plus”, $11.95/month gets you free journaling, better quote data, and a subscription to Passiv Elite.

As a newly-minted Questrade user (got my first bonus payment yesterday, yay!) I see this as a net negative. Let’s look at why.

Passiv Elite is no Longer Free

One nifty (and unexpected) bonus I discovered being a Questrade client was getting access to Passiv’s advanced features. Questrade Plus means that particular freebie is coming to an end. Passiv’s “community” (i.e. free) service is still somewhat useful, but if you want automated rebalancing, you’re going to have either pay Questrade (and subscribe to Questrade Plus) or Passiv (currently $99/year) for that privilege in the near future.

Unlimited Journaling of Limited Use

The unlimited journaling feature of Questrade Plus targets people like me who do Norbert’s Gambit to convert USD to CAD on the cheap, but since I don’t do this sort of thing super-frequently (maybe 5-6 times a year at most), I’d rather pay-as-I-go (currently priced at $9.95 per request).

Real Time Data Streaming of No Interest

The “real time data streaming” feature targets the day trader. Other providers include this sort of thing for free (QTrade, Interactive Brokers). That’s not my thing. It does make me wonder who Questrade sees as their ideal client. Are they trying to be Wealthsimple? Or are they trying to be Interactive Brokers?

Wealthsimple Self-Directed RESPs, coming soon

Wealthsimple continues to chip away at the gaps in their self-directed portfolio offerings. RESPs were one of those gaps, but now it’s been filled, and the main website has been updated to reflect this. I can confirm that I have been offered a spot on the beta launch, so its release to the general public is imminent. Wealthsimple has offered robo-advisor RESPs for a while, but the DIY investor has been forced — until now — to look elsewhere for this.

1. Unless banks fail. We are all in a lot more trouble if that happens. ↩︎
2. Because, we all know, you can never have enough subscriptions, right? ↩︎