Wealthsimple FAQs

Yes! All our investment saving accounts in our Smart Savings product list are covered by SIPC insurance up to $500,000 with principal and returns combined.What is SIPC insurance coverage? When you invest with Wealthsimple, your assets are held in custody with our brokerage partners at Apex Clearing Corporation, a clearing services firm. Apex is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corp (SIPC), which is the non-profit organization that protects the customers of brokers or dealers from loss in case of financial failure of the broker or dealer. SIPC insures investments up to $500,000 in securities for each type of account you hold with Wealthsimple in case of any failure or default by our brokerage partner. Your investments with Smart Savings will be protected up to $500,000, and you will also have access to additional coverage beyond that if required.

Our Relationship Management team is your one-stop shop for Wealthsimple support. They can answer any of your questions regarding account opening and funding, and help you out if you're stuck. If you have questions about your application, investment portfolio, or financial plan that our Relationship Managers can't answer, they'll put you in touch with one of our experienced Portfolio Managers. You can reach your Relationship Management team by phone at or email [email protected].

You can give us a call between 9:00 am and 8:00 pm (EST) Monday through Thursday, or between 9:00 am and 5:30 pm (EST) on Fridays!

Investor type

Our Conservative portfolios have around 30% equity allocation. These have been designed for aconservative investor desiringa slightly largerequity component. If youprefer stability and a modest return, this portfolio is for you. Youshouldbe willing to accept that there areshort-term market fluctuationsbut also hold a long-term perspective.

Non-Registered Portfolio Performance

We've modeled a 35% non-registered equity portfolio below. This portfolio has grown by 15.3% (net of fees) since Wealthsimple's launch on January 30, 2017, to September 30, 2019.

Period

Performance (Cumulative)

1m

0.2%

3m

0.6%

6m

3.3%

1yr

5.1%

Inception

15.3%

Inception (annualized)

5.3%

Year

Performance

2017

9.0%

2018

-4.0%

2019

10.2%

Breakdown

Your non-registered (ie. Taxable/personal) portfolio will be invested in the following funds:

iShares National Municipal Bond ETF

MUB

34.50%

Vanguard Total Bond Market

BND

20.50%

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF

VTI

15.50%

Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF

VGK

6.50%

VanEck Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF

ANGL

6.50%

Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF

VBR

5.00%

iShares TIPS Bond

TIP

3.50%

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF

VWO

3.00%

WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund

DXJ

2.50%

Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF

VOE

2.50%

The MER of this portfolio is 0.17%

The 12 month dividend yield of this portfolio is 3.01%

Registered Portfolio Performance

We've modeled a 35% registered equity portfolio below. This portfolio has grown by 14.9% (net of fees) since Wealthsimple's launch on January 30, 2017 to September 30, 2019.

Period

Performance (Cumulative)

1m

0.2%

3m

0.9%

6m

3.9%

1yr

5.4%

Inception

14.9%

Inception (annualized)

5.2%

Year

Performance

2017

8.6%

2018

-4.3%

2019

10.6%

Breakdown

Your registered (ie.IRA) portfolio will be invested in the following funds:

Vanguard Total Bond Market

BND

55.00%

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF

VTI

15.50%

Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF

VGK

6.50%

VanEck Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF

ANGL

6.50%

Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF

VBR

5.00%

iShares TIPS Bond

TIP

3.50%

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF

VWO

3.00%

WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund

DXJ

2.50%

Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF

VOE

2.50%

The MER of this portfolio is 0.10%

The 12 month dividend yield of this portfolio is 2.52%

Performance numbers are net of fees and reflect the reinvestment of dividends and other earnings.

Investor type

Our balanced portfolios aresuitable for an investor with low-to-medium risk tolerance. If you are relatively cautious with your capitalbut are willing to seeka return commensurate with reasonable risk, this portfolio is for you.

Non-Registered Portfolio Performance

We've modeled a 50% non-registered equity portfolio below. The portfolio has grown by 16.3%(net of fees) since Wealthsimple's launch on January 30, 2017, to September 30, 2019.

Period

Performance (Cumulative)

1m

0.7%

3m

0.4%

6m

3.2%

1yr

3.4%

Inception

16.3%

Inception (annualized)

5.6%

Year

Performance

2017

11.2%

2018

-6.0%

2019

11.3%

Breakdown

Your non-registered (Personal) portfolio will be invested in the following funds:

iShares National Municipal Bond ETF

MUB

26.50%

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF

VTI

22.00%

Vanguard Total Bond Market

BND

16.00%

Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF

VGK

9.50%

Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF

VBR

7.00%

VanEck Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF

ANGL

5.00%

Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF

VOE

4.00%

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF

VWO

4.00%

WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund

DXJ

3.50%

iShares TIPS Bond

TIP

2.50%

The MER of this portfolio is 0.15%

The 12 month dividend yield of this portfolio is 2.85%

Registered Portfolio Performance

We've modeled a 50% registered equity portfolio below. The portfolio has grown by 16.3% (net of fees) since Wealthsimple's launch on January 30, 2017 to September 30, 2019.

Period

Performance (Cumulative)

1m

0.7%

3m

0.6%

6m

3.6%

1yr

3.9%

Inception

16.3%

Inception (annualized)

5.6%

Year

Performance

2017

10.9%

2018

-6.2%

2019

11.9%

Breakdown

Your registered (ie. IRAs) portfolio will be invested in the following funds:

Vanguard Total Bond Market

BND

42.50%

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF

VTI

22.00%

Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF

VGK

9.50%

Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF

VBR

7.00%

VanEck Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF

ANGL

5.00%

Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF

VOE

4.00%

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF

VWO

4.00%

WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund

DXJ

3.50%

iShares TIPS Bond

TIP

2.50%

The MER of this portfolio is 0.10%

The 12 month dividend yield of this portfolio is 2.47%

Investor type

Our Growthportfolios range from 75-90% equity and are designed for an individual with medium-to-high risk tolerance. If you can bear market fluctuations with relative ease and understand that there can be short-term periods of poor performance, this portfolio is for you.

Non-Registered Portfolio Performance

We've modeled an 80% non-registered equity portfolio below. This portfolio has grown by 19.8% (net of fees) since Wealthsimple's launch on January 30, 2017, to September 30, 2019.

Period

Performance (Cumulative)

1m

1.6%

3m

-0.1%

6m

2.8%

1yr

1.0%

Inception

19.8%

Inception (annualized)

6.7%

Year

Performance

2017

15.5%

2018

-8.8%

2019

13.6%

Breakdown

Your non-registered (ie. Taxable/Personal) portfolio will be invested in the following funds:

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF

VTI

35.50%

Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF

VGK

15.00%

Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF

VBR

11.50%

Vanguard Total Bond Market

BND

8.00%

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF

VWO

6.50%

iShares National Muni Bond ETF

MUB

12.00%

Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF

VOE

6.00%

WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund

DXJ

5.50%

The MER of this portfolio is 0.12%

The 12 month dividend yield of this portfolio is 2.49%

Registered Portfolio Performance

We've modeled an 80% registered registered portfolio below. This portfolio has grown by 19.8% (net of fees) since Wealthsimple's launch on January 30, 2017 to September 30, 2019.

Period

Performance (Cumulative)

1m

1.6%

3m

0.0%

6m

3.0%

1yr

1.3%

Inception

19.8%

Inception (annualized)

6.8%

Year

Performance

2017

15.4%

2018

-8.8%

2019

13.9%

Breakdown:

Your registered (ie. IRA) portfolio will be invested in the following funds:

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF

VTI

35.50%

Vanguard Total Bond Market

BND

20.00%

Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF

VGK

15.00%

Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF

VBR

11.50%

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF

VWO

6.50%

Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF

VOE

6.00%

WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund

DXJ

5.50%

The MER of this portfolio is 0.1%

The 12 month dividend yield of this portfolio is 2.31%

Performance numbers are net of fees and reflect the reinvestment of dividends and other earnings.

Investor type

Our Conservative portfolios have around 30% equity allocation. These have been designed for aconservative investor desiringa slightly largerequity component. If youprefer stability and amodest return, this portfolio is for you. Youshouldbe willing to accept that there areshort-term market fluctuationsbut also hold a long-term perspective.

Performance

We've modelled a 35% equity portfolio below. This portfolio has grown by 16%(net of fees)since Wealthsimple's launch on January 30, 2017, to September 30, 2019.

Period

Performance (Cumulative)

1m

0.1%

3m

1.0%

6m

4.1%

1yr

6.5%

Inception

16.0%

Inception (annualized)

5.5%

Year

Performance

2017

8.6%

2018

-3.3%

2019

10.4%

Breakdown

Your portfolio will be invested in the following funds:

iShares MSCI ACQI Low Carbon Target ETF

CRBN

Global stocks with a lower carbon exposure than the broader market

20.3%

PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio

PZD

Cleantech innovators in the developed world.

4.4%

iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF

DSI

U.S. stocks that have positive environmental, social and governance characteristics.

