Tag Archives: InvestorLine

Do I Have to Pay a Commission if My Order to Sell Stock or Buy Stock Doesn’t Get Filled?

Posted on by

When I was new to online investing in my self-directed brokerage account at BMO InvestorLine, one of my first “newbie” questions was: “If I put in an order to buy a stock at a certain price and no one sells it to me, do I still have to pay the fee?” I could see myself spending my entire investment account on fees for unfilled orders.

Written: 2012
Reviewed: 2023
Revised: 2023

So I asked BMO  by email how the fee works.

They reassured me that no, if the sale does not go through, I don’t have to pay the fee.

Phew.

Also, if I put in an order to sell a stock at a certain price, and no one wanted to buy it, I also would not have to pay a fee.

Partial Fills of Trades Can Result in Fees

There is one exception, though. If you put in a request to buy or sell a stock and they buy or sell part, but not all, of it then you will get charged a fee.

For example, say you want to buy 500 shares of BCE at $40. Someone may offer to sell 200 shares of BCE to you at that price. That will result in a “partial fill” of your order.

If no one else sells you the other 300 shares before the close of trade that day, you will get charged the full commission, which is $9.95 for my BMO InvestorLine account in 2023.

You get charged the $9.95 even though you still want 300 more shares. And if you put in another order the next day for the other 300 shares, if it fills you will be charged another $9.95!

I guess that’s why they call this “playing” in the market. You might have to pay a fee or two you don’t expect. Whether you have to or not is a game of chance.

Related Reading

Join In
Have you ever got zinged with a fee you didn’t expect because of a partial fill? Or did they get you some other way? Please share your experiences with a comment.

Is There a 90 Day Holding Period for the High Interest Savings Accounts Offered by BMO InvestorLine?

Posted on by

When I first started investigating high interest savings account options with BMO InvestorLine I believed that they were sold as mutual funds. That made me wonder: is there a 90 day holding period for the HISAs offered by InvestorLine?

Written: 2012
Reviewed: 2023
Revised: 2023

Mutual Funds Require a Minimum Holding Period of 90 Days…
The Mutual Fund Order Entry screen includes a statement that “All mutual fund orders are subject to BMO InvestorLine Investment Policies and Minimums or third party fund company minimums.” When you read the 2022 Commission and Fee Schedule it clearly states:

“Early Redemption Fee: Exempting Money Market and TBill funds and back load (DSC) funds, an early redemption fee of 1%, subject to a minimum of $43 ($35 for electronic orders) will be charged for funds held for less than 90 days. Switch orders are subject to the same early redemption fee.”

…But Are High Interest Savings Accounts Mutual Funds?
I decided to ask BMO InvestorLine directly to clarify this using their MyLink internal email system. The reply surprised me.

“High Interest Savings accounts are not mutual funds.

“They bear variable interest rates and can be redeemed any time. There is no lock in period like GIC and no need to keep it for 90 days to avoid being charged Early Redemption Fee of $35 for redeeming it like any mutual fund trade.

“We process the trades of these High Interest Savings products through mutual fund trade platform, but they are not mutual funds.

“Unlike mutual funds, they are guaranteed by CDIC up to $100,000.”

(On the High Interest Savings Account page, BMO links to CDIC insurance information.)

I think that they need to update their system to create a new Order Entry screen for these accounts, or they need to update their Investment Policies and Minimums screen to include High Interest Savings Accounts along with Money Market funds and TBill funds as being exempt from a holding period.

High Interest Savings Accounts are Not Subject to a 90-day Minimum Holding Period

So the verdict is that the high interest savings accounts offered by BMO InvestorLine are not subject to a 90-day holding period.

This is good news.

Related Reading

Join In
Have you purchased a high interest savings account from InvestorLine? Has it worked well for you? Please share your experiences with a comment.