Category Archives: Edge

When Will I Get My Dividends in my InvestorLine and Investor’s Edge Brokerage Accounts?

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Before I opened a self-directed brokerage account at BMO InvestorLine I owned some shares that I kept in a safe deposit box at the bank. Every quarter, about a week before it was payable, a dividend cheque would arrive from the company’s agent. On the payable date, I would deposit the cheque in my account and could spend my capitalistic largesse immediately. So I was very curious when I first bought stock in my InvestorLine and Investor’s Edge accounts to see when the dividends would appear.

BMO InvestorLine Is Not Too Swift

I was a bit disappointed to discover, and verify over many payments, that BMO InvestorLine takes one full day after receiving a dividend on my behalf to post it to my brokerage account.

For example, Cineplex, which pays a monthly dividend which is great for income seekers, paid its June dividend on July 31 this month. If I had received a paper cheque in the mail, I could have cashed it and spent the money going to a movie that night. With InvestorLine, however, the money doesn’t appear in my account ready to spend till the morning of August 1.

Frankly given this is all done electronically, I’m a bit surprised by the delay. Since the paper cheques are mailed and delivered to my home several days before the payable date, one would think the electronic file would be available ahead of time too.

Now let’s look at Investor’s Edge.

CIBC Investor’s *Edge* Isn’t a Faster Dividend Payment

CIBC may be trying to give investor’s an edge but if they are it’s not by paying them their dividends on the day they are earned. Just like BMO, CIBC is taking one full day after receiving a dividend on my behalf to show it in the transaction history and cash balance of my brokerage account.

Is There a Benefit to Brokerages In This Delay?

Having a nasty suspicious mind, I wonder whether there is any benefit to the brokerages in this delay. Where is the money during the missing one day? Still in the issuing company’s bank account? Or sitting in an undisbursed slush pile in my brokerage? I think I should send a secure email by MyLink to BMO InvestorLine and ask them.

Checking Your Transaction History for Your Dividends

I’ve mentioned before that BMO InvestorLine back dates dividend payments to when they should have been made in the Transaction History.

CIBC Investor’s Edge does the same thing in its Transaction History.

Why Does It Matter If the Dividend Shows Up a Day Late?

For ultra conservative slow poke investors like me, it doesn’t particularly matter if the dividend payment is made a day late. But I can see how it might matter to others:

  • if there is a great buy available on the day the dividend money should have been available, it must hurt to watch it slide out of reach while waiting one more day: even GIC rates flutter day by day
  • if someone is using the dividend income to pay bills, even a day’s delay might cause problems depending on how the dates line up between bills and dividend payments

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When does your brokerage pay your dividends? Remember you can’t always tell by the Transaction History. You may have to actually check your cash balance on the day the money should have appeared. Please share your experiences with a comment.

Which of the Big 5 Brokerages Offer a US Dollar Side, Journal, Ledger or Sub-Account for an RRSP?

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The Big 5 Canadian banks are BMO, CIBC, RBC, ScotiaBank, and TD. Each of these has an associated discount brokerage. Only some of these brokerages, however, allow you to keep US stocks in a US dollar part of your RRSP account. This is a recap of which ones have this option, which is variously called a US dollar side, journal, ledger or sub-account.

What Use is a US Dollar Side to an RRSP Self Directed Brokerage Account?

Recently I set up a US dollar sub-account in my BMO InvestorLine RRSP account. This lets me buy and sell stocks in US dollars and receive distributions, dividends and profits without paying any foreign currency conversion fees.

I knew I couldn’t do this for our CIBC Investor’s Edge RRSP. They don’t offer this option.

Then today I was reading an article by the Canadian Capitalist posted in a roundup by Michael James on Money. I was surprised to read that at TD Waterhouse you can’t just set up this kind of US ledger in your RRSP.

That led me to do some quick checking into this issue. Here’s what I found out:

Which Brokerages Have US Dollar RRSP Accounts or Sub-Accounts

Brokerage US Dollar Sub-Account Available?
BMO InvestorLine Yes
CIBC Investor’s Edge No
RBC Direct Investing Yes
ScotiaBank iTrade No
TD Waterhouse Direct Investing No but with ***

*** According to the Canadian Capitalist article TD Direct Investing does offer a sort-of compromise. It lets you buy and sell stocks in US dollars and keep the monies in US dollars between buys. It does not, however, let you receive distributions and dividends in US dollars.

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Do you use a self-directed brokerage for your RRSP? Can you keep all of your profits, distributions and dividends in US dollars till you’re ready to spend them? Please share your experiences with a comment.