4.9%

SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF

SHE

U.S. stocks that demonstrate greater gender diversity within senior leadership than other firms in their sector.

5.4%

PowerShares Build America Bond Portfolio

BAB

US dollar-denominated taxable municipal debt publicly issued by US states and territories, and their political subdivisions, in the US market.

26.3%

iShares GNMA Bond ETF

GNMA

US mortgage-backed pass-through securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association.

38.7%

The MER of this portfolio is 0.22% and the management fee of this portfolio is 0.50%

The dividend yield (trailing 12 months) of this portfolio is 2.57%

Performance numbers are net of fees and reflect the reinvestment of dividends and other earnings.

Investor type

Our balanced portfolios aresuitable for an investor with low-to-medium risk tolerance. If you are relatively cautious with your capitalbut are willing to seeka return commensurate with reasonable risk, this portfolio is for you.

Performance

We've modelled a 50% equity portfolio below. The portfolio has grown by 18.2% (net of fees) since Wealthsimple's launch on January 30, 2017, to September 30, 2019.

Period

Performance (Cumulative)

1m

0.6%

3m

0.7%

6m

4.0%

1yr

4.9%

Inception

18.2%

Inception (annualized)

6.2%

Year

Performance

2017

11.0%

2018

-5.1%

2019

12.2%

Breakdown

Your portfolio will be invested in the following funds:

iShares MSCI ACQI Low Carbon Target ETF

CRBN

Global stocks with a lower carbon exposure than the broader market

29.0%

PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio

PZD

Cleantech innovators in the developed world.

6.2%

iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF

DSI

U.S. stocks that have positive environmental, social and governance characteristics.

7.0%

SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF

SHE

U.S. stocks that demonstrate greater gender diversity within senior leadership than other firms in their sector.

7.8%

PowerShares Build America Bond Portfolio

BAB

US dollar-denominated taxable municipal debt publicly issued by US states and territories, and their political subdivisions, in the US market.

20.3%

iShares GNMA Bond ETF

GNMA

US mortgage-backed pass-through securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association.

29.7%

The indicated dividend yield of this portfolio is 2.38%

The MER of this portfolio is 0.22% and the management fee of this portfolio is 0.50%

Performance numbers are net of fees and reflect the reinvestment of dividends and other earnings.

Investor type

Our growthportfolios range from 75-90% equity and are designed for an individual with medium-to-high risk tolerance. If you can bear market fluctuations with relative ease and understand that there can be short-term periods of poor performance, this portfolio is for you.

Performance

We've modelled an 80% equity portfolio below. This portfolio has grown by a cumulative 23.2% (net of fees) since it was launch on January 30, 2017, to September 30, 2019.

Period

Performance (Cumulative)

1m

1.5%

3m

0.2%

6m

3.8%

1yr

2.5%

Inception

23.2%

Inception (annualized)

7.8%

Year

Performance

2017

16.0%

2018

-7.7%

2019

15.0%

Breakdown

Your portfolio will be invested in the following funds:

iShares MSCI ACQI Low Carbon Target ETF

CRBN

Global stocks with a lower carbon exposure than the broader market

46.4%

PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio

PZD

Cleantech innovators in the developed world.

9.9%

iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF

DSI

U.S. stocks that have positive environmental, social and governance characteristics.

11.3%

SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF

SHE

U.S. stocks that demonstrate greater gender diversity within senior leadership than other firms in their sector.

12.4%

PowerShares Build America Bond Portfolio

BAB

US dollar-denominated taxable municipal debt publicly issued by US states and territories, and their political subdivisions, in the US market.

8.1%

iShares GNMA Bond ETF

GNMA

US mortgage-backed pass-through securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association.

11.9%

The MER of this portfolio is 0.23% and the management fee of this portfolio is 0.50%

The indicated dividend yield of this portfolio is 1.99%

Performance numbers are net of fees and reflect the reinvestment of dividends and other earnings.

Investor type

The Halal Growth Portfolio consists of 50 stocks, which are a subset of the MSCI ACWI Islamic Index. MSCI selects the 50 stocks from the ACWI index to mimic the characteristics of the index. In the Halal Growth Portfolio, weve simulated performance with a recommended 20% cash holding; 80% of the portfolio, therefore, consists of 50 stocks and the other 20% is in cash. This portfolio is designed for an individual with medium-to-high risk tolerance. If you can bear market fluctuations with relative ease and understand that there will be periods of poor performance, thisportfolio is for you.

Performance

We've modelled the Halal Growth portfolio below. This portfolio has grown by 13.1%(net of fees) since its launch on August 23rd, 2017, to September 30, 2019.

check this link.

Period

Performance (Cumulative)

1m

1.3%

3m

-2.2%

6m

-0.8%

1yr

-0.4%

Inception

13.1%

Inception (annualized)

5.8%

Year

Performance

2017

6.2%

2018

-2.4%

2019

9.1%

Breakdown

To see all of the stocks included in the Halal Portfolio, please

Investor type

The Halal Balanced Portfolio consists of 50 stocks, which are a subset of the MSCI ACWI Islamic Index. MSCI selects the 50 stocks from the ACWI index to mimic the characteristics of the index.In the Halal Balanced Portfolio, weve simulated performance with a recommended 50% cash holding; 50% of the portfolio, therefore, consists of 50 stocks and the other 50% is in cash. This portfolio is designed for an individual with medium-to-high risk tolerance. If you are relatively cautious with your capitalbut are willing to seeka return commensurate with reasonable risk, this portfolio is for you.

Performance

We've modelled the Halal Balanced portfolio below. This portfolio has grown by 8.0% (net of fees) since its launch on August 23rd, 2017, to September 30, 2019.

check this link.

Period

Performance (Cumulative)

1m

1.0%

3m

-1.2%

6m

-0.4%

1yr

-0.1%

Inception

8.0%

Inception (annualized)

3.6%

Year

Performance

2017

3.8%

2018

-1.6%

2019

5.7%

Breakdown

To see all of the stocks included in the Halal Portfolio, please

Investor type

The Halal Conservative Portfolio consists of 50 stocks, which are a subset of the MSCI ACWI Islamic Index. MSCI selects the 50 stocks from the ACWI index to mimic the characteristics of the index. In the Halal Conservative Portfolio, weve simulated performance with a recommended 65% cash holding; 35% of the portfolio, therefore, consists of 50 stocks and the other 65% is in cash.If youprefer stability and a modest return, this portfolio is for you. Youshouldbe willing to accept thatthere areshort-term market fluctuationsbut also hold a long-term perspective.

Performance

We've modelled the Halal Conservative portfolio below. This portfolio has grown by 5.4% (net of fees) since its launch on August 23rd, 2017, to September 30, 2019.

check this link.

Period

Performance (Cumulative)

1m

0.7%

3m

-0.9%

6m

-0.3%

1yr

-0.1%

Inception

5.4%

Inception (annualized)

2.4%

Year

Performance

2017

2.6%

2018

-1.1%

2019

3.9%

Breakdown

To see all of the stocks included in the Halal Portfolio, please

We're sorry to see you leave Wealthsimple but we understand that sometimes plans change and you may need to move your account elsewhere. We're happy to say that we do not charge any fees to transfer out your account!Initiating the transfer outThat being said, all transfers outmust be initiated by the receiving institution(the institution to which you are moving your account to). They will have their own transfer form for you to complete and sign, and they will initiate the transfer out with our clearing firm, Apex Clearing. Here are some details they may request:

Clearing Firm: Apex Clearing

DTC/ACATS Clearing Number: 0158

Phone:

Fax: 631-274-8210

Email: [email protected]

Address: Apex Clearing Corporation, Securities Processing, 350 N. St Paul Str, Ste 1300 Dallas, TX 75201

You will also need your account number which you can find on any of your account or trade confirmation statements or on page two of the Investor Policy Statement. Different transfer typesWhen transferring accounts, institutions can send transfer requests through different delivery channels. If your institution is ACATS eligible, the request must be submitted via ACATS. Otherwise, we accept transfer requests via email, fax or mail. It will take approximately 2-4 weeks for your funds to be transferred out, but if there are any delays with the transfer, we will contact your institution directly. At that point, they will need to coordinate with you to resolve any issues before the transfer out can be completed.It is also important to note that once your transfer out has been initiated, you will no longer be able to withdraw funds from that account given that we will be preparing it to be sent to your institution.If you have any other questions about transferring out your account, please let us know by reaching out via phone at +1 (855) 782-3559 or email us at [email protected].

With Wealthsimple, you can have your funds invested in as little as 48 hours.

Registration:With our seamless onboarding process, you can set up your account and initiate a funds transfer in under 15 minutes.

Deposits:Deposits from your bank account are processed overnight. Once your bank details are verified, your deposit will be processed within 2 hours.

Trading:Once received, we'll invest your money and have your portfolio visible online within 48 hours.

Institutional Transfers

Transferring an existing investment account to Wealthsimple can take up to 4-5 weeks. We're working hard to make these transfers faster; however, they're heavily dependent on the time it takes your current institution to respond to the transfer request.

