RBC Direct Investing (formerly Action Direct) experience

[northbeach]

RBC DI will give its $9.95 rate if you have a million plus in assets, reviewable after one year. They don't promote this, you have to ask for it. If you have less than this and want to deal with the big banks, go to TDW where the min. is 100K, I think, for the same $9.95 rate.

I could only wish I had 1 million

Not sure what dollar amount they will allow the $9.95 fee? Certainly a much lower amount in my case.

I do figure they will be changing their rates for everybody as they do have to be competitive.

[parvus]

Both RBCDI and BMO Investorlineannounced today that they're moving to the $9.95-a-trade standard with $100k in assets, starting December 22 for RBC and November 1 for BMO.

[rhenderson]

Both RBCDI and BMO Investorlineannounced today that they're moving to the $9.95-a-trade standard with $100k in assets, starting December 22 for RBC and November 1 for BMO.

Smart move RBCDI !!

Follow the others, announce it now so that most clients will probably hang around because it's a hassle to change accounts, but the Saturday Dec 22 date ensures that you'll still get full commissions on most of the year end tax loss/porfolio adjustments.

[ockham]

Both RBCDI and BMO Investorlineannounced today that they're moving to the $9.95-a-trade standard with $100k in assets, starting December 22 for RBC and November 1 for BMO.

I made an inquiry of RBCDI in early/mid July about their introducing a net worth rather than frequent trader criterion for sub$10 trading. Was told there were no such plans. So I moved. I wonder how much money left for this primary reason. I likely would have stayed had they offered it.

[lystgl]

Both RBCDI and BMO Investorlineannounced today that they're moving to the $9.95-a-trade standard with $100k in assets, starting December 22 for RBC and November 1 for BMO.

Would that be combined or per account? We have a number of accounts with RBCDI that would make the grade in the aggregate.

[Yukon Maiden]

I was seriously considering moving my investments out of RBCDI due to the high cost of trades. I do not buy and sell enough to qualify as a frequent trader, but often enough to be choked about the high costs of trading compared to most other places. Glad they are finally starting to show some gratitude for those of us willing to stash $100,000 plus with them.

[rhenderson]

Glad they are finally starting to show some gratitude for those of us willing to stash $100,000 plus with them.

I beg to differ but I believe that it's more of a case that they had no choice and not a "showing of gratitude."

Thanks to posters like Ockham that walked and forced them to act.

[Yukon Maiden]

Glad they are finally starting to show some gratitude for those of us willing to stash $100,000 plus with them.

I beg to differ but I believe that it's more of a case that they had no choice and not a "showing of gratitude."

Thanks to posters like Ockham that walked and forced them to act.

Sorry, I should have put a after my statement. I was rolling my eyes as I typed, if that counts.

[2 yen]

Happy to announce that my 40 year relationship with the Royal will end on Monday. TD and TDW have won me over with far advanced services for expat clients. Yippy!

[twa2w]

From the press release it sounds like assets - not per account
"clients with assets of $100,000 or more with RBC Direct Investing, or clients who trade between 30 and 149 times per quarter, will pay a flat rate of $9.95 per Canadian or U.S. equity trade. Options trades for these clients will be $9.95 plus $1.25 per contract. Additionally, clients who make 150 or more trades per quarter will pay a flat rate of $6.95 per Canadian or U.S. equity trade; option trades will be $6.95 plus $1.25 per contract. These new commissions come into effect on December 22, 2007 for trades conducted through RBC Direct Investing's online investing site or through its automated telephone service"

[biker]

From the press release it sounds like assets - not per account
"clients with assets of $100,000 or more with RBC Direct Investing, or clients who trade between 30 and 149 times per quarter, will pay a flat rate of $9.95 per Canadian or U.S. equity trade. Options trades for these clients will be $9.95 plus $1.25 per contract. Additionally, clients who make 150 or more trades per quarter will pay a flat rate of $6.95 per Canadian or U.S. equity trade; option trades will be $6.95 plus $1.25 per contract. These new commissions come into effect on December 22, 2007 for trades conducted through RBC Direct Investing's online investing site or through its automated telephone service"

Just notified this week that the $9.95 fee is effective Dec 22/07.

[adrian2]

Wow! A whole 4 cents cheaper (oops, in some cases it's 5 cents) than TD Waterhouse's fees, with exactly the same qualifications thresholds! Isn't competition great !

