Whether you are a long-time client, or just curious how InvestEase works, we are pulling back the curtain and outlining how we leverage both smart technology and professional (human) expertise to manage your wealth.

Before we dive in, let’s recap the basics:

Investing with InvestEase is … you guessed it: easy. As a digital investment offering, we take the guesswork out of investing by providing clients with a professionally built investment portfolio aligned to their goals. All they need to do is open and fund their account, then we select, purchase, and manage their investments for them. Plus, our Portfolio Advisors are available to answer questions, offer market insights and they can provide guidance to ensure clients are on track to achieving their goals.

Pretty straightforward, right? Let’s explore what goes on behind the scenes.

How do we decide which investment portfolio is best suited to you?

It all starts during the account application process. Here, we ask a series of questions that help us get to know you. Enlightening us on your objectives, investment time horizon, and risk tolerance, your answers to these questions form the basis of our portfolio recommendation. Leveraging smart technology, these factors are entered into our algorithm to determine the best portfolio for you to invest in. Whether you are looking to save for a major purchase, retirement, or hoping to create a financial legacy for future generations, we identify which portfolio is best tailored to your needs.

Then, before your application is approved, it is reviewed by one of our Portfolio Advisors to verify that we are in alignment with the portfolio recommendation and to ensure we don’t require additional information before we start investing for you.

As your life changes and you progress towards achieving your financial goals, your investment portfolio must evolve too. Every year, on the anniversary of your account opening, you are prompted to complete an annual review to ensure that your portfolio is consistent with any updates to your objectives or financial situation.

How do we manage our portfolios?

RBC InvestEase is a fiduciary, which simply means we are obliged to ensure that we are always acting in our clients’ best interests. This is a responsibility we take very seriously.

Our portfolios are overseen by our Investment Committee, comprised of our Portfolio Advisors and other members of the RBC InvestEase team. This committee is responsible for selecting the holdings and determining the asset allocation for each of our portfolios.

Our approach to investment management blends the low fees and liquidity of passively managed RBC iShares ETFs(opens in a new window) with actively managed asset allocation. Our Portfolio Advisors monitor both the underlying funds and the overall composition to confirm that we are targeting satisfactory returns and an appropriate level of risk for each portfolio.

In addition, we rebalance(opens in a new window) your account when needed to ensure that the asset allocation does not deviate too far from its intended proportions, remaining suitable to your objectives and risk tolerance

As part of a larger financial institution (RBC), we also have access to a deep bench of talent that we leverage to help us manage our portfolios. We draw on the expertise of:

• Leading Canadian economists(opens in a new window) to help us understand the macroeconomic climate
• One of the largest asset managers(opens in a new window) in Canada to provide valuable insights into the current state and outlook of the financial markets
• Skilled traders who have their finger on the pulse of financial markets

How have InvestEase portfolios been performing?

• We recently examined the current market and economic climate(opens in a new window) - following a tough 2022, our portfolios have tracked the markets and have generated positive returns year to date
• Our more aggressive portfolios have generated higher returns than our more conservative portfolios. This can be attributed to the strong recovery stocks have staged in 2023 while bonds have tended to move sideways
• Looking ahead: (opens in a new window)
  • Equities may experience turbulence as the full impact of interest rate rises is felt by consumers and businesses which could cool the robust performance of our more aggressive portfolios
  • On the other hand, the outlook for bonds is rosier with yields remaining elevated and the current rate hike cycle coming to a close. This could help support the performance of our more conservative portfolios.

From building and matching you to a portfolio that meets your needs, to monitoring and managing your investments, our Portfolio Advisors aim to make investing simple and stress-free. Whether your InvestEase account is the first step on your investing journey, or if it serves as a complement to one of the many offerings available through RBC(opens in a new window) (such as GICs(opens in a new window), Direct Investing(opens in a new window) etc.), we remain dedicated to helping you manage your investments so you are best positioned to achieve your financial goals.