How to Buy a GIC in a CIBC Investor’s Edge Self-Directed Investing Account

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I don’t particularly trust investing new money in bonds right now when interest rates could rise and the value of bonds and bond funds could drop significantly and quickly. So for the fixed income portion of our portfolio I’m investing partially in GICs. While the rates are abysmal at least the principal is safe. (Yes, I know it’s being eroded by inflation. I take a “balanced yield” approach which I need to explain elsewhere on this site.) So recently I decided to buy a GIC in a CIBC Investor’s Edge account. Here’s how.

How To Purchase a Guaranteed Investment Certificate from Investor’s Edge

  1. Go to https://www.investorsedge.cibc.com/ie/index.html
  2. In the User ID field, type your id.
    In the Password filed, type your password.
    Click on the Sign On button.
  3. From the menu on the left side of the screen, click on Trading.
    Then click on Buy GICs.
  4. Take a quick look at the GICs offered by CIBC. Usually they are not very attractive. For example, today, none of them yielded more than 1.25% for a 1 year term.
  5. Click on the Third-Party GICs tab.
    At first it looks like no 1-year term GICs are offered. That’s because the Interest Paid: At Maturity option is selected.
    Click on Annually to see the rates for 1-year terms.
    Today, the highest rate offered is by Equitable Trust. It’s offering a 1-year term to maturity with a 1.7% rate. (I’ve mentioned before in Comparing GIC Rates for BMO InvestorLine and CIBC Investor’s Edge that unfortunately CIBC does not offer GICs from Home Trust. Today Home Trust is offering a rate of 1.75% at BMO InvestorLine.)
    Click on that rate, which is a link.
  6. Confirm that the Account type and number is correct.
    For example it might be your RRSP account.
  7. Enter the Amount in Canadian $ for the GIC.
    The minimum is $5000 at the time this was written.
    You can choose an odd amount such as $5017 if you want to because you are re-investing profits, etc.
    Click on the Update Order button.
  8. Review the GIC details. These include the
    • Issuer
    • Term
    • Interest rate
    • Minimum purchase
    • Interest paid (e.g. annually; semiannually; etc.)
    • Maturity Date
    • Settlement Date
  9. From the Pay From drop-down list select from which account to fund the purchase.
    Click on the Next button.
  10. On the Verify Order screen, review the purchase details.
    If they are correct in the Trading Password box, type your password.
  11. Read the warning and be aware they’re serious!
    “Note: You cannot change or cancel a fixed income order once it has been submitted.”
    Click on the Submit Order button.
  12. You will receive a Confirmation that your order has been placed.
    It will include the order tracking number.
    You may want to keep a copy of this number until the GIC appears on your list of holdings.
  13. When you are finished with your Investor’s Edge account, click on the Sign Off button.
    For improved security, also close your browser session after signing off.

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I find it simple and easy to purchase GICs online using the CIBC Investor’s Edge website. It requires a bit more clicking to get at the choices than using the InvestorLine website but it works. Do you ever buy GICs using an online brokerage? Please share your experiences with a comment.

2 thoughts on “How to Buy a GIC in a CIBC Investor’s Edge Self-Directed Investing Account”

  1. I also have a CIBC Investors edge account but have never bought a GIC, this article I will save for sure when the time comes to do so. One question is what happens when a GIC your purchased matures, is the money from the original purchase deposited into you CIBC trading account automatically or do you have to instruct the holder of the GIC what you want done with it at maturity. My reason for asking is I would not want say a 1 year GIC to be automatically reinvested again for 1 year. How does the maturity of GIC’s work. Thanks for any info.

    • The GICs will be paid out on maturity as cash into your Investor’s Edge account. They cannot auto-renew. If you set up alerts for your account, though, you should get a message when the GIC matures and when the cash is deposited so that you can sign in and buy a new GIC.

      I’m sorry this reply is so late.

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