Canadians shifting to online investing

The future is bright for online, do-it-yourself investing, says BMO InvestorLine.

One of its recent studies finds 65% of investors plan to trade online in the next five years. What’s more, more than 80% of those between 18 and 34-years-old expect to manage and monitor their own investments by 2018.

Read: Whoops! Beware DIY account transfer costs

The study also found about 20% of Canadians currently trade online, with that number expected to triple within the next decade due to the emergence of younger investors.

In addition to online trading, Canadians are also banking (77%) and shopping (61%) more on the Web.

“The Internet is a growing part of their daily lives,” says Viki Lazaris, president and CEO of BMO InvestorLine. “Online investing is a natural extension of that [since it] offers more control over portfolios, [and] the ability to monitor investments 24/7.”

Read: Online investing popular, but myths persist

Most people prefer to invest independently through an online brokerage. They do all of the research and trading themselves, though some people still prefer to receive buy-and-sell recommendations from experts.

BMO currently offers these tips to online investors:

Research, research, research: Before choosing an online brokerage, check out their resources, tools, user interface and stock screener. Some even offer basic investment advice if you need to consult an expert.

Read: Leave emotion out of investing

Look for support: Some brokerages help new clients learn more online investing through demonstrations, seminars, webcasts, tutorials, analyst reports and newsletters..

Get mailings/reports: BMO InvestorLine sends clients eCurriculum emails on various investing topics, and provides three sources of research including Ford equity research, Morningstar equity research, and pick lists and Morningstar credit research.

Read:

Questrade transitioning to self-clearing model

Canadians embrace online investing