CIBC Investor’s Edge
Good for: Lower cost trading from a big-bank platform
What we like
CIBC Investor’s Edge offers lower-cost trading than many competitors, in particular other big-bank platforms. In addition, it’s easier to avoid the typical account maintenance fee for non-registered accounts, since you only need $10,000 in your account to have the fee waived. The platform itself doesn’t tend to get rave reviews, but for investors at ease with doing their own research and placing trades, the lower fees could make up for that. Read our full CIBC Investor’s Edge review.
Trading commission:
$6.95 (for online equity trades)
Account maintenance fee:
$100/year for non-regiestered accounts
Waived if: market balance of your account is greater than $10,000.
Our Bottom Line
CIBC Investor’s Edge offers lower-cost online trading than many competitors, in particular other big-bank platforms. In addition, it’s easier to avoid the typical account maintenance fee for non-registered accounts, since you only need more than $10,000 in your account to have the fee waived. CIBC’s interface is simple and usable, with links to all core account features available from the top navigation bar. Overall, it’s a solid online brokerage for beginners and experienced investors alike. Plus, for a limited time, customers can get up to $2,000 cash back for transferring $10,000 or more into their Investor’s Edge account.
CIBC’s Top Feature
You don’t need to dig deep for the top feature of CIBC Investor’s Edge: it’s the highly-competitive, flat $6.95 pricing for online equity and ETF trades. When you’re investing and aiming to compound your wealth, every dollar that doesn’t go to a broker fee or commission is a dollar that can continue to compound for you. And that can add up.
As attractive as $6.95 is, your commissions will be even lower if you’re a student and have a CIBC Smart™ Account for students. Then it’s $5.95 per trade. And if you trade more than 150 times per quarter, you can enroll as an active trade and qualify for $4.95-per-trade pricing.
CIBC Commission Prices
CIBC Investor’s Edge boasts some of the lowest fees among the major banks. As mentioned above, stocks and ETFs cost just $6.95 per trade, and mutual funds are commission-free. And also as mentioned above, there’s lower pricing tiers available for students and active traders.
There is a $100 per annum account maintenance fee but it is waived for account balances over $10,000 for non-registered accounts. Even if you’re starting your investing journey with just a few hundred dollars, you could hit a $10,000 balance quickly with regular contributions. This makes CIBC Investor’s Edge an affordable option, even for new investors.
Cash-back offer
Though you should choose a broker mainly on the strength of its platform offering and how its commission structure meets your needs, a cash-back offer certainly doesn’t hurt.
Until March 1, 2022, CIBC Investor’s Edge customers can get up to $2,000 in cash back for transferring funds into their CIBC IE account. Here’s how it breaks down:
- $2,000 for transferring in $1,000,000 or more
- $1,000 for transferring in $500,000 to $999,999
- $500 for transferring in $100,000 to $499,999
- $200 for transferring in $50,000 to $99,999
- $100 for transferring in $25,000 to $49,999
- $50 for transferring in $10,000 to $24,999
Get full details on this offer directly on CIBC’s website.
User Interface
The CIBC Investor’s Edge UI is simple, intuitive and easy to use. The colour scheme features a white background, black text, and red links/highlights. It’s an aesthetically pleasing interface that is easy to read and navigate. The layout is logical and easy to follow as well. All of the main account features are linked in the navigation bar at the top of the screen. When you hover over one of these features, a sub-navigation bar appears immediately below it with more detailed options. It’s a logical, straightforward layout that leaves little room for confusion or slowing down your investing.
CIBC Investor’s Edge is has five main account sections:
- Account information. Basic account info including account holdings, account performance, transaction history, news and notes, and e-documents.
- Trading. All of your trading options, including stocks, ETFs, fixed incomes, and options.
- Cash transfers. Easily transfer cash from your CIBC bank account to your brokerage account.
- Order status. Basic information on whether your order was filled, when it was filled, and at what price it was filled.
- Quotes and research. The hub for all of CIBC’s market report and third-party data, including stocks, indices, exchange rates, and your personalized watch lists.
CIBC’s Research Tools
No brokerage is complete without a suite of research tools to help you make informed investing decisions. CIBC Investor’s Edge excels in this regard, offering a full array of tools, including:
- Screening tools. Stock screener that filters out stocks based on criteria of your choosing, to create the portfolio that’s right for you. Screens include price, ratios, volume/volatility, and more.
- Technical analysis. Up to date technical charts on all of your favourite stocks and ETFs. Includes the popular Morning Report newsletter with daily updates before the market open, as well as other newsletters covering the technology, energy and financial sectors, and ETFs.
- Research reports. Includes reports from CIBC World Markets as well as industry-leading research firms like Morningstar.
- Custom watchlists. Build your watchlists inside ‘My Watch Lists’ and track your favourite stocks on the page.
Overall, it’s a pretty comprehensive suite of research and analysis tools that provides something for everyone.
What to Watch Out For
As we’ve seen so far, CIBC Investor’s Edge is a comprehensive online brokerage with low fees and all the tools investors expect. It’s a great all around platform for beginners and expert investors alike. That being said, there are a few things to watch out for:
- The fees, while lower than average, are not the lowest you will find anywhere. A no-fee app might be more suitable for very small investors taking positions of $100 or less.
- The user interface is quite basic and lacks the “fun” atmosphere that some of the newer trading apps offer. I’ll note that you certainly don’t need a “fun” or flashy app to get started investing, but as long as you’re investing responsibly there’s nothing wrong with having fun in the mix as well!
Service and Support
One area where CIBC Investor’s Edge stands out is service and support. Customers can get support by virtually every modern communication channel, including:
- Phone.
- Online chat with an automated agent or live agent.
- Mail.
- E-mail.
- A website contact form.
The company even offers special Mandarin and Cantonese support by phone through the Asian trading desk!
Is CIBC Investor’s Edge a Good Choice for You?
For many investors, the answer to that question will be “yes”. The combination of low fees, commission-free mutual fund trades and low-to-no account maintenance fees makes for a very appealing overall package. Additionally, CIBC’s user interface is straightforward and easy to use, making it approachable for investors of all experience levels.
One thing to keep in mind is that while CIBC’s trading commissions are low, they are not non-existent. For this reason, Investor’s Edge might not be the ideal platform for beginner investors taking very small positions of $100 or less.
CIBC Investor’s Edge
Good for: Lower cost trading from a big-bank platform
What we like
CIBC Investor’s Edge offers lower-cost trading than many competitors, in particular other big-bank platforms. In addition, it’s easier to avoid the typical account maintenance fee for non-registered accounts, since you only need $10,000 in your account to have the fee waived. The platform itself doesn’t tend to get rave reviews, but for investors at ease with doing their own research and placing trades, the lower fees could make up for that. Read our full CIBC Investor’s Edge review.
Trading commission:
$6.95 (for online equity trades)
Account maintenance fee:
$100/year for non-regiestered accounts
Waived if: market balance of your account is greater than $10,000.
Some offers on The Motley Fool are from our partners — it’s part of how we make money and keep this site going. But does that impact our reviews? Nope. Our commitment is to you. If a product isn’t any good, our review will reflect that, or we won’t list it at all. Also, while we aim to feature the best products available, we do not review every product on the market.