Qtrade Investor named top online brokerage in Canada by Surviscor

VANCOUVER, Dec. 21, 2017 /CNW/ - For the second year in a row, Qtrade Investor has been named best overall online brokerage in Canada by Surviscor in their 2017 Canadian Online Discount Brokerage Review. The review, now in its 12^th year, is a comprehensive assessment of the online service, features and functionality of Canada's online discount brokerage providers.

"The best online brokerages are challenged to adapt in a progressive digital environment while ensuring customer expectations are met and the cost of services remains competitive," said Glenn LaCoste, President of Surviscor. "We congratulate Qtrade Investor for its convincing win and once again for its commitment to innovation and unmatched service levels."

Qtrade Investor earned 90% in the 2017 review, which was 11 percentage points better than the nearest competitor and 27 points higher than the average score. Qtrade Investor was also Surviscor's top-ranked online brokerage last year.

"We're delighted to once again be recognized by Surviscor," said Catherine Wood, Qtrade Financial Group's Senior VP and Head of Online Brokerage. "This year we made significant enhancements to our platform and service—such as our paperless online application and account-funding capabilities, mobile apps and new tools for income investors. This ranking recognizes our commitment to deliver the best value for self-directed investors."

Earlier this year, Qtrade also earned first place in Surviscor's Service Level Assessment program, which measures how efficiently firms respond to service enquiries, for the second year in a row.

According to Surviscor, which specializes in impartial analysis and ranking of digital financial offerings, including banks and credit unions, its proprietary methodology for its online brokerage review measures thousands of usage-related criteria questions, along with cost of services analysis. The complete brokerage rankings can be found at www.surviscor.com.

On December 12, 2017 Qtrade Financial Group announced its intention to merge with Credential Financial Inc. and NEI Investments to form Aviso Wealth, one of Canada's largest independent wealth management firms. Aviso Wealth will be a Canadian financial services leader, with more than 500,000 clients across the country, over $55 billion in combined client assets under administration and management, and notable strengths in wealth management, asset management, online brokerage and digital advice, mutual funds and correspondent services.

About Qtrade Investor

Qtrade Investor is the award-winning online brokerage division of Qtrade Securities Inc., Member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. Qtrade Securities is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qtrade Financial Group. For more information, visit www.qtrade.ca/investor.

About Qtrade Financial Group

Qtrade Financial Group is a national, award-winning, integrated financial services company, with $15 billion in assets. Qtrade Financial Group provides online brokerage services to individual investors along with full-service brokerage, wealth and investment management platforms and services, custodial services, introducing broker services, and insurance solutions to meet the diverse needs of over 150 financial institutions, as well as their members and clients, across Canada. Qtrade Financial Group's partners include credit unions, banks, trust companies, insurance companies, investment dealers, portfolio managers and financial planning firms. Qtrade Financial Group is backed by Desjardins Group, the leading cooperative financial group in Canada and the sixth largest cooperative financial group in the world. More information is available at www.qtrade.ca.

Caution concerning forward-looking statements

Certain statements made in this press release may be forward-looking. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve assumptions, uncertainties and inherent risks, both general and specific. It is therefore possible that, due to a number of factors, the predictions, projections or other forward-looking statements as well as objectives and priorities of the parties may not materialize or may prove to be inaccurate and that actual results differ materially. Various factors beyond the control of the parties could influence the accuracy of the forward-looking statements in this press release. Although the parties believe that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance or guarantee that these expectations will prove to be correct. The parties caution readers against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements when making decisions. None of the parties undertakes to update any written or verbal forward-looking statements that could be made from time to time by or on behalf of the parties, except as required under applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Qtrade Investor

Evan Stanley, Communications Specialist, Qtrade Financial Group, 604.678.6275, [email protected]