What is Wealthsimple and How Does it Actually Work?

Wealthsimple makes powerful financial tools to help you grow and manage your money. Learn more

I’ve heard the name. But what do you actually do?

We’re a financial technology company. Sure, that’s fun to say at parties (kidding), but it actually means something. It means we use innovation to build powerful financial tools — like an app that lets you trade stocks for free, or hands-off portfolios that put your money to work like the world’s smartest investors — that work better and cost less. Our mission is to help everyone achieve financial freedom no matter who you are or how much you have.

We operate with a few principles in mind.

Keep efficiency high and fees low. When it comes to being smart with your money, fees (even ones that look small) are a huge impediment. That’s why we make financial products that have among the lowest possible fees — from pay-what-you-want tax preparation, to no-commission stock trading, to investing portfolios that charge a fraction of what financial institutions do.

Paperwork is for big banks. We believe that a product isn’t really simple unless it’s dead simple to get started on. That’s why you can sign up from your phone or laptop from anywhere. You just answer a few questions, skip the paperwork, and you’re ready to go in a few minutes.

Technology + Humans. As we’re human beings ourselves, we value people. They give great advice and sometimes they’re nice to talk to. So we have a team of experts at Wealthsimple who can walk Invest clients through any questions they may have. And for those who never want to talk to a human, we hear you: that’s an option, too.

But you’re still not saying what you actually do!

You’re right! Sorry. To make it simple, we offer five financial products (there’ll be more soon, so watch this space) to help Canadians grown and manage their money:

Wealthsimple Invest

The product we started with. Wealthsimple Invest builds smart, super cost-efficient portfolios made up of the perfect mix of equities and bonds all tailored to your goals. It also comes with real human advice, if that’s your thing.

The way it works is: you tell us a bit about yourself, your financial situation, goals, and appetite for risk – and in a couple of minutes we build you an investing portfolio tailored to you. Our portfolios are different because instead of a human picking and choosing stocks, your portfolio will track the broader market, because research shows that picking stocks (like what a mutual fund does) is more expensive and less effective. By the time the average Canadian retires, they could end up paying about $300,000* total in fees throughout their life if they opt for active investing.

This all helps us keep fees incredibly low. How low?

  • 0.5% fee for accounts up to $100,000

  • 0.4% fee for accounts above $100,000

Note: we’re not always passive. As your assets change in value, we automatically rebalance your portfolio. And the money you invest with us is protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF).

Wealthsimple Trade

Wealthsimple Trade is Canada’s only commission-free trading platform. So you can buy and sell thousands of stocks, without extra fees.

You can use it to build your own passive investing portfolio of ETFs, like the ones we make, or just to buy shares in companies you believe in. And like Wealthsimple Invest, your account is protected by the CIPF.

Wealthsimple Crypto

Wealthsimple Crypto is Canada’s first regulated crypto platform lets you buy and sell cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, while knowing your investments are safe.

Wealthsimple Tax

Wealthsimple Tax is online pay-what-you-want tax software. It helps you do your taxes quickly, simply, cheaply, and guarantees you’ll get the maximum refund you’re owed.

Wealthsimple Cash

Wealthsimple Cash is a mobile app that lets you send, request, and receive money instantly from your friends and family (and pretty much anyone else) with the press of a button.

All accounts are protected by the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC).

But how are you guys going to make money if you charge so little in fees?

At a traditional bank, 50% of the fees you’re paying go toward advisors’ sales commissions. But we don’t think those salespeople are seeing all that money. Plus, traditional firms typically have a huge back office — people pushing paper whose salaries you pay in the form of fees.

In contrast, we still operate like a tech start-up. We’re very frugal, we don’t pay to put our name on stadiums, and we don’t pay for tons of branches. We think it’s a better business to take that money and put it back into our clients’ pockets.

Last updated April 30, 2021.

*Source: Advisors Edge. This assumes an initial investment of $10,000 at age 25, annual contribution of $5,800 thereafter, 6.5% rate of return, and 2.35% fee over a 40-year period.

Finance for Humans

How Do I Diversify, Anyway?

You’ve probably heard this advice before: diversify your investments or else bad things could happen! Well, how do you actually do that smartly? And why should you in the first place? We’ve got answers.

Credit: Cari Vander Yacht

Finance for Humans

OMG You’re Having a Baby! (A Guide to That and Other Big Life Moments That’ll Affect Your Taxes)

The government won’t help you raise your kid, furnish your home, study for exams, or pick the right engagement ring. But they will help you save money on all of those things.

Finance for Humans

Canadians Say They Need $1.7M to Retire. We Calculated How to Get There

But there are some ways to make it easier. (Like starting now: hitting that goal gets a LOT harder the longer you wait to invest.) We did the math.

