Category Archives: InvestorLine

Pros and Cons of Using a DRIP for BMO InvestorLine Dividends

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A Dividend Re-investment Plan, or DRIP, is a way to get paid dividends in shares of the company rather than in cash. This share purchase does not cost a fee. Often, there is also some incentive to the investor. For example, shares may be offered to purchase at a small discount to their usual price. BMO InvestorLine offers a DRIP plan to investors.

Written: 2014
Reviewed: 2023
Revised: 2023

Real DRIPS versus Synthetic DRIPs

In a true DRIP, if the shares are held directly and managed personally with a transfer agent such as ComputerShare, you can often buy “partial” shares if the balance of your earned dividend will not buy another whole share. For example, if shares cost $10 and your dividend payment is $18, you would get one whole share, and 0.80 of another share.

Some online brokerages offer modified forms of DRIPs called synthetic DRIPs. The BMO InvestorLine synthetic DRIP is very similar to a DRIP, but there are a few differences.

PROS of a Synthetic DRIP with BMO InvestorLine

For beginning investors who have small accounts, a DRIP, synthetic or otherwise, can be a sensible and cost effective way to increase investment in a company. Because there is no commission or fee on the purchase of the new shares via the DRIP, it is possible for an investor to slowly increase their holdings for no cost.

A DRIP also gives a no-cost way to reinvest most of the money earned as dividends. For investors with small holdings, the small dividends would often not be reinvested quickly without the no-fee DRIP option.

Reinvesting monthly or quarterly when the dividends are paid also allows the investor to benefit from dollar cost averaging. If the price of the shares is down when the re-investment is made, then the investor will receive more shares. If the price is up, the investor will receive fewer shares. In theory, the investor should do better than if they simply purchase all the shares at one time, which might be at a time when the cost is high per share.

At BMO InvestorLine, you can choose to enroll none, some, or all of your stock holdings in DRIPs, if they are eligible. You do not have to enroll all of your stocks if you don’t want to. For example, you could enroll your BMO and TD shares, but still receive cash dividends from your BCE and CNR holdings.

There is no cost to enroll in the BMO InvestorLine DRIP program.

CONS of a Synthetic DRIP with BMO InvestorLine

You cannot buy partial shares with a BMO InvestorLine synthetic DRIP. So in our example of $10 shares and a $18 dividend, you would receive 1 new share and $8 cash paid to your cash account. InvestorLine will buy as many whole shares as possible before paying the balance out as cash.

Not all companies offer a DRIP through BMO InvestorLine. (In fact, not all companies offer a DRIP any where. Some companies are not interested in offering this option to their investors.)

Some companies require a certain minimum number of shares before allowing an investor to enroll in a DRIP.

The BMO InvestorLine DRIP is only available to residents of Canada.

It is not easy to check whether a company is offering the same discount share purchase price to an investor using a real DRIP as to an investor using a BMO InvestorLine synthetic DRIP. It appears you would have to contact the Investor Relations department for each company you are interested in, and ask them. (Or, since there is no fee to enroll in the BMO InvestorLine DRIP, you could enroll, accept one DRIP dividend payment, and check the math to see whether the discount was applied.)

How to Enroll for DRIP via BMO InvestorLine

BMO states that you should first check with the investor relations department of a company to confirm that it offers a DRIP and to check what is the minimum number of shares the investor must own to qualify. That said, they do list on the BMO InvestorLine site a huge list of companies that offer DRIP.

To enroll in a DRIP for a specific stock, you can phone BMO InvestorLine and discuss it with an agent. The number to call within Canada is 1 888 776 6886. The hours are 8 to 8 Eastern Time, Monday to Friday. (In 2021, they had an online method being tested to allow enrollment but it seems to have been discontinued in 2022.)

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Pros and Cons of Buying GICs in a Self-Directed Online Brokerage Account

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When we opened a self-directed online brokerage account, I wanted to check if we should use it to invest in GICs. (GICs are guaranteed investment certificates.) I wanted to know what the pros and cons were of buying GICs this way. And I wanted to understand why the banks would offer this service seemingly for free. In short, I wanted to understand the pros and cons of buying GICs in a brokerage account.

Written: 2012
Reviewed: 2023
Revised: 2023

I admit we have a large amount of our RRSP savings in GICs. It’s what I need to sleep peacefully.

What Do BMO InvestorLine and CIBC Investor’s Edge Offer for Sale for GICs?

In registered self-directed InvestorLine accounts and Investor’s Edge accounts in 2023, the minimum purchase size for a RRSP GIC is $5000. After that, it goes up by increments of $1. So you can buy a $5000 GIC, a $5001 GIC or a $5123 GIC, your choice.

This $5000 starting point is a bit of a nuisance if you have dividends coming in that you want to re-invest in a GIC. However, if you stagger your GIC maturity dates widely enough, you could always add to an existing GIC after it matures and before you re-invest it.

The GICs listed for sale are offered by a wide variety of bank, credit union, trust company and other financial institutions. For further information, also see the article: Comparing GIC Interest Rates for BMO InvestorLine and CIBC Investor’s Edge Accounts.

Pros of Buying GICs within a Self-Directed Online Brokerage Account

  • BMO InvestorLine and CIBC Investor’s Edge sell GICs from trust companies which offer higher rates than many Canadian banks.
  • When they mature, the principal and interest for the GICs are paid back into your InvestorLine or Investor’s Edge account in cash.
  • You can invest with a variety of financial institutions without having to set up separate RRSP or TFSA accounts with each of the institutions. Instead, you manage everything through your one self-directed RRSP account and your one self-directed TFSA account.

Cons of Buying GICs within a Self-Directed Online Brokerage Account

  • In 2023, the minimum investment is $5000 for BMO InvestorLine and CIBC Investor’s Edge. (Always check minimums before purchasing, as the banks can change them without notice.) If you buy GICs directly from financial institutions, the minimum required investment is usually much lower than this.
  • They do not offer GICs from every financial institution in Canada.So you cannot buy a Tangerine GIC through InvestorLine. They usually offer GICs from about 20 institutions though, and the list of places changes from time to time.
  • For BMO and CIBC, the GICs cash out back into your account at the end of their term. Wasn’t this a Pro? Well, yes, but the possible drawback is that you have to keep an eye on your maturity dates and remember to re-invest them..
  • You have to buy a GIC by the daily cutoff time to ensure you get the rate posted at the time of purchase. At the time this was written, the cutoff time for BMO InvestorLine purchases was 3:45 p.m. “except on early closing days.” This deadline is not emphasized. You have to remember it.The cutoff time for CIBC Investor’s Edge is 4 p.m. but they state that if they cannot complete the order by day’s end they will cancel it and you will have to start again on the next trading day. You can’t apply to buy the GICs in the evening or on weekends.
  • You cannot cancel a GIC purchase order once placed. This is annoying if the rate increases during the day, after you placed your order but before your order is filled at the start of the next business day.To be fair, this is also the way equity purchases work. You can’t cancel your purchase order of Bell stock just because it’s now $1.50 less a share than when you bought it 10 minutes ago!

Disclaimer
All fees and commissions, and minimum purchase requirements were accurate at the time of writing in 2023. Always check with a financial institution for policy changes before making any commitments or investments.

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Do you use a self-directed brokerage to manage your GICs? Do you prefer to keep your GICs independently with a financial institution? Please share your experiences with a comment.