Wealthsimple vs. Justwealth in 2024

Justwealth and Wealthsimple are the #1 and #2 options on our newly-updated best robo advisors in Canada for 2024 list.

Because Wealthsimple is more of a tech-first company, and Justwealth is more of an investing-first company, the Wealthsimple vs Justwealth battle comes down to what you most highly prioritize in your robo advisor.

Also, I should point out right off the bat that both Wealthsimple and Justwealth aren’t big fans of the term “robo advisor.” They prefer something like, “automated wealth management” or a title that more accurately describes what it is they do compared to one of Canada’s online brokerages.

It’s also worth noting that you can try both robo advisors out with a fairly small amount of money, (snagging the current excellent promotion from Justwealth below) and then decide from there which platform you like best. Read on for a close comparison of fees, performance, financial advice, security, account options, and user experience.

JustWealth vs. Wealthsimple: Quick Comparison

If you’re simply looking for a quick visual side-by-side comparison for Justwealth and Wealthsimple, we’ve got you. The chart below contains all the basic information from our comprehensive review.

	Justwealth	WealthSimple
Number of Portfolios Available	Over 80 different portfolios engineered to either grow your wealth, generate income, or preserve wealth.	3 standard portfolios, plus SRI and Halal options.
Personalized Financial Advisor
5-year returns (balanced portfolio)	8.48%	4.70%
Fees	0.40%-0.50%	0.40%-0.50%
Target-Date RESP Funds
Account Minimum	$5,000 (With exceptions for RESP and FHSA accounts)	None
SRI Options Available
Promo Offer	$100-$500 Instant Cash Back	$50 Sign-up Bonus
Sign Up	Visit Justwealth	Visit Wealthsimple

If you want an in-depth standalone review of each robo-advisor with more context and all the details, check out our Justwealth Review and our Wealthsimple Review.

Wealthsimple vs. Justwealth: Security and Safety

Both Wealthsimple and Justwealth take their responsibilities seriously. Their custodial organizations (the companies that hold your funds) are regulated by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and their accounts are protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. They both use high-level encryption to protect your information.

Basically, your money and your data are equally safe with either robo-advisor. These companies have been around for years and are both regulated and trustworthy.

Wealthsimple vs Justwealth: Fees and MER

Robo advisors all have two layer of fees:

1) The amount of money they charge you for their services.

2) The amount of money that the underlying ETFs will charge you in order to invest in them. This amount is almost always called a Management Expense Ratio (MER).

Sometimes you’ll see these two layers of fees added together and called the MER. Other times both Justwealth and Wealthsimple will report only that top layer of fees – which isn’t really dishonest, in that they only get to keep that money.

Both Wealthsimple and Justwealth have identical fee ranges of 0.40%-0.50% when it comes to that top layer of fees. While the value of the second layer of fees will change slightly depending on the specific portfolio you choose. 

Winner: Draw

Justwealth vs Wealthsimple: Performance

ting the most apples-to-apples comparison between the two when you compare performance. Below shows the corresponding head-to-head comparison for each of Wealthsimple’s main portfolio options vs the Justwealth option over the last five years.

As you can see, Justwealth is pretty dominant in this category.

5-Yr Comparison of Annualized Investment Returns Ending June 30th, 2024

That 2-4% difference in performance is absolutely massive. I’d argue that even a .50% difference would be pretty big when you think about how fast that will compound over the years. Wealthsimple has made some very questionable investment decisions when it comes to their fixed income products, and this has led to significant underperformance – no way around that reality.

Massive Winner: Justwealth

Justwealth vs Wealthsimple: Financial Advice

While both of these robo advisors offer some form of financial advice via online chat, phone calls, or chat sessions using Zoom (or other video platforms), the big difference here is that every single Justwealth customer is assigned a personalized financial advisor when they sign up. That point person offers a single point of contact throughout your investment journey, and is another massive advantage for Justwealth.

It’s also important to mention that both of these leading robo advisors are legally classified as portfolio managers. That means they have fiduciary duty to act in your best interest. That’s a very important distinction from the “financial advisors” at your local bank, credit union, or strip mall investment company.

