What’s RBC InvestEase?
Some folks choose to stay with the acquainted and trusted, particularly on the subject of selecting a robo advisor – and if this sounds such as you, RBC InvestEase may very well be a great match. Supplied by one in all Canada’s most well-known banks, RBC InvestEase presents purchasers the flexibility to dip their toes in passive investing whereas sticking with a tried and true monetary identify.
On this RBC InvestEase evaluate, we’re looking at the way it compares to the very best robo advisors in Canada so that you could greatest resolve if the RBC robo advisor is best for you. We’ll dig into the small print of pricing and account choices and present you ways InvestEase stacks up in opposition to Justwealth, our prime choose for Canadian robo advisors.
RBC InvestEase Charges
We’re at all times looking out for robo advisors that provide higher worth, however RBC retains issues fairly center of the highway fee-wise. RBC InvestEase expenses a flat-rate administration charge of 0.50%, regardless of the scale of your account. That makes it straightforward to know for brand new traders, however the lack of tiered pricing implies that traders with bigger accounts are paying greater than they should.
On prime of the administration charge, you may be charged the MERs (administration expense ratios) on the ETFs in your portfolio. There are two completely different price classes for MERs relying in your portfolio. With the usual portfolio, you should have MERs between 0.11%, and 0.14%. If in case you have a accountable investing portfolio, these charges will likely be increased and vary between 0.18% and 0.23%.
Be aware that for anybody contemplating switching their funding to RBC InvestEase, they may cowl the switch charge for transfers over $15,000, as much as a complete of $200 in charges.
Nonetheless, be careful should you’re going to switch your cash to a non-RBC monetary establishment. I used to be shocked to see it will price me $150 plus gross sales taxes to maneuver funds.
RBC InvestEase Account Varieties
RBC InvestEase presents TFSAs, RRSPs, FHSAs, and non-registered accounts solely.
Whereas these 4 accounts are sometimes the commonest accounts utilized by Canadians, it’s a bit disappointing that there aren’t extra choices accessible. Different robo advisors corresponding to Justwealth, Wealthsimple, and BMO Smartfolio additionally provide RESPs, RRIFs, and LIRAs.
RBC InvestEase Portfolios
RBC InvestEase presents two completely different classes of portfolios. The usual portfolio and the accountable investing portfolio, that are then additional damaged down into 5 primary varieties of portfolios relying in your threat tolerance.
Each normal and accountable investing portfolios provide globally diversified ETFs, a administration charge of 0.50%, and embody having your account professionally rebalanced and managed by RBC InvestEase. The distinction is within the varieties of ETFs that every portfolio focuses on. In a accountable investing portfolio, RBC chooses ETFs with excessive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) components and eliminates ETFs tied to firms concerned in weapons, tobacco, or main controversies.
RBC is an trade chief in accountable investing. Since accountable portfolios are fairly particular in comparison with normal portfolios, the MERs are somewhat increased. Nonetheless, some people are unbothered by the additional charges as they really feel like they’re contributing to the higher good and the longer term.
No matter portfolio you select, RBC has the identical objective: that can assist you develop your cash.
RBC InvestEase Efficiency
RBC InvestEase has posted returns between 2.9% (very conservative portfolio) and eight.9% (aggressive development portfolio) for his or her normal portfolios and between 2.5% and 9.6% for his or her SRI portfolios. Nonetheless, please understand that there’s little actual details about the standard of investments to be gathered from these numbers, particularly within the case of a robo advisor that solely launched in 2017.
Efficiency historical past solely tells you ways issues have carried out previously, and on this case, solely within the quick time period. Investing is a protracted sport, and customarily talking, all well-diversified portfolios development the identical method ultimately. That’s why we suggest specializing in the essential index investing rules as a substitute. These embody:
- Diversification
- Asset allocation
- Indexing
- Rebalancing
- Bills
- Index Funds (ETFs)
Robo advisors all comply with these identical rules and the underlying ETF indexes are the identical so attempting to check them and gauge efficiency is, fairly frankly, a waste of time. Belief within the course of.
That being mentioned, in case you are a visible individual you possibly can take a look at your RBC InvestEase dashboard both in your desktop/laptop computer or by way of the RBC app. You’ll discover a time-weighted chart with projections in your efficiency based mostly in your contributions. Once more, understand that this isn’t assured, there are many components that may change the end result.
Totally different Portfolios Yearly Returns
And to your curiosity, we’ve put collectively a desk outlining and evaluating the previous efficiency of some portfolios from RBC InvestEase, and our top-rated robo advisor, Justwealth. The conservative comparisons are for his or her most conservative portfolios, and the expansion comparisons are for his or her most aggressive (ie. weighted most closely in equities) choices.
Conservative Portfolio Returns
| Justwealth “Conservative Progress”Asset Allocation: 80% Fastened Revenue/20% Fairness | InvestEASE “Very Conservative”Asset Allocation: 80% Fastened Revenue/20% Fairness | |
| 1 yr return | 13.72% | 6.10% |
| 3 yr return | 2.05% | 0.40% |
| 5 yr return | 4.30% | 2.30% |
Balanced Portfolio Returns
| Justwealth “Balanced Progress”Asset Allocation:40% Fastened Revenue/60% Fairness | InvestEASE “Balanced”Asset Allocation: 45% Fastened Revenue/55% Fairness | |
| 1 yr return | 17.02% | 11.20% |
| 3 yr return | 5.30% | 3.40% |
| 5 yr return | 8.52% | 6.00% |
Progress Portfolio Returns
| Justwealth “Most Progress”Asset Allocation: 100% Fairness | InvestEASE “Aggressive Progress”Asset Allocation: 2 Money/98% Fairness | |
| 1 yr return | 19.96% | 17.80% |
| 3 yr return | 7.58% | 7.40% |
| 5 yr return | 11.45% | 10.20% |
As you possibly can see above, Justwealth has had increased returns over the previous 5 years whether or not evaluating conservative, balanced, or development portfolios. Previous efficiency doesn’t assure future efficiency, however you might be curious to be taught extra in our Justwealth evaluate about how they’ve had such excessive returns.
