Wealthsimple

Based in Toronto, Wealthsimple is a hybrid investment management platform that allows individuals to invest in diversified portfolios, according to their risk profiles. The company launched the robo-advisory platform in Canada in 2014, and expanded into the UK and US in 2017. Wealthsimple sold its US-based clients to Betterment in March 2021. In September 2020, Wealthsimple also sold its B2B robo advisory platform—called Wealthsimple For Advisors—to Purpose Advisor Solutions. Further, in December 2021, it sold its UK business book to Moneyfarm, following its decision to cease its UK operations and focus on the Canadian market.

The company’s robo-advisory platform features access to financial advisors, automatic portfolio rebalancing, tax loss harvesting, and dividend reinvestment. Over the years, the company has also added other services to help individuals achieve their financial goals such as high-yield saving accounts, commission-free trading, crypto trading, and automatic investing of spare change. In December 2021, it also announced plans to launch Wealthsimple Trade Plus—a new subscription service for trading US stocks with no currency conversion fees—in January 2022. As of 2021, the company has more than USD 3 billion in assets under management (AUM).

The basic subscription requires zero minimum account balance and charges a 0.5% annual fee—the same rate as Toronto-based competitor Justwealth. To access financial advisors and more advanced features such as financial planning sessions, the platform requires a higher minimum account balance of USD 100,000 with a reduced annual fee of 0.4%. Wealthsimple Trade Plus is expected to have a monthly subscription fee of CAD 10 (~USD 8).

In May 2021, the company raised CAD 750 million (USD 610 million) in funding led by Meritech and Greylock, at a post-money valuation of CAD 5 billion (USD 4 billion). The funding will be directed towards developing new products and expanding the company's workforce.