It means that both Wealthsimple and Justwealth can be held legally liable for giving you advice that benefits their company at your expense. That same standard is not met by companies who do not have a fiduciary responsibility. Make sure to ask about this if you’re still unsure, as it’s possibly the most important detail when discussing the best financial advisors in Canada and the best wealth management companies in Canada.

Winner: Justwealth

 Account and Portfolio Options

Both Justwealth and Wealthsimple offer the full range of Canadian investment accounts including:

• RRSP
• Spousal RRSP
• TFSA
• Non-Registered account
• RRIF
• FHSA
• RESP
• LIRA
• LIF

*You can also open a US dollar account for some of these options. 

One area where Justwealth has a bit of an advantage is in their Education Target Date RESP Portfolios. They are the only Canadian robo advisor to offer this unique product. They are designed to grow with your child and automatically rebalance as the target date approaches. This means that by the time your child graduates, the money will be ready for them. Another perk of the Justwealth RESP is that there is no minimum requirement to open this type of account.

Now, Wealthsimple has an advantage when it comes to accounts outside the scope of a robo advisor. For example if you want to trade crypto, Wealthsimple can do that – but Justwealth can’t. Wealthsimple Tax also offers an interesting add-on service that Justwealth doesn’t have the equivalent of.

So far, I’d say that when it comes to account and investing options it looks pretty close, with a slight edge to Wealthsimple. But then we have to factor in actual investable portfolios that we can put our money into within those accounts.

Wealthsimple has three standard portfolios, plus SRI and Halal portfolios.

Justwealth on the other hand has over 80 portfolios to choose from – by far the most when it comes to Canadian robo advisors.

Not only that, but all of the other big robos (including Wealthsimple) have some sort of a deal or interest with specific ETF companies. That means that even if the ETF isn’t really the perfect fit for what they want exposure to in a portfolio – they’re going to make it fit. Meanwhile, an unencumbered Justwealth is free to select whichever ETF offers the most advantages a given time.

Plus, if I’m being honest, I have a personal bias against investing in gold and investing in cryptocurrency. Wealthsimple really pushes these products and I think it completely goes against the founding principles of the company.

Winner: Justwealth

Wealthsimple vs Justwealth: User Experience

Both Wealthsimple and Justwealth have similar sign-up processes.

You start by inputting your personal information, including your social insurance number. You answer a questionnaire about your finances and investment goals. Then you’re matched with a portfolio that matches your goals, timeline, and level of risk aversion.

Where Wealthsimple really shines is how much tech work they put into their product. Their website is beautiful, and their app has long been the best one amongst the robo advisors. I’d argue that while the Justwealth customer service has higher ratings amongst our readers, the quality of Wealthsimple’s mobile app gives it an edge in this area – but it really comes down to what you want out of your robo.

If you want a slick online experience, then Wealthsimple has you covered. If you value a prompt email reply or a short conversation with a personalized financial advisor, then Justwealth would be the better bet.

Slight Winner: Wealthsimple

Account Minimums and Special Promotions

While this is probably the least important comparison point when choosing an investing product for the long-term it is a legitimate point of difference.

Wealthsimple really promotes the fact that anyone can get started with them, even if they have only one dollar.

Justwealth on the other hand is going to require you to deposit $5K in order to get started. I’d argue if you have less than that, it should just be in a low risk investment anyway, but that’s just me. Now, Justwealth does have two exceptions to their 5K rule: The FHSA and the RESP. Clearly they’re making a real effort here to attract young people! There are no minimums to open an FHSA or an RESP with Justwealth.

Now, when it comes to promotions, Justwealth clearly has the edge, as they are currently offering up to $500 to get started with them, whereas Wealthsimple just has their usual fifty dollar promotion going on. Click below to take advantage of the new Justwealth deal.

Slight Winner: Justwealth

So Which One Is Better for Me?

or me, Justwealth wins the battle on the back of the following advantages:

1) Proven to be better investors.

2) The advantage of having a defined contact person as your long-term advisor is really nice.

3) 80 different portfolios to invest in is by far the most amongst Canadian robo advisors.

4) I love the target-date RESP accounts. I recommend them to many of my friends that don’t want to open an online brokers account and look at Canadian ETFs.

That said, as Canada’s largest robo advisor (and biggest marketing spender) I can see the argument there as well. You can read our full-length Wealthsimple review and Justwealth review in order to really dig into the best fit for you.