August 28, 2021
1. Do you have one or more online trading or investment accounts?
Yes, I have one or more accounts that I access online, either using a computer or a mobile app but I also access the account(s) in other ways (e.g., by calling or visiting in person).
2. If your response to Question 1 is Yes, do you think you would trade or invest if you could not do so online using a computer or using a mobile app?
No
3. On average, how often do you access your online account?
Once to a few times per month
4. On average, how often are trades made in your online account, whether by you or someone else?
Less often than once a month.
5. If you access your account online, did you have the account first, and only began to access it electronically later? Or did you open the account with the idea that you would access it electronically immediately?
I had a pre-existing account and downloaded an app or visited a website to access my account
6. My goals for trading or investing in my online account are (check all that apply):
Keep the amount of money I have, while keeping up with inflation
Save and grow my money for short-term goals (in the next year or two)
Save and grow my money for medium- to long-term goals
Have fun
7. What would you like us to know about your experience with the features of your online trading or investment platform? (Examples of features are: social networking tools games, streaks, or contests with prizes points, badges, and leaderboards notifications celebrations for trading visual cues, like changing colors ideas presented at order placement or other curated lists or features subscription and membership tiers or chatbots.)
I can sign up for email alerts, it used to support pagers but no longer does, and it has an incredibly boring interface for managing my accounts, viewing quotes, and managing trades
8. If you were trading or investing prior to using an online account, how have your investing and trading behaviors changed since you started using your online account? (For example, the amount of money you have invested, your interest in learning about investing and saving for retirement, the amount of time you have spent trading, your knowledge of financial products, the number of trades you have made, the amount of money you have made in trading, your knowledge of the markets, the number of different types of financial products you have traded, or your use of margin.)
Switching to an online account connected me to my investments in a different light instead of just moving money into bank supplied mutual funds in order to keep pace with inflation, Ive become a lot more emotionally involved in the market, more interested in economics, Ive learned more about market dynamics and major participants, and Ive become more emotionally involved with the companies I specifically choose to invest in. I learned that traditional investing, the buy and hold strategy, in undervalued companies of great potential is the most effective strategy for Main Streets ability to leverage the market, and for increasing the value of my assets. I now participate more fully with the specific companies I have chosen in my directed investing account, and have learned valuable information regarding navigating the market and participating in economic progress.
9. How much experience do you have trading or investing in the following products (None, 12 months, 1-2 years, 2-5 years, 5+ years):
Stocks : 1-2 Years
Bonds : 5+ Years
Options : None
Mutual Funds : 5+ Years
ETFs : 1-2 Years
Futures : None
Cryptocurrencies : Less Than 12 Months
Commodities : 5+ Years
ClosedEnd Funds : None
Money Market Funds : None
Variable Insurance Products : None
Business Development Companies : None
Unit Investment Trusts : None
10. What is your understanding, if any, of the circumstances under which trading or investing in your account can be suspended or restricted?
Market volatility circuit breakers or if I am under legal scrutiny.
11. What else would you like us to know positive or negative - about your experience with online trading and investing?
I have become more invested in my investments since coming to direct investing, emotionally and capitalized, from traditional brokerage relationships with financial advisors, and I have increased my trailing 12 month realized returns from four to eight per cent (barely keeping up with inflation, and certainly underperforming for pandemic-related inflation) to +25 per cent, all of which was reinvested into the market. Any restriction of direct investments will significantly harm my trust in the market, my enjoyment of the market, and I will likely withdraw most of my market participation to participate in alternative markets (like the TSX) or alternative instruments, such as decentralized finance/cryptocurrency tokens. I am also tired of being demonized in mainstream media for buying and holding stock of companies I like, and I believe the libellous ranting against retail investors in publications like Fox Business, CNBC, Barrons, Wall Street Journal, Marketwatch, and their other peers and competitors deserves censure well before social media and retail investors come under regulatory scrutiny. I also am distrustful of the major participants in the market, and I believe they have consolidated too much power in the market without significant enough regulatory and governmental scrutiny. Move to reinstate Glass-Steagall, and champion fair and equitable access to the market by scrutinizing trades made, regulating the behaviour of participants, and enforcing the rules on unlit exchanges more thoroughly.