Justwealth is a Toronto-based, award-winning Robo-advisor that has been operating since 2016. It works as a digital wealth manager that allows Canadians to access low-cost investment solutions through customized, diversified ETF portfolios.
If you want to build wealth via the stock market, you have three options:
DIY Investing: Great for self-directed investors with the knowledge and skills to analyze the market, pick stocks, invest, and track their portfolios.
Actively managed equity funds: Active fund managers promise high returns but charge high fees, which can significantly increase your investing costs.
Many actively managed equity funds end up underperforming yearly and rarely beat their benchmark index.
Passive investing: This is where Robo-advisors like Justwealth come in. They enable you to invest with a diversified portfolio of low-cost ETFs.
Your portfolio tracks the performance of the whole market so that you can invest without the knowledge and skills required for DIY investing and at a fraction of the fees levied by traditional fund managers.
In the long run, passive investments have been proven to beat active fund managers.
In this Justwealth review, I cover everything you need to know, from portfolio options and investing accounts to fees, investing products, portfolio performance, and pros & cons.
How Justwealth Works
Justwealth works much like other Robo-advisors in Canada. The platform employs modern financial technology and a team of certified portfolio managers who invest and rebalance your account on your behalf.
To get started, you simply fill out a financial questionnaire to help them understand your investment goals, risk tolerance, investment time frame, budget, and more.
After they understand your financial situation, you are assigned a portfolio manager who matches you with a customized portfolio that aligns with your investment objectives and risk tolerance.
Once your portfolio is set up, you then open an investment account to hold it and deposit a minimum of $5,000 to start investing immediately.
Your portfolio manager takes it from there and invests and rebalances your account as required on your behalf without any further action on your part.
How to sign up for a Justwealth account
Justwealth offers registered and non-registered accounts to meet the investment needs of different investors.
They include:
- Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA)
- Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP)
- Registered Educational Savings Plan (RESP)
- Spousal RRSP
- Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF)
- Locked-In Retirement Account (LIRA)
- Life Income Fund (LIF)
- Non-Registered Account
It only takes about 15 minutes to open a Justwealth account. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to do it.
Step 1: Click this link to visit Justwealth, and stand a chance to get a special sign-up bonus of up to $500.
Step 2: Provide your basic information to help them learn your investment goals, risk tolerance, and more. You’ll also be requested to provide your bank details, Social Insurance Number (SIN), ID copy, and your spouse’s SIN for a Spousal RRSP.
Step 3: You’ll be matched with a customized portfolio to meet your investment needs.
Step 4: Select an account to open, including RRSP, TFSA, or any of the abovementioned accounts.
Step 5: Fund your account with at least $5,000, and your portfolio manager will start investing the funds on your behalf using low-cost ETFs.
You can also transfer your investment account from another firm. Justwealth will cover the account transfer fee up to $150 if the transfer amount is $25,000 or more.
The Justwealth RESP account is a good bet when investing for education purposes. Unlike the other accounts with a minimum investment amount of $5,000, the RESP account has no minimum balance requirement and offers target date portfolios at lower monthly fees.
Investment portfolios
Justwealth offers five portfolio types. They include:
- Growth portfolios
- Income portfolios
- ESG portfolios
- Education Target Date portfolios
- USD portfolios
Further, each portfolio has many sub-portfolios to choose from, including balanced, advanced, conservative, moderate, high growth, maximum, low volatility, and Tax-efficient portfolios.
Thus, you will surely find an option that fits your investment style and risk tolerance level.
Justwealth top account features
All Justwealth accounts come with the following benefits:
- Ongoing portfolio monitoring and automatic account rebalancing
- Tax loss harvesting
- Personalized financial planning
- Tax-efficient portfolios and account structuring
- Dedicated Personal Portfolio Manager and support team
- Quarterly market commentary
- CIPF protection up to $1 million
- Justwealth Target-Date portfolio that matures on a set date
- US Dollar portfolio to invest using US dollars
- Free portfolio review
Justwealth Fees
Justwealth fees align with Wealthsimple, the most popular Robo-advisor in Canada. There are two types of fees based on your investment amount as follows:
| Investment amount | Fee |
| $5,000-$500,000 | 0.50% |
| Over $500,000 | 0.4% |
In addition, you’ll also incur an inbuilt ETF MER fee of 0.25%. But given that equity funds in Canada levy an average fee of 1.98%, you may save more than 1.00% in fees per year.
