Greenline + RBC Direct Investing

RBC Direct Investing is one of the most widely used self-directed platforms in Canada. If you already bank with RBC, opening an investment account is seamless. Your banking and investing live under one roof, and moving money between accounts is instant.

But convenience within one bank doesn’t mean clarity across your full financial picture.

What RBC Direct Investing does well

The biggest draw is integration with your RBC banking. Transfers are fast, the interface is familiar, and you can see your chequing, savings, and investment accounts in one login. For people who value simplicity, that matters.

RBC offers access to stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, GICs, and bonds. They’re also the parent company of iShares Canada, so you’ll find a wide selection of iShares ETFs available to trade. Commissions are $9.95 per trade for stocks and ETFs, which is standard for a big bank.

Many long-time RBC clients also hold RBC mutual funds, often from when they first started investing with an advisor.

Where it gets complicated

The challenge shows up when you look beyond RBC.

Maybe you opened a Wealthsimple or Questrade account for lower fees. Maybe your spouse invests at a different bank. Maybe you have a group RRSP through your employer. RBC Direct Investing shows you what’s at RBC, but nothing else.

You can’t see:

• Your combined allocation across all brokerages
• Whether your RBC mutual funds overlap with ETFs you hold elsewhere
• What you’re paying in total fees, including MERs on older mutual funds
• Your complete net worth from investments
• Your adjusted cost base for tax reporting across platforms

If you’ve been investing for a while, there’s a good chance your accounts are spread across more than one institution. RBC can only show you their piece of it.

How Greenline fills the gap

Greenline brings everything together. Upload your RBC Direct Investing PDF statement, add your accounts from other brokerages, and Greenline shows you the full view.

You get:

• One dashboard for every account at every brokerage
• Fee analysis that shows what you’re actually paying, including MERs on mutual funds you might still hold
• Net worth tracking across your entire investment picture
• Holdings deep dive with your real allocation by region, sector, and asset class
• Tax reporting with ACB tracking that works across brokerages

Greenline doesn’t replace RBC Direct Investing. You keep trading where you trade. Greenline just helps you see how it all fits together.

Do you need both?

If RBC is your only brokerage and you’re satisfied with their reporting, you might not need Greenline right now.

But if any of these apply, Greenline adds something RBC can’t:

• You have accounts at more than one brokerage or bank
• You want to see your total net worth, not just your RBC accounts
• You hold older mutual funds and want to understand what you’re paying in fees
• You need ACB tracking for tax season
• You want one view that covers everything, updated daily

How to get started?

If you’re an RBC Direct Investing client, you can download your account statement as a PDF from the RBC online portal. Upload it to Greenline, and your holdings are imported automatically. The process takes a couple of minutes.

From there, add your other accounts and you’ll see the full picture.