Virtual Brokers is owned by CI Investments Services Inc, which took over it in 2017, from BBS Securities, the previous owner of Virtual Brokers. Virtual Brokers was integrated with WealthBar, another financial platform in 2020 to form a new investment platform known as CI Direct Investing. Although it operates separately in Canada.
Who is Virtual Brokers?
Virtual Brokers is a Canadian online broking platform that provides investing and trading facilities to Canadian as well as to selected Non-Canadian users. Virtual Brokers have a range of account options that you can choose from as per your requirements. You also get access to advanced platforms like the PowerTrader Pro, RealTick EMS, etc which can be used from domestic as well as international trading.
Using the platform you can trade stocks, ETF (Exchange Traded Funds) Bonds, Mutual Funds, and Fixed Income Securities at very reasonable commissions. To trade in stocks you will have to pay a minimum of $1.99/per trade, with $0.01 per share, whereas ETF and Mutual Fund investments are completely free of any commissions.
Who owns Virtual Brokers?
Now that you have seen the facilities that the platform provides, the question remains who is the owner of Virtual Brokers?
Virtual Brokers was founded in 2009, under BBS Securities. BBS Securities owned Virtual Brokers up until 2017.
In 2017 CI Financial Investments Services acquired BBS Securities under which Virtual Brokers was also present. Soon after this advancement in 2020, CI Financials merged Virtual Brokers with another online platform named WealthBar and created a new entity named “CI Direct Investing” although, Virtual Brokers still functions as a separate entity.
Conclusion
Virtual Brokers is ultimately owned by CI Investment Services Inc, which is a member of the CIPF, hence the broker can be considered trustworthy. Virtual Brokers has also achieved many Broker awards as one of the top brokers in Canada for multiple years.