Best Online Brokerage

Submission fee: $1000 +HST, invoice will be sent at a later date.

Proceeds from submission fees will benefit Morningstar's official charity partner, MusiCounts.

The Online Brokerage of the Year is awarded to the online brokerage that excels in a number of criteria. The jury considers, but does not require, submissions made on behalf of any qualified brokerage. The submission should attempt to address the key areas being considered by the jury. Principles to emphasize when creating the submission include:

In what areas have you differentiated your business from that of your peers?
Emphasis should be placed on developments and upgrades introduced within the past 1-2 years.
Your submission should discuss any particular segments of the market targeted by your firm and how these are being reached.

Below is a list of questions the jurors will consider for this award category. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but intended to provide guidance on the types of submissions that jurors will consider. Please fill in all questions that are relevant to your company's submission. Be as precise and brief as possible.

Send additional information and/or supporting documentation to Michael Leonard at michael.leonard@morningstar.com.

Basic Information

Firm Name*

Email Address of Submitter*

First Name of Submitter*

Last Name of Submitter*

Business Phone of Submitter*

Online Presence

Please detail considerations during the overall website design process:(Particularly: Ease-of-use, Intuitiveness, Efficiency, and Effectiveness)

How does the site implement stock trading as well as bond, mutual fund and options trading?

How does the site provide research tools for evaluating the aforementioned vehicles?

To what degree and level of information are real-time quotations and email alerts provided?

Is the site well documented (help screens, videos and educational support)?

Does the website provide trial access or “tours”?

Describe user access to planning tools, such as advice, self-analysis tools, managed products, etc:

Does the site provide anti-fraud protection?

Customer Service

Are statements, confirmations and notices provided electronically?

Can historical statements and account activity be examined easily?

Is useful and easy-to-digest summary information provided to clients?

Are individual client rates of return calculated?

Can statistics be provided that demonstrate responsiveness to customer inquiries?

What other account information tools and electronic touch points are provided?

Have current service levels been implemented?

Costs

Do you charge ECN fees on Canadian and/or US orders? If so, what are the charges?

How much does it cost to trade stocks? Canada? U.S.?

Fees for other security types such as options, mutual funds, bonds, and so on?

What benefits or fee reductions are there for higher transaction volumes or dollar levels?

Are there fees for registered accounts?

Are there inactivity fees or minimum balance fees?

What mutual fund series are made available to investors?(Are low or no-trailer fee fund series available? Rebate programs for trailer fees?)

What fees are charged for any special modules?