[rhenderson]

Wow! A whole 4 cents cheaper (oops, in some cases it's 5 cents) than TD Waterhouse's fees, with exactly the same qualifications thresholds! Isn't competition great !

Did they really have any choice ?

I've been paying $ 9.99 at TD for the past 5 years.

I also have an account at RBCDI but certainly don't plan on using it in the near future.

[Orcbait]

I'm not an active trader. But one of the things I like about TDW is that one day about a year ago a guy there phoned me out of the blue to tell me that if they 'linked' our 3 accounts (which doesn't mean much other than some TD internal thing), I would qualify for the 9.99 trading - I had no idea about this, but yes, I sure do like the service.

That is all separate from my reasons not to like RBC, of which I have quite a few, and which is why I haven't used RBC for years.

Orcbait

[Donut]

I get a monthly pension from RBC but I don't bank or invest with them. I left them more than a dozen years ago because they were constantly issuing incorrect statements on my Action Direct account and I was fed up with their arrogance. I went to CIBC Investor's Edge but, after a couple years there, I left because of the huge spread they were charging me on bond trades. I have been with TDW ever since and am happy with the results.

P.S. If you are thinking of moving an account, talk to the company you plan to move to. In each case, when I moved, the new company paid all the transfer fees that were charged by the old company.

[parvus]

I had password problems last night. I ended up chatting with a nice lady from Mississauga. As she reset my password (but couldn't pinpoint what the original problem was) she noted that I had more money than usual in my banking account. I stopped her right there, figuring I was going to get a pitch, and blathered on about end-of-year distributions, how the cash was going to be invested in the new year, how dividends were more efficient, tax-wise, than interest, yadda yadda ...

What she was suggesting was that I take advantage of RBC's high-yield savings account @ 4%. I didn't "hear" that until after I got off the phone. I hadn't realized RBC had a high-interest account. (I can be remarkably deaf and dumb when I want to be.)

Kudos to her. A dogbone over the head for me.

[Nemo2]

Love the Ernie Kovacs avatar, parvus!

[parvus]

At WPTZ, Kovacs first began to use the ad-libbed and experimental style that would come to make his reputation, including video effects, superimpositions, reverse polarities and scanning, and quick blackouts. He was also noted for abstraction and carefully-timed non-sequitur and for carefully allowing the so-called "fourth wall" to be breached by having cameras show his viewers activity past the show set---including crew members and, on occasion, outside the studio itself. Kovacs also liked talking to the off-camera crew and even introduced segments from the studio control room.

Fits my bill (oh laird gord does it ever!!!) ... on the avatar ... more later.

[ig17]

[OT]

on the avatar ... more later.

Maxim Gorky? Why?? Please do tell...

[/OT]

[parvus]

Twenty years ago, a friend gave me a postcard with that image on it. That's it.

[Shakespeare]

Just got my Nov. statement. The insert indicates that the $9.95 pricing will be on day-end consolidated trades, as long as they are in the same market on the same side (buy-sell).

[AltaRed]

And if you had done business with ETrade this year (not sure of the qualifications required), you would get up to $99 in free trades (essentially 10 trades) between Dec 17 and Dec 31.

[Shakespeare]

I had some of RBC's Series D MMF (RBF 1002), which has a $10K minimum, in both my RRSP and LIRA/LIF. Some of this had to be sold in order to tranfer securities in from my non-registered account to get the cash for a new car. The resulting balances were below the $10K minimum. Although the remaining units were not sold, when I tried to consolidate the MMFs and cash in the LIF today in RBF 1002 the orders were not allowed. Instead, I had to resubmit the orders and consolidate in RBF 271, the normal MMF. (Consolidation was necessary in order to pretty everything up for the 25% unlock I hope to get processed next week; some MMF or cash "slack" is needed to deal with market value changes on "in kind" transfers.)

So, it appears that if you drop below the $10K minimum, you can hold but not trade.

[ward]

On the other hand, on my wife's RBCDI account, she was permitted to add to her depleted RBF 1002 even though her holding remains well below the $10,000 minimum.

[Shakespeare]

The amount in my RRSP is also below the minimum. I can hold it but I can not add to it unless the amount would then exceed $10K.

Like I said, you can hold but not trade.