Custom Indexing. Remix the markets.

Custom Indexing is a new way to manage your own investments, exclusively offered by Questrade. Instead of holding individual stocks or all-in-one ETFs, it lets you build your own unique index based on any theme or strategy.

When you buy an ETF, you own a share of a pooled fund. You cannot adjust what is inside, and you pay a management fee (MER) every year, deducted directly from the fund's returns before they reach you. The more your portfolio grows, the more you pay, whether you notice it or not. With Custom Indexing, you own the actual stocks directly as fractional shares. You decide what is in and what is out, with no MERs.

Robo-advisors build a portfolio for you based on a questionnaire. It is convenient, but the customization often stops at being able to adjust your risk tolerance. Other preferences, from sector exposure to how dividends are reinvested, are determined without you having a say.

With Custom Indexing, you control the portfolio. You choose the stocks, set the weights, and adjust whenever you want.

No. It is a similar concept, but a different execution. Direct indexing is usually available as a managed product for non-registered accounts, managed by an advisor or an algorithm, and is focused on tax optimization. Custom Indexing is a fully self-directed product, designed to make diversified portfolio management seamless, and is available for TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, and cash account types.

You can open a Custom Indexing account through the regular account opening process. Once you select your account type, you will be presented with a screen that asks what you would like to use the new account for, of which there is an option to select Custom Indexing.

Custom Indexing uses a dedicated account so that features like one-click rebalancing and drift notifications work accurately across all your holdings. This keeps your index self-contained. Your other investments will not be affected when you rebalance, and your index performance stays clean.

To start investing with Custom Indexing you will need to open a Custom Indexing account. Custom Indexing is available for TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, and cash accounts. It is not available for margin, RESP, or joint account types. From there, you can start building your index from our template library, edit it to your preferences, and execute your portfolio in one session.

Ensure you have a Custom Indexing account first. Once it is open, check that it is assigned to the index you want to buy into. You can check this by going to your Custom Indexing account. To buy in, fund your account and add your funds to your index. The funds in your account will not be automatically applied to your index.

Yes, you can edit your index at any time. Editing is just as easy as building, and when you are done you can apply the changes to your portfolio in one click.

Fractional shares of every stock in your index will be bought for you, weighted exactly the way you set it. Your custom index is live and held in your account.

When you start creating a Custom Index you can choose from two types of templates: market indices or those contributed by community. Under Market Indices, you can choose from three broad market templates with broad exposure to the top 100, 200, and 500 US companies. Under Community Indices, you can choose from templates contributed by the Questrade community.

When you edit by stock or sector, you can adjust the percent weighting of an individual stock or sector. You can filter by sector to understand its makeup and adjust the percentages within it. When you are done, you can scale your edits to add up to 100% in one click, then save your changes.

Custom Indexing operates off fractional shares. Our platform supports US securities only, with Canadian fractional shares on the way.

There are no management fees or trading commissions charged for using Custom Indexing. All indexes are held in US dollars, so FX fees still apply.

There is a 10 dollar minimum buy-in.

No. Rebalancing alerts will notify you when your index drifts by 10%. When that happens, log in to review your orders and bring everything back with one click.

It depends on the account type.

For registered accounts like TFSA, RRSP, or FHSA, there is no capital gains tax, so ACB tracking is not required.

In a non-registered cash account, each rebalance can trigger sells across hundreds of positions, and every sale is a separate taxable event with its own ACB calculation to track. Tax reporting features for Custom Indexing accounts are planned for the next season.

As your index grows over time, and if your index drifts more than 10% away from your original settings, Questrade notifies you. When you log in, an order summary is ready. You review and confirm in one click, and buying and selling orders execute to bring your index back into balance.

You choose. You can keep dividends as cash in your account, or you can make dividend reinvestment automatic, keeping your returns compounding. Dividend reinvestment can be activated at the account level once your Custom Indexing account is open.

You can create multiple indexes and run different strategies in each. There is no limit to the number of indexes someone can draft and hold. Each index still needs at least one account to buy in, and funds in a given account can only be applied toward one index at a time.

Custom Indexing is its own account creation option at Questrade. It is available in TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, and cash accounts. Custom Indexing is not available for margin accounts.

Custom Indexing will soon be available for indexes like the TSX.

You cannot do an in-kind transfer of an existing portfolio into a Custom Indexing account, but you can liquidate your assets and move the proceeds into your Custom Indexing account.

No more so than any other kind of investing. Custom Indexing gives you more control, and means your outcomes depend on your decisions. If you are unsure, consider starting with a template and making small adjustments.

You can edit your index anytime. Remove a stock you regret adding, adjust a weight that feels off, or rebalance to correct a drift. Your opinions are allowed and encouraged to evolve over time.