Wealthsimple - What's your experience?

jackjackjack

Hello all,

In brief, I am looking to invest in stocks/shares via funds/trackers in the next two months. I am looking into several options, one of which is Wealthsimple and it has not, as of yet, been mentioned on this forum. I am mainly curious as to people's opinions on investing via Wealthsimple. As an aside, I am wondering whether it might be suitable for me?

Thanks.

TrustyOven

Omg their website is so annoying to use.
Can't scroll down without it "scrolling" through the animations. Grrr!

Why would you be interested in Wealthsimple?
What made you think of them in the first place?
Why would you go with them instead of the other well-known platforms?

Why would you be prepared to accept 0.7% fees? This is higher than other platforms.

Some of the stuff in their site seems like hyped-up market-speak... such as the Nobel prize winning research.

Their security and encryption blurb is worrying. Bank-level security of 128bit SSL lol. Which version of SSL? Do they encrypt data on disk? What crypto? Do they salt it?

I don't know. I suspect they are ok from the point of that they are probably not scams etc. I just think they seem a bit gimmicky and naff.

Plus, you are a new user, with low post count, posting about an obscure investment company that most wouldn't have heard of - tends to make one quite suspicious of ulterior motives.

How about you get yourself to the Snowman's spreadsheet (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5583030) and have a look at the more mainstream platforms and compare the charges?

Edited to add:
You could do better, by going for one of the fettered funds, or other multiasset funds: Vanguard LifeStrategy, Blackrock Consensus and the L&G Multi Index funds.

choochootrain

Not much of a fan of robo advisors and I've only used a couple of them because I'm a sucker for cashback. The 0.7% fee is far too much for a portfolio of index funds you could quite easily put together yourself. As TrustyOven said, you'd be better off keeping it simple and cheap with one of Vanguard/L&G/BlackRock/HSBC's one stop shop products. While you're building up your portfolio you can take the time to learn about investing and decide if you want to take a more hands on approach.

jackjackjack

Thank you for your help, I am predominantly considering Vanguard.

I have only heard of them due to their Facebook advertising and have seen their award of a Nobel prize, and the fact they have some reputable backers (for instance, Canadian PM).

I take your point about the website and their marketing strategies... it does seem as though they target people who are new to investing / don't really know what they're doing, and hence could use this to their advantage in ways such as charging high fees as you mention. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realise that their strong point is probably their marketing.

You mention that having posted so few times I may have ulterior motives: fair point, and well observed. However, I have none .

I will have a look at Snowman's spready, thank you for the heads up.

coyrls

daviso wrote: »

.....and have seen their award of a Nobel prize

I think you must be mistaken!

cloud_dog

Paying a premium for robo investing....why didn't I think of that. Seriously, life doesn't revolve around Facebook; if your looking to make financial decisions then try googling and looking at financial information sites.

ChesterDog

"Their Nobel prize..."

Gosh - and I mean this with all due respect to the OP - how incredibly easy is it to mislead people?!

No wonder a certain company marketing unregulated 'savings' bonds gets so much attention.

jackjackjack

well, you've certainly put me in my place, what do i know? :beer:

bigadaj

daviso wrote: »

well, you've certainly put me in my place, what do i know? :beer:

You seem to have misunderstood some slightly misleading advertising.

The Nobel prize was given to Harry markowitz decades ago for developing modern portfolio theory. This approach is used by many advisers and indeed investors, it's just an approach to maximise returns for a particular level of risk.

This is anything unique they are offering.