My funds haven't been traded or transferred and it's passed the timeline stated above. What do I do?

1. There are a few things to note with the timelines above. The first is that these timelines may be extended if you just opened your account or if you are funding your account for the first time:The first is that these timelines may be extended if you just opened your account or if you are funding your account for the first time. Please allow 1-2 additional business days to the times above if this is the first time you are funding your account.Deposits and withdrawals are only processed on weekdays. Any transfer requests scheduled for the weekend will be processed the following Monday.

We update account values once per day. This means the function may be completed but not reflecting on your dashboard until the following day's update.2. In some cases, we require additional information to open your account or verify your bank before we can perform the functions above. Please check the email address your Wealthsimple account is registered with to see if you've received any account updates from our support team.3. If one of the functions above is still taking longer than expected, please create a request for our Relationship Management team.

Certain Wealthsimple features, such as e-signing your documents, require your browser to accept third-party cookies. Cookies are pieces of data stored by web browsers that websites and applications can use to remember a web browser from one request to the next. They allow features like shopping carts and user account logins to function.Many web browsers make a distinction between first-party and third-party cookies. First-party cookies are created by the web server identified by the address shown in the browser's address bar. Third-party cookies can be created when content is loaded from domains other than the one shown in the address bar. In Wealthsimple's case, we use a third-party, Docusign, to manage our e-signature process. Some browsers allow users to decide whether or not the third-party cookies should be accepted. To configure your browser to allow third-party cookies, follow the instructions for your chosen browser. If you have an ad blocker installed on your browser, it may also block third-party cookies from being accepted. If this is the case, you can simply turn it off temporarily and then turn it back on once you've completed signing your documents.

Safari

1. Click Safari in the menu bar. 2. Click Preferences... 3. Click the Privacy panel. 4.Ensure the options Prevent cross-site tracking and Block all cookies are not selected 5. Log in to your Wealthsimple account

Internet Explorer

1. Click the cog/tools menu icon in the upper right of the window. 2. Click Internet Options. 3. Click the Privacy tab. 4. Click Sites 5. In the Address of website field enter [*].wealthsimple.com. Be sure to include the square brackets before and after the asterisk. 6. Click Allow, then OK.

Chrome

1. Click the menu icon in the upper right side of the browser window. 2. Click Settings. 3. Click Show advanced settings... 4. Click Content settings... 5. Ensure the option Allow local data to be set (recommended) is selected. 6.Click Manage exceptions... 7.In the field labeled Hostname pattern enter [*.]wealthsimple.com. Be sure to include the square brackets before and after the asterisk. 8.Leave the Behavior drop down set to Allow, then click Done.

Firefox

1. Click the menu icon. 2. Open the Options window.

For Windows users, click Options.

For Mac OS users, click Preferences...

3. Click the Privacy panel. 4. In the History section, select Firefox will: Remember history.

If you run into problems or have additional questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our client success team !

How and when do I receive my Priority Pass membership?

Once your Wealthsimple accounts surpass the cumulative $100,000 net deposit mark, you should receive an email within 7 days from Wealthsimple with an invitation code and link to a registration page. Click the link and follow the prompts to register for your Priority Pass. Once you're registered, you'll get access to VIP airline lounges around the world. Priority Pass will also send you a physical access card by mail in 3-5 weeks, but you don't have to wait for it to arrive to start using the lounge if you download your digital pass.Search for Priority Pass in the Google Play Store or iOS App Store and log in to access your digital pass. Enjoy!

Does my Priority Pass expire?

Your Priority Pass is valid for 12 months from the date you register for it. The Priority Pass program is renewed on a year-to-year basis.

Clients who received a Priority Pass and who have maintained their Wealthsimple Black status will have the validity of their pass extended for an additional 12 months from the date it expires automatically. Clients may not delay the automatic renewal of the pass.

How does my Priority Pass work? Do I have to pay?

Your Priority Pass grants you entry into 1,000 lounges around the world - and it's totally free! All you have to do is show your pass when you arrive.

Are there any restrictions to where and how often I can use the pass?

As of October 1, 2019, your Priority Pass covers Black clients for up to 10 visits that can be used by you and guests that youre travelling with. For example, if you bring two friends to the lounge with you, that counts as 3 of your 10 annual visits. Onceyou'veused up all of your complimentary visits, any additional visits will automatically be charged to the credit card you have on file with Priority Pass. Its your responsibility to keep track of the number of visits you take you can do so easily through the Priority Pass website or app. Using your Priority Pass card, you'll have access to 1,000+ airport lounges in more than 500 cities globally for both you personally. Visit PriorityPass.com for details on member benefits and where to find a lounge for your next trip.

This change in service offering has no effect on Wealthsimple Generation clients. All Generation clients will continue to receive Passes containing access for one guest and unlimited annual use.

If I'm travelling with someone, can they come with me to the airport lounge?

Yes! Weve made our Priority Pass offering even more flexible, so you can share it with whoever youre travelling with. That means your 10 priority pass visits can be split between you and the guests youre travelling with. Remember, each guest you bring will count as 1 visit. Onceyou'veused up all of your complimentary visits, any additional visits will automatically be charged to the credit card you have on file with Priority Pass. Its your responsibility to keep track of the number of visits you take you can do so easily through the Priority Pass website or app.

This change in service offering has no effect on Wealthsimple Generation clients. All Generation clients will continue to receive Passes containing access for one guest and unlimited annual use.

Can my Priority Pass access be transferred or shared?

The Priority Pass card is only for Wealthsimple Black and Generation members. The pass cannot be transferred or shared with another person.

How do I find a Priority Pass lounge?

You can find a lounge for your next trip by entering the city, airport name or airport code on the Priority Pass website. And when you receive your Priority Pass card in the mail, it will come with instructions on how to download a handy app to help you find participating lounges wherever you are. Enjoy!

I'm travelling soon and would like a Priority Pass!

We must receive over $100,000 in net deposits before we can issue you a Priority Pass invitation and are unable to make exceptions. Sticking to the rules will help us continue to offer awesome perks like Priority Pass to our Wealthsimple Black clients.Transfers of Existing AccountsThe above holds true for institutional transfers that will put you across the $100,000 in net deposits as well - while an institutional transfer may be requested we must receive the funds from the transfer before we can provide you with a Priority Pass! Please keep in mind that on average institutional transfers can take 4 weeks to complete being processed. If you have travel plans you wish to have a Priority Pass for we highly recommend you plan ahead. Deposits / Electronic Funds Transfers If you are depositing enough funds to cross the $100,000 in net deposits via a bank account that is currently linked with your Wealthsimple profile please note that it can take approximately 2 business days to receive these funds. If the bank account you'd like to deposit funds from is not yet linked it can take an additional 2 business days to receive the deposit while we verify your banking information. If you are beginning an entirely new Wealthsimple profile and submitting a deposit as described above the entire process from beginning a Wealthsimple profile to successfully receiving a deposit can take approximately 7 business days.

Can I delay the activation date on my Priority Pass?

You can! When we issue you an invitation code for a Priority Pass you can choose to register your code at any time before the end of the calendar year! The 12 months of validity for the Priority Pass begins on the date you use your invitation code to register for a pass!

It's been over a week since my net deposits crossed the $100,000 threshold and I still haven't received my Priority Pass! What do I do?

First, check to ensure you have $100,000 in net deposits with us and not just $100,000 in account value! If you wish to know how to calculate you're overall net deposits / check you're a Wealthsimple Black client check out our FAQ here. If you are a Wealthsimple Black client and do not believe you've received your Priority Pass code please reach out to [email protected] for assistance!

My Priority Pass doesn't seem to be working and/or I'm having trouble singing into my Priority Pass account- who should I contact?

Unfortunately, Wealthsimple isn't able to provide assistance with your Priority Pass aside from providing you with your invitation code! If you run into any difficulties with accessing or using your Priority Pass please reach out to Priority Pass directly! Their contact information is provided below. Website: https://www.prioritypass.com/ Email: [email protected]:

Every IRA owner is eligible to make a withdrawal from their IRA without having to have to pay the 10% additional tax on up to $10,000 of distributions you receive to buy, build, or rebuild a first home. To qualify for treatment as a first-time home buyer distribution, the distribution must meet all the following requirements:

It must be used to pay qualified acquisition costs (defined next) before the close of the 120th day after the day you received it.

It must be used to pay qualified acquisition costs for the main home of a first-time home buyer (defined below) who is any of the following.

Yourself.

Your spouse.

Your or your spouse's child.

Your or your spouse's grandchild.

Your or your spouse's parent or other ancestor.

When added to all your prior qualified first-time home buyer distributions, if any, total qualifying distributions cannot be more than $10,000.

