Learning Objective – Discount Brokerage Education Resources:

• To understand the different educational resources currently being offered by Canadian discount brokerages

Introduction

Increasingly, Canadian discount brokerages have begun to recognize that retail investors require tools and resources in order to support them in managing their own trading activities.  Fortunately for retail investors, the quality and diversity of resources is improving.  While some discount brokerages have very basic resources, such as glossaries of key terms that count as their “education” section, other discount brokerages, such as TD Waterhouse discount brokerage and Scotia iTrade, offer a number of investor education events both in person and online.

Types of “educational” content

The types of educational presentations that discount brokerages offer usually fall into the “informational” type or the “product orientation” type.  Sometimes there is a mix between the two types, where educational content is presented alongside a specific product, like a trading platform.  Often times, discount brokerages will open up events to existing clients as well as to non-clients in the hopes of being able to generate new business from those that attend the seminars, so be prepared for sales pitches or offers and promotions that are time-limited.  While there are times when you can land a great deal, it is wise to fully understand what you’re going to commit to before signing up on the spot.

Often, modules are presented by experienced teachers or partner organizations that work with a discount brokerage.  The topics presented can cover a wide variety of topics ranging from getting started with trading to more advanced strategies and techniques.   Most educational resources provided by discount brokerages today is geared towards beginners.  For that reason, some information and lessons are presented by staff members or business development associates that don’t have an in-depth background as a trader and/or teacher.  Be sure to ask about the background of the ‘instructor’ to gauge how well-versed they are in discussing the topic they’re presenting.

That said, the following is list of the common types of educational opportunities currently being provided by Canadian discount brokerages.

Types of educational events

Live Seminars

Only a handful of discount brokerages are currently offering either regular seminars or special event seminars.  TD Waterhouse is by far the most active in this area offering hundreds of events every month across the country, ranging from their popular lunch time seminars to special investor education summits.  Scotia iTrade, Disnat Direct, National Bank Direct Brokerage and BMO Investorline also hold live events, albeit less frequently.

Attending these events is a great way to get access to trading ideas and information.  In person seminars offer the chance to sit through structured presentations where you get to meet the instructor face to face as well as interact with fellow investors.  Depending on who’s hosting the event, these in-person seminars can be elaborate full day sessions, complete with catered food and materials, to very simple lunch hour seminars.  Many of the events we’ve seen held are done free of charge or with minimal cost.

One of the big drawbacks of live seminars, however, is timing – being able to attend a specific location has to work within your schedule in order to benefit.   A good thing to try and get beforehand is an overview or outline of what the topic covered will be and who will be providing it, in order to determine if it is the right event for you.

Webinars

While you don’t get the experience of being face to face with a presenter or instructor, webinars offer a great alternative.   Webinars allow a convenient way learn and interact with material from the comfort of your home or office.  Often times webinars are recorded so that you are able to pause/replay material you want to pay extra attention to. Some individuals download the presentations to their phones or mp3 players to watch on the go.

Most Canadian online discount brokerages use a webinar technology called WebEx (and to a lesser degree GoToMeeting) which is fairly straight forward to use.  If you’ve never used WebEx before, allow for extra time before the presentation to install and setup the software (it’s free).  The setup process is generally straight forward and usually requires a few extra minutes to complete.

Website Resources

Many discount brokerages partner with other resource providers such as Morningstar or Recognia to provide additional tools and resources that can help do-it-yourself investors learn some of the basics of fundamental or technical analysis.  In addition, there are features offered such as educational institution partners and forums that provide added resources to support individual investors.  For example, Disnat Direct offers a special partnership with Stockscores.com through which clients can access the Stockscores.com Pro features such as videos and a self-study course.  Questrade offers a special community section where one can ask questions to other investors and traders about a variety of investing related topics.

Summary

Discount brokerage sponsored education events are a great opportunity for Canadian retail investors to get basic levels of information about trading and investing. The biggest advantages are the low cost to attend and the great speakers discount brokerages find from within their organization, such as economists or analysts, that you would otherwise have a difficult time accessing.  In addition, there is a lot of content geared towards beginner investors, so if you’re just starting out, these seminars offer a great first step.

One of the biggest downsides of discount brokerage education events is that you have to sift out which events are “product orientation” events versus those that actually give you information that help you understand how to trade or invest.  In addition, you often have to hand over your information to a sales representative when you attend a ‘free’ seminar or webinar, so just be aware that a member of a sales team will likely follow up with you about becoming a client.

Overall, whether you choose to attend an event in person or online, discount brokerages are providing more and more materials for Canadian retail investors to be able to navigate investing on their own.  To keep on top of educational events that are going on you can check the individual brokers’ sites or you can check our educational events listing where we collect what’s going on in the world of investor education.