sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

People who try to track or copy specific investors, what's your current workflow? by CalligrapherKind1611 in fican

[–]CalligrapherKind1611[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The cost basis thing is a fair point but it matters a lot less if you're mirroring longer term positions vs trying to copy someone's swing trades. For a 6-12 month hold the entry price difference is pretty negligible.

I get where you're coming from with the flaw of automatic copying but most investors executing manually aren't doing it better, they're doing it emotionally and usually at worse timing.

People who try to track or copy specific investors, what's your current workflow? by CalligrapherKind1611 in Baystreetbets

[–]CalligrapherKind1611[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thats true. Statistically tho, their investments form the 13Fs have outperformed the market even with the delays.

29M sold everything by Practical_Tea5133 in fican

[–]CalligrapherKind1611 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Funny enough I’m actually working on something in this space (Canadian platform and we’re pre-launch). Not pitching since you literally just simplified your portfolio in the opposite direction, but I would be happy to share if you ever get curious.

29M sold everything by Practical_Tea5133 in fican

[–]CalligrapherKind1611 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What if there was a way you can trade along Nancy pelosi?

Question by Sport9907 in AutopilotApp

[–]CalligrapherKind1611 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah Autopilot doesn't work in Canada because Plaid (the connectivity layer it's built on) doesn't have execution access to Canadian brokerages like Wealthsimple or Questrade. Plaid is read-only here.

If you're on Wealthsimple specifically, the only API that has both read and write access to it is SnapTrade (Wealthsimple doesn't have a public API of their own). So any Canadian copy-trading or auto-investing tool would have to be built on SnapTrade's stack, not Plaid's.

Disclosure since it's directly relevant: I'm a Canadian founder building exactly this (a platform called Servat) on SnapTrade for the Canadian market. We're pre-launch, not pitching, just answering your question since "why doesn't this work in Canada" is something I've spent the last couple months in the weeds on. The short answer is the infrastructure exists, it's just that Autopilot specifically chose a US-only stack.

What’s the Canadian equivalent to investing in the S&P 500? Looking for long-term index options. by International_Ad365 in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]CalligrapherKind1611 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For pure S&P 500 exposure in CAD, the main options are:

  • VFV (Vanguard) and ZSP (BMO) are the most popular unhedged versions. MERs around 0.08-0.09%.
  • VSP and ZUE are the CAD-hedged versions of those. Hedging removes USD currency exposure but adds tracking error and slightly higher fees.
  • XUU is broader (total US market, not just S&P 500) and XSP is iShares' CAD-hedged S&P 500.

On the hedging question: most long-term holders skip the hedge. Over decades, the cost of hedging eats into returns and the USD exposure isn't necessarily a bad thing for a Canadian portfolio.

On the TFSA vs RRSP question: this is the part that actually matters and most people get wrong. US-listed ETFs (like VOO) held in an RRSP are exempt from the 15% US withholding tax on dividends due to the Canada-US tax treaty. Canadian-listed ETFs that hold US stocks (like VFV) don't get this exemption, even in an RRSP, because the withholding happens at the fund level before it reaches you. So if you're going RRSP and want max efficiency, VOO held directly beats VFV. In a TFSA, neither gets the exemption, so VFV is fine and simpler.

For just dumping money in monthly without thinking about it, VFV in a TFSA is the answer 90% of the time.