If both you and your spouse are first-time home buyers (defined later), each of you can receive distributions up to $10,000 for a first home without having to pay the 10% additional tax, but will still be subject to ordinary income taxes. How do I actually request the withdrawal? Withdrawing for the purchase of your first home is as easy as visiting our Withdrawals Page and requesting a withdrawal of up to $10,000.How do I claim my exemption for the first time home buyer withdrawal when filing my taxes?You must use Form 5329 to report the tax on early distributions. There will be a section to input early withdrawals that are penalty free. You can add up to 10,000 in this box for your first time home buyer's withdrawals.

When the TFSA was created in 2009, the government allowed Canadian adults (18+) to contribute $5,000 per year in the account. But this amount was subject to inflation (the increase in the average cost of life). In 2013, when inflation had increased enough, the contribution limit increased to $5,500 per year - today's current yearly contribution limit. The one historical exception to this yearly limit is in 2015, where the government changed the limit to $10,000 per year but decided to reverse the idea the following year. Complicated, right? Don't worry, here's a visual aid to help you understand your contribution room.

Contribution Room

Year

TFSA Annual Limit

Cumulative Total

2009

$5,000

$5,000

2010

$5,000

$10,000

2011

$5,000

$15,000

2012

$5,000

$20,000

2013

$5,500

$25,500

2014

$5,500

$31,000

2015

$10,000

$41,000

2016

$5,500

$46,500

2017

$5,500

$52,000

2018

$5,500

$57,500

So how much money can you contribute today if you were a Canadian citizen since 2009 and never funded a TFSA before?

How old are you?

Available Room

18

$5,500

19

$11,000

20

$21,000

21

$26,500

22

$32,000

23

$37,000

24

$42,000

25

$47,000

26

$52,000

27

$57,500

Warning: make sure you don't over-contribute to a TFSA. If you go over your limit, you'll be penalized 1% per month on the over-contributions. Don't worry, Wealthsimple can help you track your contributions so you never have to worry about going over your limit. Just click on your Wealthsimple TFSA and click on "Set Up Tracking" to get started.

using an RRSP

Great, so now that you know the rules around the contributions, here's how much you should be putting aside. Although it's not always easy, we recommend saving about 20% of your income for future you. The more you save, the better off you will be in the future. However, here is a good practice for saving:

Make a budget and determine your monthly expenses. Be realistic. From your income, make sure you keep enough to cover those expenses.

The income above your monthly expenses can go towards your savings.

Before contributing to your TFSA, make sure to keep 3-6 months of living expenses in an emergency fund - This is money that can be used in case of an unexpected expense. These funds should be in a chequing or savings account to make sure they're liquid and accessible.

Once you have a well-cushioned emergency fund, any additional income above your monthly expenses can be contributed to your TFSA.

Eventually, you will have maxed out your TFSA contribution room. If you have additional funds you'd like to invest, you should consider . If your RRSP is already maxed out, then you'll have to use a personal (non-registered) account.

We're excited to announce we're incorporating the following new holdings in our portfolios: minimum volatility equities (mini-vol), inflation-linked bonds, longer-duration bonds and tax-efficient bond funds. Equity Holdings iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF ( ACWV )

ACWV provides clients with exposure to a basket of global equity holdings with lower volatility characteristics relative to a market-cap-weighted index. Greater than 50% of investment exposure is geographically located in the USA with remaining fund exposure located in Japan, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Canada, among other countries. ACWV comprises 10% of client holdings across the Conservative, Balanced, and Growth risk profiles.

iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Emerging Markets ETF ( EEMV )

EEMV provides clients with exposure to a basket of emerging-market equity holdings having lower volatility characteristics relative to a market-cap-weighted index. The fund is geographically composed of equities located in China, India, South Korea, and Taiwan, among other countries. EEMV comprises between 10% - 15% of client holdings across Conservative, Balanced, and Growth risk profiles.

iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF ( IDEV )

IDEV provides clients with exposure to a basket of large, medium, and small-cap equity holdings. The fund is geographically composed of equities located in Japan, Great Britain, Canada, France, and Switzerland among other countries. IDEV comprises between 10% - 25% of client holdings across Conservative, Balanced, and Growth risk profiles.

Fixed Income Holdings Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF ( BND )

BND is an intermediate term bond fund providing clients with exposure to investment grade US bonds. BND is held in the Conservative and Balanced portfolios comprising 45% and 20% of the allocation for these risk profiles, respectively.

SPDR Portfolio Long Term Treasury ETF ( SPTL )

SPTL is a long-duration bond fund providing clients with exposure to US Treasury bonds with a maturity of greater than 10 years. SPTL comprises between 10% - 15% of the holdings in client Conservative, Balanced, and Growth risk profiles.

PIMCO 15+ Year U.S. TIPS Index Exchange-Traded Fund ( LTPZ )

LTPZ is a long-duration bond fund providing clients with exposure to inflation protected US Treasury bonds. LTPZ comprises between 10% - 15% of the holdings in client Conservative, Balanced, and Growth risk profiles.

A good portfolio is a diversified portfolio. With a lot of portfolios, most of the risk is in equities (stocks). Min-vol equities are designed to reduce the equity risk in your portfolio without necessarily sacrificing returns. This gives us room to increase bond risk in the portfolio and get better overall balance between equities and bonds, increasing expected risk-adjusted returns at the portfolio level. Min-vol ETFs not only help diversify the portfolios, but they are also more diversified on a standalone basis than traditional market-cap-weighted exposures, which weight stocks based on their size. Apple is 70 times the size of Domino's Pizza, but that doesn't mean you want 70 times as much of it in your portfolio. Min-vol ETFs weight stocks based on their volatilities and correlation to other stocks which leads to an allocation with better risk balance. Wealthsimple has incorporated these ETFs into our portfolios because we believe it should help reduce risk and losses in times of market stress relative to traditional equity allocations. If youre interested in reading more about this investment philosophy, check out the research cited here.

Our primary duty is to always act in the best interest of our clients. At Wealthsimple, we're known as a discretionary manager. That means we can execute trades on your behalf without asking you every time. It means we can optimize your portfolio without you having to execute trades, and it allows us to get the best pricing because while some brokerages wait for clients to approve trades, prices change. All Wealthsimple clients sign a discretionary management agreement when they open new accounts with us. This agreement gives us the right to buy and sell securities on behalf of clients and make changes to portfolios that adhere to our primary duty as a portfolio manager.

As an investor, you pay taxes on capital gains you make from investments in personal or joint accounts. Whether you pay these taxes now or later, all gains will eventually be taxed. With the new portfolio update, some clients may be realizing these gains (i.e. paying tax on capital gains) earlier than anticipated. Our belief is that the expected performance improvements in our new portfolios far outweigh the potential benefits of tax deferral. In advance of the new portfolio introduction, our team has reached out to clients with significant capital gains in their portfolio to make sure they are aware they may realize gains.

At Wealthsimple we have a designated investment research team whose job is to ensure that client portfolios are optimally constructed. This means that we aim to design a portfolio that we think will provide you with an optimal rate of return for your particular risk tolerance. When selecting securities, we want to ensure that we are trading ETFs that minimize clients tax burden. We also aim to keep Management Expense Ratios (MERs) the fees charged by the funds themselves as low as possible. Lastly, we want to ensure that the funds we trade are liquid. This means that when Wealthsimple goes to trade on behalf of our clients there is a large pool of available buyers and sellers in the market. In addition to our investment research team, we have an investment advisory committee. The committee serves to provide oversight that portfolios are appropriately constructed and designed in the best interest of our clients.

Yes. The updated portfolios still reflects our fundamental investing philosophy: a passive investment strategy investing in a diversified portfolio of low-cost funds and holding onto those investments for a long time, no matter what the market does is the best strategy for the vast majority of people. But even a passive approach requires research, decision-making, and analysis. Our investment team puts in a lot of time and expertise to build portfolios that are diversified and low cost. The changes were making are to increase the diversification of your portfolio, and we believe these updates will better help you achieve your long-term investing goals.

Wealthsimple Black is a premium service for clients who have net deposits of $100,000 or more in their Wealthsimple accounts. As a Wealthsimple Black client, you get tax-efficient investing, goal-based financial planning with an experienced Portfolio Manager, and unlimited Priority Pass airline lounge access for you for one year.

To qualify for Wealthsimple Black, you must have $100,000 or more in net deposits in your Wealthsimple accounts. If you withdraw to below $100,000 in net deposits, you'll lose your Wealthsimple Black status. Please note that Wealthsimple reserves the right to rescind Wealthsimple Black perks including, but not limited to, your Priority Pass and the 0.4% management fee.

No, you won't see any change to the fees you pay. This is becauseWealthsimple for Advisors clients are not eligible forWealthsimple Black.

Tax loss harvesting is a strategy that uses investment losses to create tax savings. The idea is to purposely sell investments that have gone down in value so that you lose money on your investments, in order to save money on your taxes. It's something we do automatically for Wealthsimple Black clients, but all clients have the option of using tax loss harvesting. It's important to know that tax loss harvesting only makes sense in certain circumstances. It's a little complicated, so you may want to read up on our Investing 101 page.

