How does Wealthsimple decide which securities go into the portfolios?

At Wealthsimple we have a designated investment research team whose job is to ensure that client portfolios are optimally constructed. This means that we aim to design a portfolio that we think will provide you with an optimal rate of return for your particular risk tolerance.

When selecting securities, we want to ensure that we are trading ETFs that minimize clients’ tax burden. We also aim to keep Management Expense Ratios (MERs) — the fees charged by the funds themselves — as low as possible. Lastly, we want to ensure that the funds we trade are liquid. This means that when Wealthsimple goes to trade on behalf of our clients there is a large pool of available buyers and sellers in the market.

In addition to our investment research team, we have an investment advisory committee. The committee serves to provide oversight that portfolios are appropriately constructed and designed in the best interest of our clients.