Justwealth Performance and Returns
You’ll find Justwealth performance and returns published on their website for the different sub-portfolios under each portfolio type, from 1 month to 5 years, and overall performance since the fund was established.
The table below breaks down the performance of different sub-portfolios for the Canadian Growth portfolio type.
| Canadian Growth Portfolio Type | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yrs | Since Inception |
| Conservative | -9.10% | 1.50% | 2.45% | 3.25% |
| Moderate | -8.18% | 3.64% | 4.14% | 5.03% |
| Balanced | -6.65% | 5.79% | 5.67% | 6.73% |
| Advanced | -6.42% | 5.79% | 5.97% | 5.47% |
| High | -5.11% | 7.05% | 6.93% | 7.91% |
| Maximum | -1.65% | 9.28% | 8.12% | 9.34% |
As you can see from the table, building wealth requires time, and you should be willing to allow your investment account to sit undisturbed for several years.
Is Justwealth Legit and Safe?
Yes, Justwealth is a safe and legit Robo-advisor, and money in your Justwealth RESP and other accounts is just as safe as funds in other Canadian financial institutions.
It is a registered digital wealth management firm that operates according to the Canadian financial industry’s best practices and laws.
It is also a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF), which protects your account against bankruptcy for up to $1 million.
To keep your personal information safe, Justwealth employs Extended Validation SSL technology to protect your data.
Pros and Cons of Justwealth
Pros
- A wide selection of over 70 portfolios
- Several investment accounts to choose from
- Competitive Justwealth RESP accounts with target date funds, low fees, and no minimum investment requirement.
- Each investor gets a Personal Portfolio Manager for customized solutions support and counselling.
Cons
- High minimum investment requirement of $5,000
- Not available in Northwest, Nunavut, and Yukon territories
- It doesn’t offer a self-directed investment option
- It doesn’t offer sustainable portfolio options
Justwealth vs Wealthsimple Invest
Wealthsimple is the most popular robo-advisor in Canada and has been operating since 2014. Below is how Justwealth compares with Wealthsimple Invest.
Portfolios
Justwealth offers more ETF portfolios than Wealthsimple Invest. While Wealthsimple offers only three portfolio types, Justwealth offers 70+ ETF portfolios. However, Wealthsimple offers SRI and Halal portfolio options, which Justwealth doesn’t offer.
Fees
Both Wealthsimple and Justwealth charge similar fees of 0.4%-0.5%. That said, Wealthsimple’s in-built ETF MER of 0.12%-0.15% is lower than Justwealth’s MER of 0.25%.
Minimum Investment
Wealthsimple doesn’t impose a minimum investment, and you can start investing with as little as $1. Justwealth has a high minimum investment of $5,000.
Transfer fee
Wealthsimple doesn’t charge any account transfer fee. Justwealth has an account transfer out fee of $150 when transferring your account from Justwealth to another firm.
Other Justwealth Alternatives in Canada
The table below breaks down how Justwealth stacks up against other Canadian robo-advisors.
| Justwealth | Wealthsimple Invest | Questwealth | RBC InvestEase | BMO SmartFolio | |
| Management fees | 0.4%-0.5% | 0.4%-0.5% | 0.20%-0.25% | 0.5% | 0.4%-0.7% |
| Minimum Investment | $5,000 | None | $1,000 | $100 | $1,000 |
| Account Types | RRSP, RESP, TFSA, LIRA, LIF, RRIF, non-registered account | TFSA, RRSP, LIRA, RESP, RRIF, and non-registered personal account | TFSA, RRSP, LIRA, LIF, RRIF, non-registered accounts | TFSA, RRSP, non-registered investment account | TFSA, RRSP, RESP, RRIF, RDSP, RIF, LIF, cash |
| Learn more | – | Review | Review | Review | Review |
FAQ
What is Justwealth?
Justwealth is a Toronto-based robo-advisor that offers online investment services at a fee. It allows Canadians to invest with low-cost ETF portfolios to maximize returns and lower investment costs.
Are Robo-Advisors safe?
Yes, robo-advisors are just as safe as other financial institutions in Canada as they employ similar security measures to protect user funds.
Who owns Justwealth?
Justwealth is owned by its co-founders Andrew Kirkland and James Gauthier, together with other members of their core team.