When Tax Loss Harvesting doesn't make sense

To understand why tax loss harvesting doesn't always make sense, let's pretend you're a Wealthsimple client and when you start investing you:

Are a New York state resident

Have an annual taxable income of $80,000

Invest $90,000 in an Individual (taxable) account and deposit $16,000 each year

The first year, Wealthsimple's automated system harvests (sells off to buy something similar at a lower price) $6,000 worth of losses from your portfolio. Each year, the losses harvested from your portfolio grow in proportion to your portfolio size. Each year, your income grows by 7% and the market returns 5% on your investment. After 15 years, you decide to sell your portfolio. Now:

Your annual income is a little over $210,000 (putting you in a higher tax bracket)

Your portfolio has grown to be worth $523,108

You've deposited $314,000 (your $90,000 initial deposit + $16,000 each year for the next 14 years)

You have harvested a total of $271,899 over the past 15 years ($6,000 in first year, and more each year after that as your portfolio grew, e.g one fifteenth of the portfolio each year)

The cost of your investment - how much you bought it for - is $42,101 ($314,000 in deposits -$271,899 in tax loss harvesting)

When you pay taxes on your investment gains, you're paying the difference between what your portfolio is worth and what you bought if for. So now, instead of paying taxes on the value of your portfolio (remember, it's gone up each year) minus $314,000, you have to pay taxes on your portfolio minus $42,101. So you're paying taxes on $271,899 of additional gains. And since your income has increased, you'll be paying a higher capital gains tax rate than you would have at $80,000 of income. On the upside, since you've gotten to defer taxes rather than pay them on the spot it means you've gotten to keep those funds invested and have benefitted from the magic of compounding. That's the whole benefit of tax loss harvesting. At 2017 tax rates, you would have benefitted to the tune of $81,745 by using tax loss harvesting. But, the taxes you would have to pay would amount to $83,337 - leaving you about $1,592 poorer than if you hadn't employed tax loss harvesting.

Ok, so when should I use tax loss harvesting?

Tax loss harvesting is generally the right strategy for your portfolio if:

Your annual income is above $100,000

You don't plan on making a large withdrawal in the next 12 months

You're invested in a non-registered account

If you're not sure if tax loss harvesting is the right strategy for your portfolio, get in touch and one of our experienced portfolio managers will help you figure it out.

As long as your net deposits are $100,000 or more you'll retain your Wealthsimple Black status, regardless of what the markets do. While positive market activity can move your portfolio above the $100,000 threshold, negative market activity won't result in losing your Wealthsimple Black status.

If you're new to Wealthsimple, you can become a Wealthsimple Black client by signing up and funding your account with $100,000 or more. More on how to fund your account here.If you're an existing client, once your net deposits reach $100,000 you'll automatically receive Wealthsimple Black status and be charged lower fees. We'll send you an email within a week of you crossing the $100,000 mark with more details about the perks!

Under our new pricing structure, the fees you pay to Wealthsimple will either be lower or remain the same. If you have under $100,000 invested, you'll continue to pay a management fee of 0.5%. If you have between $100,000 and $250,000 invested, your fee will be lower - you'll pay 0.4% instead of 0.5%. If you have over $250,000 invested, you won't see any changes to the fees you pay.You can always see the fees you pay to Wealthsimple under the Activity tab in your profile. And you can find more on how Wealthsimple charges fees here.

Portfolio Review is a free service to give you an overview assessment of your existing investment strategy.Our portfolio managers will analyse your statements and provide feedback on how you could improve your investment strategy. We will evaluate your portfolio across a number of dimensions including how much you are paying in fees, and how well diversified you are so that you can consider what action you may wish to take.Anyone is eligible for a Portfolio Review: there is no obligation to join Wealthsimple.Go to review.wealthsimple.com/en-us, upload a financial statement, and we'll give you a call in a few days once we've analysed things.

Imagine you could buy and sell shares of a mutual fund on a stock exchange. Thats a simple description of an exchange-traded fund (ETF). To be more specific, an ETF is an investment fund that owns large swaths of investments (stocks, bonds, real estate, etc.) that are selected and managed by a fund manager; those investments are then sliced up into millions of pieces and sold to individual investors on exchanges.An ETF combines the diversification of a mutual fund with the flexibility of a stock, all with much lower fees than mutual funds. Different ETF track different markets.If that sounds a little confusing, consider this example: You want to invest in the stock markets. Blue chips sound like a good investment. But instead of investigating and tying your fortunes to a single stock, you can invest in an ETF that owns stock in lots of blue chip companies. Then your ETF can be said to track blue chips.What are the pros?One of the central advantages to ETFs is low fees. ETFs charge fractions of a percentage point (typically in the range of 0.05 to 0.25%), while most mutual funds charge more than 2% a year. ETFs are cheap because theyaren'ttrying to guess individual winners in the stock or bond markets; instead they track an entire genre of investments. That means fund managersdon'tneed to make large numbers of trades, and trading is what costs money.Buying and selling ETFs is also very easy and affordable to do. There is no minimum to invest (just the price of a single share of the ETF). And since ETFs trade on the stock market, buying a unit is as simple as buying a share in a company.Scared about losing out on dividend payments? Dont worry, ETF funds collect dividends from the various companies and pass the money onto you. Lots of people consider ETFs to be the best of both stocks and mutual funds.

Is there anything to be careful about?ETFs are still funds and still have fees. While these fees are much lower than those of mutual funds, you could technically avoid those fees by going out and buying all the individual stocks or bonds the fund invests in. It would be time-consuming, but it would cost less.As with all diversified funds, the chances for big gains are smaller than if youre buying an individual stock (as are the chances of losing your shirt).And finally, buying and selling units usually cost a small commission feethe same as buying or selling shares of a stockthe size of which depends on the broker.

What's the difference between an ETF and a mutual fund?The main difference between an ETF and a mutual fund is that a mutual fund is actively managed by a fund manager, who picks specific stocks with the goal of trying to outperform the market. Mutual funds have higher management fees than ETFs, and more often than not, don't succeed in beating the market. An ETF, on the other hand, looks to replicate market returns and is part of a more passive investment strategy. Examples of popular ETFs include S&P 500 or the Russell 2000.

Investing is confusing, right? Wrong! Here at Wealthsimple, we bring it back to the fundamentals. Let's break down our approach:1.) Diversification: Each of our portfolios is fully diversified across asset classes to help investors achieve a higher rate of return while taking less risk. To do this, we build our portfolios through the purchase of broad based Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). So not only are you diversified within an asset, you are also diversified across assets.2.) Passive management: 'Smart' people spend a lot of time cooking up foolproof strategies to deliver above average market returns. However, the vast majority of these strategies fail to beat the market. Over the past 100 years, the markets have survived depressions, world wars, tech bubbles, and real estate collapses. Guess what strategy most investors would have been best off going with? You guessed it, the boring old passive strategy of buy and hold. 3.) You are the boss! You may not be an investment guru, but who you are is one of the most important elements of our approach. When you join Wealthsimple, you answer a risk questionnaire and tell us a little about what you're saving, so we can customize your portfolio.Simple, right?

A well-balanced portfolio is crucial for building wealth and limiting risk. Each of our portfolios includes between 8 and 10 ETFs and each ETF represents a unique asset class:

Asset Class

Symbol

ETF

Portfolios

US Stocks

VTI

Vanguard Total US Market ETF

All

US Mid-Cap Value

VOE

Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF

All

US Small-Cap Value

VBR

Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF

All

Foreign Stocks

VGK

Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF

All

Foreign Stocks (exporter & dividend tilt)

DXJ

WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund

All

Emerging Market Stocks

VWO

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF

All

Municipal Bonds

MUB

iShares National Muni Bond ETF*

All

US Inflation Protected Bonds

TIP

iShares TIPS Bond

Conservative, Balanced

USD Govt and Corporate IG Bonds (includes EM)

BND

Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF

All

High Yield Bonds

ANGL

VanEck Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF

Conservative, Balanced

What is Wealthsimple's policy on conflict of interests and fair allocation?

A basic overview of our policy is as follows:

Conflicts of Interest:Wealthsimple also manages the portfolios of other clients but we will make decisions based on what is right for you.

The Relationship Between Wealthsimple and the Custodian:Apex Clearing is the custodian that Wealthsimple uses to hold assets, execute trades, etc. You are a client of both Wealthsimple and Apex Clearing.

Allocation of Investment Opportunities:We will treat your accounts fairly and not display favouritism or discrimination.

Referral Arrangements:If Wealthsimple takes part in any referral programs relating to you, we will let you know.

Related and Connected Issuers:For clarity, Wealthsimple may, on behalf of its clients, buy or sell Purpose Funds or Mackenzie Funds. However, any relations do not influence Wealthsimples Investment Committee, which assesses and decides which securities Wealthsimple will buy or sell for its clients

You can see a more detailed description of our policy below:

1. Conflicts of Interest

Wealthsimple performs portfolio management services for various accounts other than your accounts. The services are not exclusive, and, subject to the following, Wealthsimple or any affiliate is not prevented from providing similar services to other clients (whether or not their investment objectives and policies are similar to yours) or from engaging in other activities. Wealthsimple may give advice and take action concerning its other clients, which may be the same as, similar to or different from the advice given, or the timing and nature of action taken, concerning the accounts. Wealthsimple shall not be obligated to purchase or sell for you any security or other property which Wealthsimple purchases or sells for any other account if, in the sole discretion of Wealthsimple, such transaction appears unsuitable, impractical or for any reason undesirable for the Accounts.

