I’m thinking of opening a TD Direct Investing account to host my RRSP portfolio. I’m leaning toward TD mainly for security and operational reasons, especially the trading PIN.
What appeals to me:
* Layered security by design. TD favors controls over speed, which matters more as portfolios get larger. I don't care if the UI is clunky.
* Trading PIN support, which adds a meaningful extra barrier against unauthorized trades. To me that's the biggest selling point.
* Strong, well-established escalation paths. TD is a regulated bank with formal compliance and risk oversight.
* Physical branch backstop for identity issues, account lockouts, or urgent problems.
* Conservative, reliability-first operating culture.
My view is that fintech brokers like Wealthsimple or Questrade are great during the accumulation phase, especially when starting out. But they are intentionally frictionless once you’re authenticated, and that can amplify the consequences of rare but high-severity account-level security incidents if something goes wrong. I have read stories here of people who had their entire portfolio liquidated without their approval. A trade PIN would have prevented that.
Curious to hear thoughts from others who’ve used TD DI long-term, especially for larger or retirement-focused portfolios.