Retail Brokerage and Distribution Report—Canada Fall 2019

Markets Up, Commissions Down: Will Trends in the U.S. Online Brokerage Industry Come to Canada?

Our feature research in this issue of the Retail Brokerage and Distribution Report examines the key factors and events leading to Charles Schwab seizing victory in the long-followed race to zero in the U.S. online brokerage world.  The strategic jostling and tactical actions sent shockwaves through the direct-distribution landscape in the U.S., has reverberated here in Canada.

Leveraging our deep and historic industry fact base as well as discussions with senior executives here in Canada, this report addresses many questions for Canadian online brokerage firms. When, or will, zero-commission models come to Canada? What are the competitive and economic implications if they do? Can the current structure of the online brokerage business, relative to what is in place south of the border, support a similar shift?

This feature is important reading not only for all dealers operating in the direct distribution space, but also for advice-based distributors and asset managers who are experiencing growing pricing pressures exacerbated by regulatory scrutiny and competitive forces that are increasingly crossing traditional channel barriers.