2. The Relationship Between Wealthsimple and the Custodian

ShareOwner is registered as an Investment Dealer in each province and territory of Canada and is a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. ShareOwner and Wealthsimple are separate, but affiliated entities. Although they are separate entities, information about you and your account may be shared between Wealthsimple and ShareOwner in order to service your account.

3. Allocation of Investment Opportunities

Subscriptions or orders for multiple Accounts may be grouped and submitted together. In such circumstances, each Account generally receives its pro rata share and the same blended price of each fill wherever practicable. In the event that securities are purchased for the accounts of more than one client and an insufficient number of securities are available to satisfy the purchase order, the securities available will be allocated to the extent reasonably possible pro rata based on the size of the Accounts. There may be times, however, where strict application of this policy would not lead to a fair, practical and reasonable allocation. In such circumstances, allocation by a method other than this policy will be permitted, provided that such allocation produces a fairer and more reasonable result.

4. Referral Arrangements

Wealthsimple may enter into referral arrangements as described under applicable securities law. The terms of any referral arrangements made in respect of the Account will be disclosed to the Client before any referral takes place.

5. Related and Connected Issuers

As a part of its business activities, Wealthsimple may buy or sell the securities of its related or connected issuers (defined below) on behalf of its clients, exercise its discretionary power to buy or sell such securities pursuant to discretionary management agreements, or make recommendations in respect of such securities, including funds managed by Purpose Investments Inc. or Mackenzie Financial Corporation. For clarity, Wealthsimple may, on behalf of its clients, buy or sell Purpose Funds or Mackenzie Funds. Purpose Funds may be considered connected issuers as a result of the marital relationship between the principal of Purpose Investments Inc. and a direct or indirect shareholder of Wealthsimple. Neither of such individuals is involved with, nor has the ability to influence, Wealthsimples Investment Committee, which assesses and decides which securities Wealthsimple will buy or sell for its clients. Mackenzie Funds may be considered connected issuers as a result of a third person owning or controlling, indirectly, more than 20% of the voting securities of Mackenzie Financial Corporation and Wealthsimple. Wealthsimple will only buy or sell the securities of Purpose Funds or Mackenzie Funds on behalf of its clients in accordance with applicable securities laws and based on its good faith determination of the best interest of its clients. For more information on how Wealthsimple controls the potential conflict of interest, please contact us.

As defined in subsection 1.2(2) of National Instrument 33-105 Underwriting Conflicts, a person or company is a related issuer of another person or company if:

the person or company is an influential security holder of the other person or company,

the other person or company is an influential security holder of the person or company, or

each of them is a related issuer of the same third person or company.

The term influential security holder generally refers to a situation where a person or company or professional group (which includes a registered firm and its officers, directors, employees and affiliates):

owns or controls, directly or indirectly, more than 20% of the voting securities of an issuer,

owns or controls, directly or indirectly, more than 20% of the dividends or distributions to the holders of the equity securities of the issuer, or more than 20% of the amount to be distributed to the holders of equity securities of the issuer on the liquidation or winding up of the issuer,

controls or is a partner of the issuer if the issuer is a general partnership,

controls or is a general partner of the issuer if the issuer is a limited partnership,

owns or controls, directly or indirectly, more than 10% of the voting securities of an issuer, and together with its related issuers, is entitled to nominate at least 20% of the directors of the issuer, or its officers, directors or employees constitute at least 20% of the directors of the issuer.

The term connected issuer means, for a registered firm or registered individual:

an issuer distributing securities, if the issuer or a related issuer of the issuer has a relationship with any of the following persons or companies that may lead a reasonable prospective purchaser of the securities to question if the specified firm registrant and the issuer are independent of each other for the distribution:

the specified firm registrant,

a related issuer of the specified firm registrant

director, officer or partner of the specified firm registrant,

a director, officer or partner of a related issuer of the specified firm registrant, or

a selling security holder distributing securities, if the selling security holder or a related issuer of the selling security holder has a relationship with any of the following persons or companies that may lead a reasonable prospective purchaser of the securities to question if the specified firm registrant and the selling security holder are independent of each other for the distribution:

the specified firm registrant,

a related issuer of the specified firm registrant

a director, officer or partner of the specified firm registrant

a director, officer or partner of a related issuer of the specified firm registrant.

We continuously monitor your accounts using automated technology to ensure that your portfolio weights are consistent with your plan. Portfolios are automatically rebalanced in response to price changes (the markets), deposits or withdrawals, changes in your risk score, or changes in the ETFs we use. Automatic rebalancing is a free service for Wealthsimple clients.We automatically reinvest dividend income in the ETFs that are most underweight relative to your plan. We also support fractional shares and rebalancing is performed without any minimum trade size requirement.If your portfolio's weights differ from plan weights by more than 20%, your portfolio will be rebalanced by the next business day. For example, a threshold of 20% means that if your plan weight is 10% for a particular asset class (ie. U.S. stocks), a rebalance will be triggered if the actual weight is above 12% or below 8%.

Our algorithm tracks your dividends and automatically reinvests them the day after you receive them. We use the dividends to purchase the ETF that has moved farthest from its strategic weight. If you want to read more about dividend reinvestment feel free to have a look at our feature on www.wealthsimple.com.

What is halal investing?Halal investing is investing incompaniesthatare in linewithIslamic principles of investing. A lot of conventional investment products aren't compliant. For example, profiting off debt is prohibited, so bonds and GICs are off the table for observant muslims. Additionally, halal investing prohibits businesses that profit off certain activities, including alcohol, tobacco, gambling, pork, and weapons, among others.What's included in the Halal Investing portfolio?The Halal Investing portfolio includes 50 stocks selected to track the broad market as closely as possible to maximize our clients diversification, while complying with Islamic law. See the entire list of stocks here.What risk profile is the Halal Investing portfolio?The Halal Investing portfolio is an all-equity investment portfolio, so it's a higher risk portfolio. As it doesn't include fixed income to mitigate risk, investors should keep more of their assets in cash than investors who are in more conservative portfolios.Why isn't there a Balanced or Conservative option for the Halal Investing portfolio?Wealthsimple's other portfolios use fixed income (bonds) to lower the overall risk of a portfolio for balanced and conservative investors. Islamic investing principles exclude fixed income, so the Halal Investing portfolio is an all equity portfolio. Equity is more volatile than fixed income, so it is a higher risk Growth portfolio.We recommend keeping more of your assets in cash if you're investing in the Halal Investing portfolio, and speak with one of our portfolio managers if you have any questions.What are the fees for Wealthsimple's Halal Investing portfolio?We charge the same fees as for our halal portfolio as we do for our regular and socially responsible portfolios: nothing on the first $5,000 for a year, 0.5% up to $100,000, and 0.4% over $100,000. Plus, you get an additional $10,000 managed free for every friend you refer to Wealthsimple!Why am I being advised to hold cash?Based upon your ability to take risk and your investment objectives we will advise on a certain risk profile that may include cash. In these cases, cash replaces fixed income we would otherwise employ for other mandates.Does the Halal Investing portfolio use ETFs?No, it uses individual stocks rather than ETFs. But the process we use to construct our Halal Investing portfolio is very similar to an ETF, which tracks a market index as a whole, rather than trying to pick stocks.Does the Halal Investing portfolio use bonds?No. Bonds pay interest, which is not allowed under Islamic law. The Halal Investing portfolio is an all equity (aka stocks) portfolio.Is the Halal Investing portfolio considered active or passive investing?The Halal Investing portfolio uses a passive investing strategy, like Wealthsimple's other portfolios. It represents 50 stocks that were selected to track the broad market as closely as possible. What research do you do to ensure that the companies in the portfolio follow Shariah law?We created the portfolio in partnership with MSCI, one of the world's largest index providers, and we used a methodology approved by MSCIs Shariah advisors committee of scholars.Will my portfolio be rebalanced in a similar way to other Wealthsimple portfolios?Yes and no. Yes, we rebalance your portfolio on a regular basis - you don't have to do anything. But the way the rebalancing works is a little different, because of the way the portfolio is constructed. We rebalance your portfolio when the index gets rebalanced, which takes place once a month.Can anyone invest in the Halal Investing portfolio?Of course! Anyone who is a suitable investor can invest in this portfolio.Can the Halal Investing portfolio be customized?Wealthsimple has one version of Halal Investing portfolio and it can't be customized. We've built a fully diversified portfolio of stocks that complies with Shariah law constructed by the expert team at MSCI.Can I expect the same performance as in other Wealthsimple portfolios?The Halal Investing portfolio is 100% invested in equities. This means the risk profile and portfolio construction is similar to the standard Growth portfolio, but without the bond holdings. As it's a new portfolio we don't have performance data available yet. The performance should be similar over the long run to a Growth portfolio, but it as an all-equity portfolio, investors should expect to see more fluctuation than in other portfolios.

