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Overview
Automated Investing is a self-directed account that automates the work of keeping your portfolio on track. You build your own portfolio from individual stocks and ETFs, collections, and direct indexing — and the platform flags when your holdings drift from your targets and gives you tools to bring them back in line.
This account is designed for the buy-and-hold investor who wants more control over their portfolio without the day-to-day manual work. It's offered for a 0.25% annual service fee and is available for TFSAs, RRSPs, FHSAs, and non-registered accounts.
How Automated Investing works
When you open an Automated Investing account, you choose the securities you want to hold and set a target allocation — the percentage of your portfolio each holding should represent. The platform monitors your portfolio and notifies you when your holdings drift away from those targets.
If your holdings have drifted too far from their targets, there are two ways to get back on track:
- Deposit money. We'll automatically buy holdings that are below their targets, but we won't sell anything. You might not reach your targets exactly, but you'll get closer.
- Rebalance. We'll buy and sell holdings until everything is exactly on track. If it's a non-registered account, this could trigger capital gains.
This keeps you in full control of your portfolio at all times and reflects the nature of Automated Investing as an order execution-only account — we won't make any investment decisions or recommendations on your behalf.
Set up your account
Follow the steps below to set up your Automated Investing account:
- Log in to the Wealthsimple app
- From the Home screen, scroll down and tap Open or move account
- Tap Open a new account
- Select the account type you want to use (TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, or non-registered)
- Tap Get started
- Select Automated investing
- Tap Get started
- Add your holdings and set your target allocations
- Tap Next
- Review your portfolio and tap Open account
What you can add to your account
You can build your Automated Investing portfolio using any combination of individual stocks and ETFs, collections, and direct indexing.
Individual stocks and ETFs
You can search for and add any individual stock or ETF available on Wealthsimple and assign it a target allocation in your portfolio. This gives you full flexibility to build a portfolio that reflects your own investment preferences.
Collections
Collections are curated groups of securities based on basic asset allocations (for example, All Equity, Mostly Equity, 60/40 Equity/Bonds, or Mostly Bonds). They're designed as a starting point to help you build a diversified portfolio without having to research every individual holding yourself.
A couple of things to know about collections:
- You can adjust them. After adding a collection, you can customize the individual holdings and their targets to better fit your goals.
- They don't automatically rebalance. Like the rest of your portfolio, you'll need to trigger any rebalancing yourself.
Direct Indexing
Direct indexing lets you track a market index by directly owning a subset of the individual stocks that make up that index — rather than holding an ETF. This approach unlocks tax-loss harvesting in non-registered accounts, which can help reduce your tax bill over time. It also enables customization — you can exclude stocks from an index that you don't want to hold.
Available indices for Automated Investing accounts:
Tax-loss harvesting
Tax-loss harvesting means selling a stock when it loses value, capturing that loss, and replacing it with a similar stock to keep you invested. Those losses can be used to offset capital gains elsewhere in your portfolio, which can lower your tax bill. We call the extra after-tax return from this strategy tax alpha.
Stock exclusions
You can exclude specific stocks from your direct indexing portfolio based on personal preferences or employment restrictions. If you exclude a stock you already hold, it'll be sold the next time your account rebalances.
How to adjust your targets
You can update your target allocations at any time directly in the Wealthsimple app. After updating your targets, you can trigger a rebalance to bring your portfolio in line with the new allocations.
Follow the steps below to adjust your target allocations:
- Log in to the Wealthsimple app
- Tap your Automated Investing account
- Tap Holdings
- Tap the Pencil icon in the top right-hand corner
- Adjust your holdings
- Tap Save to update your target allocations
Frequently asked questions
Does Wealthsimple choose my investments for me?
No. Automated Investing is a self-directed, order execution-only account. You choose your own holdings and set your target allocations. Wealthsimple automates the monitoring and flags drift — but it won't make investment decisions or place trades on your behalf.
What is a collection?
A collection is a curated group of securities organized around asset allocations (All Equity, Mostly Equity, 60/40 Equity/Bonds, and Mostly Bonds). Collections are designed as a starting point to help you build a diversified portfolio. You can customize the holdings and weightings after adding a collection, and the securities within a collection may change over time.
Can I transfer my existing portfolio into an Automated Investing account?
Yes, you can transfer some or all of your holdings into an Automated Investing account in-kind.
Which accounts are eligible for Automated Investing?
Automated Investing is available for TFSAs, RRSPs, FHSAs, and non-registered accounts.
How much does Automated Investing cost?
Automated Investing charges a 0.25% annual service fee.
Does tax-loss harvesting apply to my TFSA, RRSP, or FHSA?
No. Tax-loss harvesting is only available within direct indexing and only in non-registered accounts. Because registered accounts like TFSAs and RRSPs are already tax-sheltered, tax-loss harvesting doesn't apply.
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