Finance for Humans

Cubicle Escape Plan: How to Semi-Retire Years Before Most Canadians

Want to quit your day job at 50 and teach pottery or become a fishing guide (or whatever)? Here’s how much you’ll need to save.

Finance for Humans

Did You Lose Money Trading Stocks? Blame Your Caveman Brain

Humans rely on evolutionary mental shortcuts to make decisions. Which is handy for escaping bears but less good for making money in markets.

Finance for Humans

10 Books That’ll Teach You Everything (Or at Least a Lot) About Money

Want to sound smart at your next holiday party? We’ve got some reading reccos that will help.

Money Diaries

"MY UNDERGRADUATE ADVISER TOLD ME I SHOULD JUST FORGET ABOUT THE WHOLE WRITING THING. ‘YOU SHOULD FIND A GOOD MAN AND GET MARRIED,’ HE TOLD ME."

Margaret Atwood

In this battle of the tax-sheltered accounts (and who doesn’t love to see a good fight between tax shelters?), we tell you when you should put your money in an RRSP, when you should pick a TFSA, and when you should do both (if you can!).

Finance for Humans

RRSP vs TFSA: What’s the Better Choice?

In this battle of the tax-sheltered accounts (and who doesn’t love to see a good fight between tax shelters?), we tell you when you should put your money in an RRSP, when you should pick a TFSA, and when you should do both (if you can!).

A book that says shit no one knows, tax edition

Finance for Humans

Five Tax Enigmas That Confuse Basically Everyone

OK, OK: they’re not technically enigmas, but these are the things most likely to trip you up when it comes time to file. We make sense of the madness and hopefully spare you some confusion.

Finance for Humans

The Bond Market Fell, Hard. An Explainer for Normal Humans

A steep selloff in government securities has unnerved Wall Street — and made individual investors question whether bonds are even worth holding anymore. Here’s what’s going on.

Finance for Humans

The Perfect Guide to Every Little Tax Question You Have

Or at least the 13 most common, thorny questions. We gathered answers to everything you were afraid to look up on the internet — and we promise they are easy to understand.

Illustration of a tax form placed inside a bear trap

Finance for Humans

Five Tax Traps — And How, If You Start Now, You Can Avoid Them

It may seem early to think about taxes. But if you do a few relatively easy things right now, you can (hopefully) avoid a tax nightmare in the future.

Finance for Humans

Nine Ways to Be Smart When the Market Goes Down

Smart investors don’t try to avoid downturns, which are inevitable. Instead, they make sure they’re in a good place when the markets go back up. Because that’s inevitable, too.

TLDR Newsletter

Business news made simple

Sign up for our weekly non-boring newsletter about money, markets, and more.

By providing your email, you are consenting to receive communications from Wealthsimple Media Inc. Visit our Privacy Policy for more info, or contact us at privacy@wealthsimple.com or 80 Spadina Ave., Toronto, ON.

  • Finance for Humans

    Why Most Eco-Friendly Investment Funds Really Aren’t That Eco-Friendly

    There are a whole bunch of investment portfolios that claim to be socially responsible and environmentally benevolent. The trouble is that it’s super tough to pick a fund that delivers on its promises.

  • It might seem like this is a crazy year to start doing your own taxes. But, for most people, it’s actually the perfect time. To illustrate how easy-breezy it is, we made this quick guide to using Wealthsimple Tax.

    Finance for Humans

    Is This the Year to Try Wealthsimple Tax? (Um, Probably. Yes)

    It might seem like this is a crazy year to start doing your own taxes. But, for most people, it’s actually the perfect time. To illustrate how easy-breezy it is, we made this quick guide to using Wealthsimple Tax.

  • Wealthsimple

    Grow your money

    Smart investing tools and personalized advice designed to build long term wealth.

  • And six other things you need to know to do this tax season right.

    Finance for Humans

    You May (Still) Have to Pay Taxes on COVID-19 Benefits

    And six other things you need to know to do this tax season right.

  • Finance for Humans

    What You Really Need to Know About IPOs

    The tidal wave of hype that comes with every initial public offering may spark your investing FOMO. But FOMO isn’t the best strategy. Here’s what you’ll want to understand before you jump in.

  • Finance for Humans

    Learn to Speak Crypto: Lesson One

    In our first installment, we’ll learn five terms that’ll help you understand not just the weird words the crypto-literate are using, but also crypto itself.

  • Finance for Humans

    Ask Lizzie: Is it OK if I Use Shopping to Make Me Feel, You Know, Happier?

    This week, our columnist tackles the question of retail therapy, and whether it works. (It does! At least to an extent!)

Wealthsimple

Grow your money

Smart investing tools and personalized advice designed to build long term wealth.

Get startedright arrow icon