So you've created an account with Wealthsimple and now you're wondering if we've put you in the right portfolio. In fact, how does a risk assessment questionnaire or a financial professional decide what risk profile is best suited for you? Read on to understand Wealthsimple's investment strategy, how stock markets generally move, what risk really means, and how we assess your risk profile. Understanding Passive Investing Wealthsimple uses a passive investment strategy - you can read more about it here - which basically means that your portfolio will track the performance of the global market. It's also important to understand that, historically, stock markets have almost always trended upwards given a long enough period of time. However, they don't go up in a straight line - sometimes they go up, sometimes they go down. Some years they go up a lot, some years they go down a lot, and some years are fairly flat. In other words, stock markets fluctuate constantly but trend upwards.

Wealthsimple will ensure that your portfolio is tracking the global market movements and our goal is to capture the long term growth trend. So what does risk really mean? Now that you understand the basics of how markets generally move, let's dig into what risk actually means. Since nobody can control market movements (or returns for that matter), Wealthsimple focuses on controlling the level of risk you should expose yourself to. Risk (or Volatility as we call it in the financial industry) is simply a measure of how much your investments will fluctuate depending on how markets move. If you take on more risk and markets rise, you're likely to have higher gains. But if you take on more risk and markets fall, you're likely to have larger losses. In other words, taking more risk will make your account more volatile. If you take on lower levels of risk, your investments will gain less or lose less if markets rise or fall, respectively. So taking lower risks leads to less volatility, or more stability.

In general, controlling risk is done through asset allocation, which is a fancy term that simply refers to how much of your money is in stocks (i.e. equities) versus how much is in bonds (i.e. fixed income). Stocks (or shares in companies) have historically generated greater returns over the long term than bonds but have also been the main contributor of higher fluctuations. On the other hand, fixed income securities or bonds provide a steady (although lower) source of interest income. They experience much smaller fluctuations than equities.

To put it simply, having more equities in your portfolio leads to higher risk (or fluctuations) but better long-term growth potential. Having more bonds or fixed income in your portfolio provides better short-term stability but reduces the long-term growth potential of your portfolio.

How does Wealthsimple assess my risk? Using a combination of your objectives, your investment time horizon, your level of income, your net worth, your investment knowledge, your past investment experience, and your personal tolerance to risk, Wealthsimple is able to assess how much risk (or potential fluctuations) your investments should be subject to.Now for the million dollar question:

When should you be in a conservative portfolio? When should you be in a balanced portfolio? When should you be in a growth portfolio?

The Wealthsimple Conservative portfolio is our low risk portfolio. In other words, we built this portfolio with the goal of limiting short term fluctuations while still trying to generate returns that can modestly outpace the rate of inflation. The Conservative portfolio would have declined by only about 10% in the 2008 downturn.

Our Conservative portfolio has 35% exposure to equities and 65% exposure to fixed income or bonds. You can read more about which assets are in the non-registered (ie. taxable/personal) or registered (ie. IRA) Conservative portfolios here.

This portfolio is ideal for the following situations:

If you have a goal (buying a home, saving for a vacation, etc) that's fairly short-term (3-5 years) and are only comfortable with small fluctuations in your account.

If you're retired and are only comfortable with small fluctuations in your account.

If fluctuations in your account make you very nervous but you're okay with a low level of fluctuations to try to grow the funds by more than what a savings account can generate.

If you feel like your accounts should be more conservative than they are at the moment,you canchange your risk profile by navigating to any of your portfolios from the main landing page (using a desktop computer) and choosing an option from the Portfolio Type dropdown menu on the left hand side of the screen.

The Wealthsimple Balanced portfolio is our medium risk portfolio. In other words, we built this portfolio with the goal of balancing the growth and the protection of your capital. Over the long-term, we don't anticipate this portfolio to have the highest expected returns as markets trend upwards over a long period of time, but it will also provide a fair amount of cushion (or capital protection) during a market decline. That said,this portfolio can still suffer short-term losses during a broad market decline (e.g. a ~20% losses in 2008). Our balanced portfolio has 50% exposure to equities and 50% exposure to fixed income or bonds. Your portfolio will be invested in the following funds:

Purpose Core Dividend

PDF

40 North American dividend-paying companies

10%

iShares Core MSCI EAFE

IEFA

Large, mid, and small cap stocks in developed Europe, Australasia and the Far East

7.50%

iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets

IEMG

Large, mid, and small cap stocks in more than 20 emerging markets

5%

iShares Core S&P/TSX Capped Composite Index

XIC

250+ Canadian equities representing 95% of the Canadian equity market

7.50%

iShares Canadian Short Term Corporate + Maple Bond Index ETF

XSH

Exposure to variety of short term Canadian corporate debt securities

30%

Purpose Duration Hedged Real Estate

PHR

Hedged exposure to 30 retail, residential, commercial, specialized and diversified real-estate companies

10%

Vanguard Total Stock Market

VTI

3800 large, medium, small and micro-cap companies mirroring the US equity market

10%

BMO High Yield US Corporate Bond Hedged to CAD Index

ZHY

Exposure to variety of high yield American corporate debt securities

5%

BMO Mid Federal Bond Index

ZFM

Mid term debt securities issued or guaranteed by the Government of Canada

15%

This portfolio is ideal for the following situations:

If you have a goal (buying a home, saving for a vacation, etc) that's about 5-10 years away and are comfortable with some fluctuations in your account.

If you're retired and are comfortable with some fluctuations in your account.

If you have a longer term goal (10+ years) and are willing to take some risks to ensure your funds grow adequately over time but aren't comfortable with very large fluctuations in your account.

If you have a longer term goal (10+ years) and are willing to take some risks to ensure your funds grow adequately over time but havent had experience with investing or account fluctuations before. This is ideal for first time investors.

If you feel like one of your accounts should be in the Balanced portfolio but isn't at the moment,you can submit a request to change it by logging into your profile on the web. Click your name in the top right-hand corner > Settings > Account > Investment profile. In the Investment profile box there will be a link to a short questionnaire asking about the change you'd like to make. Our Portfolio Managers will review your request and will reach out via email within 1-2 business days to help make sure that it's suitable for your situation.

The Wealthsimple Growth portfolio is our high risk portfolio. In other words, we built this portfolio with the goal of maximizing the long-term growth of your account. We expect this portfolio to have the highest returns as markets trend upwards over time (10+ years), but to also suffer the largest short-term losses during a market decline (e.g. a ~40% loss in 2008). Warning: If you'd like to aim for the highest returns over the long-term, you need to be comfortable knowing that your portfolio can be subject to the largest losses during a market downturn. You should only have this risk profile if you're certain that you wouldn't panic and sell when and if markets drop significantly. Research shows that any investors, especially those new to markets, overestimate their risk tolerance. That's why we typically don't recommend a growth portfolio if you are newer to investing. Our Growth portfolio has 80% exposure to equities and 20% exposure to fixed income or bonds. You can read more about which assets are in the non-registered (ie. taxable/personal) or registered (ie. IRA) Growth portfolios here.

The Growth portfolio is ideal for experienced investors with the following situations:

If you have a long-term goal (buying a home, retirement, inheritance, etc) that's 10+ years away and are comfortable with seeing very large fluctuations in your account.

If you're retired, have a pension or a stable source of income, and are comfortable with large fluctuations in your account. Note: if you're retired and your investments are your primary source of income, a growth portfolio is most likely not your best option.

If you're investing a small amount of your total assets with Wealthsimple and a large loss for that amount would not affect your ability to achieve your goals.

If you're investing for a medium-term (~5 year) goal, prefer focusing on growing your money aggressively, but are willing to accept that you may have to push back the objective if markets drop significantly. A flexible time horizon can allow you to take more risks.

If you feel like one of your accounts should be in the Growth portfolio but isn't at the moment, you can change your risk profile by navigating to any of your portfolios from the main landing page (using a desktop computer) and choosing an option from the Portfolio Type dropdown menu on the lefthand side of the screen.

The Wealthsimple Growth SRI portfolio is our high risk portfolio with a focus on Socially Responsible Companies. In other words, we built this portfolio with the goal of maximizing the long-term growth of your account while ensuring we align your investments with your ethics and values. We expect this portfolio to have the highest returns as markets trend upwards over time (10+ years), but to also suffer the largest short-term losses during a market decline (e.g. a ~40% loss in 2008). Warning: If you'd like to aim for the highest returns over the long-term, you need to be comfortable knowing that your portfolio can be subject to the largest losses during a market downturn. You should only have this risk profile if you're certain that you wouldn't panic and sell when and if markets drop significantly. Research shows that investors, especially those new to markets, overestimate their risk tolerance. That's why we typically don't recommend a growth portfolio if you are newer to investing. Our Growth SRI portfolio has 80% exposure to equities and 20% exposure to fixed income or bonds. You can read more about which assets are in the Growth SRI portfolio here.