RBC InvestEase Cell App Overview
RBC InvestEase doesn’t have its personal particular cell app. Traders can entry their portfolio data by way of the principle RBC Cell app.
This app has a 4.8 star ranking on the Apple retailer and a 3.7 star ranking on Google Play. I discovered the latest feedback on the Google retailer to be a combined bag on the subject of complaints, however there are additionally latest optimistic 4 and 5-star evaluations. The Apple retailer feedback have extra optimistic suggestions within the combine, however there are nonetheless plenty of complaints. Based mostly on the suggestions, it appears to be like like some patches and updates are wanted.
The RBC Cell app customers on the MDJ editorial group haven’t skilled any particular points, nevertheless it’s at all times good to maintain normal experiences in thoughts while you’re evaluating robo advisors. On this case, the RBC Cell app doesn’t appear to be a noteworthy promoting level so far as RBC InvestEase is worried.
RBC InvestEase vs Justwealth
So, we’ve dug into portfolio choices, charges, and efficiency. However the true query is how does RBC InvestEase examine to different robo advisors available on the market?
In the case of the massive banks, RBC is just one of two banks proper now to supply a robo advisor. The opposite choice is BMO Smartfolio. You’ll be able to learn my BMO Smartfolio evaluate right here.
With such a small area, asking how RBC compares to the massive banks isn’t useful. What you actually wish to know is how RBC InvestEase compares to Justwealth which is, palms down, our prime choose for a robo advisor. Let’s have a look.
| Robo Advisor | RBC InvestEase | Justwealth |
| Administration Charges | 0.50% | 0.40%-0.50% |
| 5-year returns (balanced portfolio) | 6.00% | 8.52% |
| MERs | 0.11%-0.14 normal portfolios 0.18%-0.23% accountable investing portfolios |
0.15%-0.75% |
| Variety of Portfolios Out there | 5 normal portfolios, 5 accountable investing portfolios | Over 80 completely different portfolios designed to develop your wealth, generate revenue, or protect your wealth |
| Customized Monetary Advisor | Advisors can be found, however they don’t seem to be assigned personally to purchasers | Sure |
| Accountable Investing (RI) or Socially Accountable (SRI) Choice | Sure, 5 RI portfolios can be found | Sure, SRI portfolios can be found |
| Minimal Deposit | $0, however your cash solely begins being invested when you may have $100. Your cash gained’t be invested in a totally diversified portfolio till your stability reaches $1500. | $5,000 (though there isn’t any minimal for RESP and FHSA accounts) |
| Account Varieties | RRSP, TFSA, FHSA, non-registered | RRSP, TFSA, FHSA, RESP, LIRA, RRIF, LIF, non-registered |
| Goal-Date RESP Funds | No | Sure |
| Promo | None | $100-$500 Immediate Money Again |
It’s no secret that Justwealth is our best choice for a robo advisor (click on right here for our full Justwealth evaluate). Should you curious why we switched to selecting it over Wealthsimple which most websites suggest, learn our Wealthsimple vs Justwealth comparability (tl;dr – significantly better efficiency).
Justwealth has 8 instances as many mannequin portfolios, whereas nonetheless providing socially accountable investing choices. Moreover, you may have many extra account kind choices.
As you possibly can see from the chart above, on the subject of charges, RBC InvestEase doesn’t look like too far behind Justwealth. Actually, the MER on some portfolios is decrease than Justwealth’s, however, as your account grows there will likely be a distinction between the administration charges of 0.40% and 0.50%.
What’s extra, with Justwealth you get entry to a customized advisor and an easy-to-use and extremely rated app and on-line platform. All of those make passive robo-investing even less complicated and extra accessible for these simply getting began!
On the finish of the day, in case you are a devoted RBC shopper and like to maintain all your monetary merchandise in a single place, and should you’re solely in search of your primary TFSA, FHSA, or RRSP accounts, then RBC InvestEase is a fairly strong alternative for you for a robo advisor.
RBC InvestEase Overview FAQ
Is RBC InvestEase The Proper Selection For Me?
RBC InvestEase is a dependable robo-advisor, which is why it’s included in our record of the very best robo advisors in Canada. Their funding portfolios for accountable investing are wonderful, and they’re backed by over 150 years of belief with Canadians.
Should you’re new to robo advisors and like the reassurance of a widely known financial institution identify, or should you’re already an RBC shopper desirous to consolidate your accounts in a single place, then RBC InvestEase is unquestionably value contemplating.
Nonetheless, whereas we do suggest RBC InvestEase, it doesn’t prime our record. Its charge construction might be much less favorable for purchasers with bigger investments, and it lacks the varied account choices supplied by our best choice. For passive investing in Canada, we nonetheless suggest Justwealth as the most suitable choice.
