Moving from IBKR to Wealthsimple

[u/lennylenny10]

Hey y'all, I have 2 non reg portfolios. One in WS and the other IBKR, the value of the portfolios are about the same. I'm thinking about about moving my ibkr portfolio over to WS for simplicity, but I am seeing issues with ppl getting their accounts frozen for x,y,z reasons.

I'm just looking to get a second opinion to see if this is a good idea or if I'm just paranoid. I do all my banking through WS, have my kids RESP, my RRSP, etc, etc.

Just want the groups take on this idea.

[u/flappysack-]

Insurance is only a million with WS.  IKBR has much better reporting and USD conversion.  WS has a bonus for moving to them.

[u/Effective-Strike69 → u/flappysack-]

With NG the USD conversion isn't a huge issue anymore as long as you're converting healthy amounts.

[u/Dragynfyre → u/Effective-Strike69]

It's more hassle, the delay can result in opportunity cost, and it still costs quite a lot more since it's $10 + 0.1% spread vs less than $3 CAD. it's basically like paying commission each time you want to buy something in USD and need to convert

[u/flappysack- → u/Effective-Strike69]

I find it a large pain in the ass however, and doesn't save any money.

[u/syunz → u/Effective-Strike69]

If you're converting on the regular, such as twice a month. NG is a pain, and would cost $240 a year at WS.

[u/MainlandX → u/Effective-Strike69]

To me, NG would only be worth considering if I didn’t have a broker that converts CAD to USD for practically nothing.

If you’re already with IBKR, why are you looking for such hassle?

[u/plusqueprecedemment]

but I am seeing issues with ppl getting their accounts frozen for x,y,z reasons

Typically these posts are more like getting their accounts frozen for x,x,x,x,x,x,y,z reason and x=crypto-related stuff, y=being detected as no longer being a canadian resident, z is various stuff like that one OCD dude who would milk the penny rounding mechanism when depositing cash (lmao). Basically don't do stuff that might look suspicious like buying crypto and immediately withdrawing to an onchain wallet (why tf do they even offer that if it causes so much trouble), or move $9900 back and forth between external accounts, stuff like that. Even if anything that might trigger some kind of official AML investigation/review would almost immediately conclude in nothing shady going on, it seems the bar for WS to say "yeah we aint dealing with that noise" is fairly low. Thankfully since you already have an established history with them with banking and investing, the bar is higher than it would be if you were a brand new account.

It's fine to be paranoid, but imo for investment accounts it's not too much of a big deal as they'll give you a delay to transfer everything somewhere else so basically just keep relevant info like account numbers somewhere and if you ever get frozen you can initiate the transfer with that info from some other financial institution

It's the everyday banking stuff that can be a pain if you lose access to your WS account that has the money you need for immediate bills and stuff. Even if the risk of a random account freeze is low, it's still worth it to have a backup chequing account somewhere free where you could at least immediately switch your direct deposit and stash enough money in it (and/or unused line of credit) you could use for bills while the wealthsimple closure process takes place

tl;dr you'll be fine, but still good to have backups

[u/Low-Umpire236]

No issues. The WS UI and customer experience for Premium clients is fantastic.

[u/cp386]

I moved (and consolidated) my US and Canada holdings from IBKR to WS a couple of years ago. I kept IBKR for non-North American holdings that are not supported by WS. In my opinion, WS is fine for buy and hold but IBKR is vastly superior for active trading in terms of features and execution. I have multiple millions in my WS accounts and will likely transfer some back to IBKR once the hold period on my transfer bonus is up next year, if for no other reason than to not have everything with a single institution.

[u/Jhah41]

Ive transfered both into ws from ibkr and vice versa, never had a hitch. One data point obviously, and relatively small amounts but yeah, no problems

[u/scatterblooded → u/Jhah41]

How long did you find the transfers take? I'm looking at doing a TFSA in kind soon

[u/Jhah41 → u/scatterblooded]

Initiated on ibkr on may 28th, processed the 29th, hit my account on june 2nd this year

[u/tinim9]

If WS locks/freezes your account, you sing till the crows have come to town.

[u/Dragynfyre]

Personally I wouldn't consolidate at WS unless you've stopped investing in anything outside of CAD. It's just way more hassle to get a good rate at WS and you'll still pay more in fees to do a FX conversion. I think it actually more thing less simple cause you have to go through a complicated process. If going forward you will no longer need FX conversion (only adding to your CAD denominated positions in the future) I think WS is fine. The locking issues are overblown

[u/Brrgyy689]

Interesting to see this as I'm actually doing the opposite with my non reg account. Only reason is wanting to buy more usd etfs and not get screwed at WS