This portfolio is ideal for experienced investors with the following situations:

If you have a long-term goal (buying a home, retirement, inheritance, etc) that's 10+ years away and are comfortable with seeing very large fluctuations in your account.

If you're retired, have a pension or a stable source of income, and are comfortable with large fluctuations in your account. Note: if you're retired and your investments are your primary source of income, a growth portfolio is most likely not your best option.

If you're investing a small amount of your total assets with Wealthsimple and a large loss for that amount would not affect your ability to achieve your goals.

If you're investing for a medium-term (~5 year) goal, prefer focusing on growing your money aggressively, but are willing to accept that you may have to push back the objective if markets drop significantly. A flexible time horizon can allow you to take more risks.

Note: The SRI version of our Growth portfolio has a fee that is slightly higher than our standard Growth portfolio(a weighted average of 0.23% instead of 0.10%).

If you feel like one of your accounts should be in the Growth SRI portfolio but isn't at the moment, you can change your risk profile by navigating to any of your portfolios from the main landing page (using a desktop computer) and choosing an option from the Portfolio Type dropdown menu on the lefthand side of the screen.

The Wealthsimple Balanced SRI portfolio is our medium risk portfolio with a focus on Socially Responsible Companies. In other words, we built this portfolio with the goal of balancing the growth and the protection of your capital while ensuring we align your investments with your ethics and values. Over the long-term, we don't anticipate this portfolio to have the highest expected returns as markets trend upwards over a long period of time, but it will also provide a fair amount of cushion (or capital protection) during a market decline. That said,this portfolio can still suffer short-term losses during a broad market decline (e.g. a ~20% losses in 2008). Our Balanced SRI portfolio has 50% exposure to equities and 50% exposure to fixed income or bonds.You can read more about which assets are in the Balanced SRI portfolio here.This portfolio is ideal for the following situations:

If you have a goal (buying a home, saving for a vacation, etc) that's about 5-10 years away and are comfortable with some fluctuations in your account.

If you're retired and are comfortable with some fluctuations in your account.

If you have a longer term goal (10+ years) and are willing to take some risks to ensure your funds grow adequately over time but aren't comfortable with very large fluctuations in your account.

If you have a longer term goal (10+ years) and are willing to take some risks to ensure your funds grow adequately over time but havent had experience with investing or account fluctuations before. This is ideal for first time investors.

Note: The SRI version of our Balanced portfolio has a fee that is slightly higher than our standard growth portfolio(a weighted average of 0.22% instead of 0.10%).

If you feel like one of your accounts should be in the Balanced SRI portfolio but isn't at the moment,you can change your risk profile by navigating to any of your portfolios from the main landing page (using a desktop computer) and choosing an option from the Portfolio Type dropdown menu on the lefthand side of the screen.

The Wealthsimple Conservative SRI portfolio is our low risk portfolio with a focus on Socially Responsible Companies. In other words, we built this portfolio with the goal of limiting short term fluctuations while still trying to generate returns that can modestly outpace the rate of inflation. We've also built itto help align your investments with your ethics and values. The Conservative SRI portfolio would have declined by only about 10% in the 2008 downturn.

Our Conservative SRI portfolio has 35% exposure to equities and 65% exposure to fixed income or bonds.You can read more about which assets are in Conservative SRI portfolio here.

This portfolio is ideal for the following situations:

If you have a goal (buying a home, saving for a vacation, etc) that's fairly short-term (3-5 years) and are only comfortable with small fluctuations in your account.

If you're retired and are only comfortable with small fluctuations in your account.

If fluctuations in your account make you very nervous but you're okay with a low level of fluctuations to try to grow the funds by more than what a savings account can generate.

Note: The SRI version of our conservative portfolio has a fee that is slightly higher than our standard growth portfolio(weighted average of 0.22% instead of 0.10%).

If you feel like your accounts should be more Conservative than they are at the moment, you can change your risk profile by navigating to any of your portfolios from the main landing page (using a desktop computer) and choosing an option from the Portfolio Type dropdown menu on the lefthand side of the screen.

The following stocks are included in Wealthsimple's US Halal Investing portfolio:

symbol

name

allocation

DD:US

DuPont de Nemours Inc

1.00

PFE:US

Pfizer Inc.

2.72

XOM:US

Exxon Mobil Corp.

3.15

MRK:US

Merck & Co Inc

2.29

MDT:US

Medtronic Plc

2.21

APD:US

Air Products & Chemicals Inc.

1.81

ABT:US

Abbott Laboratories

2.03

RDS/B:US

Royal Dutch Shell Plc - ADR

2.62

ADI:US

Analog Devices Inc.

1.13

TJX:US

TJX Companies, Inc.

1.49

PG:US

Procter & Gamble Co.

3.69

SNN:US

Smith & Nephew plc

2.15

TEL:US

TE Connectivity Ltd

1.35

ASML:US

New York Shares

1.21

INTC:US

Intel Corp.

1.96

CHA:US

China Telecom Corporation

1.32

INTU:US

Intuit Inc

1.11

CHL:US

China Mobile Limited

2.05

SAP:US

Sap SE

1.50

LIN:US

Linde Plc

1.59

SNY:US

Sanofi

2.51

BHP:US

BHP Group Limited

1.29

CVX:US

Chevron Corp.

2.10

NSC:US

Norfolk Southern Corp.

1.51

NVS:US

Novartis AG

2.66

ADBE:US

Adobe Inc

2.01

EMR:US

Emerson Electric Co.

1.86

PLD:US

Prologis Inc

1.91

JNJ:US

Johnson & Johnson

3.79

ADP:US

Automatic Data Processing Inc.

1.52

BP:US

BP plc

4.36

MDLZ:US

Mondelez International Inc. (Class A)

2.56

CRM:US

Salesforce.Com Inc

2.04

RDS/A:US

Royal Dutch Shell Plc - ADR (Representing Ordinary Shares - Class A)

3.34

SLB:US

Schlumberger Ltd.

1.18

JD:US

JD.com Inc

0.82

ETN:US

Eaton Corporation plc

1.73

BABA:US

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd

2.96

CHU:US

China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd

1.36

BBL:US

BHP Group Plc

2.68

FTV:US

Fortive Corp

1.41

DHR:US

Danaher Corp.

1.69

TXN:US

Texas Instruments Inc.

2.06

EXC:US

Exelon Corp.

2.58

CEO:US

Cnooc Ltd.

1.04

SNP:US

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp

1.12

LLY:US

Lilly(Eli) & Co

1.30

PTR:US

PetroChina Co. Ltd.

1.27

RIO:US

Rio Tinto plc

3.19

NKE:US

Nike, Inc. (Class B)

1.81

Learn more about Halal Investing at Wealthsimple here.

So glad you asked! Opening an account is really easy and can be done in a few short steps:

First, complete the online application. From our homepage, click Get Started and following the prompts. You'll give us some basic information, answer a few questions about your previous investment experience and e-sign one or more Investment Management Agreements.

Bank verification: Upload a bank statement, screenshot of your bank account or void cheque to verify your banking information.

That's it! Your account should be up and running within 5 business days.

If you get stuck and need a little help, please give our Relationship Management team a call at email [email protected] or Submit a Request.

No, Wealthsimple does not have an investment minimum! This is just another way we are making investing accessible and affordable to everyone. That being said, we do encourage our customers to setup a pre-authorized contribution plan ( PAC ) to get in the habit of saving. Your future self will be glad you did :)

Not surehow to set up your PAC plan? Check out this helpful article.

You can transfer money to Wealthsimple using three methods. Once received, we will invest your money and have your portfolio visible online within 48 hours. From the time you initiate the money transfer to your money being invested it takes at most 5 business days.

There are 3 easy ways to fund your Wealthsimple account:

Transfering from a checking account (Electronic funds transfer - EFT): a one-time transfer of funds from your bank account to your Wealthsimple account. Once initiated, we will pull the requested amount for your bank account on file and will deposit it into the specified Wealthsimple account. Detailed Instructions

Automatic recurring deposits: a certain amount of money is automatically withdrawn from your chequing account and contributed to your Wealthsimple account on a regular basis. The timeframe is up to you and we can help you set up weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly contributions. Detailed Instructions

Transferring an existing investment account: first, make sure you have the specific account type (IRA, Roth IRA, etc.) open with Wealthsimple. Then you can transfer an existing account from another institution to Wealthsimple. Detailed Instructions

Rollover an employer-sponsoredplan:You can rollover 401ks and similar employer-sponsored accounts directly into a Wealthsimple IRA account so long as your employer is no longer making contributions to the plan. Detailed Instructions

Click the links above for a step-by-step guide on how to complete your transaction. If you have any questions or need help funding your Wealthsimple account, please reach outby submitting a request.