If you are not a Wealthsimple client, you have likely heard of the platform in one way or another (likely through advertisements). You may be asking yourself – who owns Wealthsimple?

Wealthsimple is a privately-owned company, meaning that it does not have shares that trade on an exchange. As of the latest available data, Power Corporation of Canada, through its subsidiary IGM Financial, holds a significant but reduced stake in Wealthsimple—around 43%. The rest of the company is owned by a mix of private investors, including venture capital firms and notable individuals like Drake and Dwight Powell.

Wealthsimple – How the Company Started

Wealthsimple was started by Michael Katchen, the current CEO of the company. After Michael identified that Canada lacked a simple, low-fee platform that everyday Canadians could use to grow their wealth, he founded Wealthsimple in 2014.

Shortly after the company’s founding, Wealthsimple acquired Canadian ShareOwner Investments Inc, which increased Wealthsimple’s assets under management (AUM) to $400 million and increased the company’s total client accounts to 10,000 by 2015.

As of 2025, Wealthsimple’s integration with Mint is no longer prominently supported. Mint has seen declining support across various Canadian services, and Wealthsimple no longer lists Mint integration as a key feature.

Wealthsimple for Advisors was discontinued in 2021. The company decided to shift its focus entirely to direct-to-consumer offerings such as Wealthsimple Invest, Trade, and Crypto, exiting the advisor-focused business line.

How Wealthsimple Raised Funds to Grow

Wealthsimple has continued to raise funds over several private funding rounds, meaning that ownership in the company was sold off to private investors. This has allowed the company to access more capital to develop and expand operations.

As of 2025, Wealthsimple has completed multiple funding rounds, the most recent being a $750 million private equity raise in 2021 that valued the company at approximately $5 billion. Since then, Wealthsimple has not announced any major new funding rounds, and Power Corp’s subsequent write-down suggests a possible decrease in market valuation due to broader tech market conditions. Below is a breakdown of each:

Announcement Date	Type of Transaction	Number of Investors	Amount of Capital Raised	Key Investors
May 3, 2021	Private Equity Round	21	$750 Million	Greylock, Meritech Captial Partners
October 14, 2020	Private Equity Round	5	$114 Million	TCV
May 22, 2019	Venture Round	2	$100 Million	Allianz X
February 22, 2018	Venture Round	1	$65 Million	Power Financial Corp.
May 11, 2017	Series B Funding	1	$50 Million	Power Financial Corp.
January 31, 2017	Series B Funding	1	$20 Million	Power Financial Corp.
April 9, 2015	Series A Funding	1	$30 Million	Power Financial Corp.
September 15, 2014	Seed Round	4	$1.9 Million	No Info
May 15, 2014	Seed Round	1	No Info	No Info

Some investors in the company include Aubrey Graham (Drake) as well as Dwight Powell.

What Does Wealthsimple Offer?

Wealthsimple offers a variety of solutions for clients. Currently

Wealthsimple Invest

Wealthsimple Invest is a Robo-advisory platform that is designed to construct portfolios for clients based on information such as goals, objectives, and risk tolerance. Robo-advisors are designed to be a low-cost alternative to working with a human financial advisor.

Since Wealthsimple Invest is entirely automated, the fees that you will be paying are significantly lower than those that you would pay for working with an advisor.

Opening a Wealthsimple Invest account is extremely straightforward.

Wealthsimple Trade

Wealthsimple Trade is a self-directed discount brokerage that allows you to trade your own investments and be in charge of your own portfolio. One of the key features of the brokerage is that it is a commission-free trading platform, allowing you to save a substantial amount of money if you trade often.

Opening a Wealthsimple Trade account is also very intuitive.

Make sure to read our in-depth comparison of Wealthsimple Invest and Wealthsimple Trade here.

Wealthsimple Crypto

Wealthsimple Crypto is Canada’s first regulated crypto platform. The service allows you to buy and sell cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Wealthsimple Tax

Wealthsimple Tax is an online tax software that allows clients to complete their taxes quickly and cheaply. Wealthsimple guarantees that using the software will provide you with the maximum refund possible.

Wealthsimple Cash

Wealthsimple Cash is a mobile application that allows you to quickly and easily send, receive, and request money from friends, family, or anyone else.

Wealthsimple also offers educational resources on its website. These include:

• Wealthsimple Magazine
• Personal Finance 101
• Income Tax Calculator

Wealthsimple Fees – Wealthsimple Invest and Wealthsimple Trade

Wealthsimple prides itself on operating like a start-up. By keeping operations lean, the company is able to reduce fees across its service offerings and platforms and be a Canadian cost leader in the financial services space.

Wealthsimple Invest – Fees

Wealthsimple Invest’s fees are tiered based on assets held with the platform:

• Basic (clients with $0 – $100,000 in assets): 0.50%
• Black (clients with $100,000 – $500,000 in assets): 0.40%
• Generation (clients with $500,000+): 0.40%

Wealthsimple Trade – Fees

Wealthsimple Trade’s fees come in two different offerings: Basic and Plus.

Basic

Basic is Wealthsimple Trade’s regular discount brokerage platform. It does not cost clients any fees per month.

Basic clients can enjoy:

• No commissions
• No account minimums
• The ability to open TFSA, RRSP, and non-registered accounts
• Fractional shares
• The ability to instantly deposit up to $1,500
• Unlimited price alerts
• Real-Time prices

Plus

Plus clients enjoy all of the benefits that basic clients have, as well as two additional key features. Wealthsimple Trade Plus charges clients $10 per month but also adds:

• The ability to instantly deposit up to $5,000
• No foreign exchange fees on US trades

Relative to other discount brokerages in Canada, Wealthsimple is a cost leader when it comes to minimizing trade commissions and fees. Keep in mind that the platform is currently focused only on stocks and ETFs.

You will not be able to buy bonds, international stocks, mutual funds, or GICs through Wealthsimple Trade. You will also not be able to open several key accounts, including:

• RESP
• RIF
• LIRA
• LIF

Make sure to take a look at our comprehensive review of Wealthsimple Trade, where we argue that it could rank as the number one platform in Canada for most Canadians.

Michael Katchen – Who is He?

Michael Katchen is the current CEO (and Co-founder) of Wealthsimple. Michael began his career at McKinsey & Company, where he advised clients in the finance and technology space.

Before creating Wealthsimple, Michael led marketing and product at 1000memories, a start-up that was eventually acquired by Ancestry.com.

Michael’s accolades include:

• Deemed an Industry Mover by the Financial Post
• Deemed a Change Agent by Canadian Business magazine
• Called one of Toronto’s 50 most influential individuals by Toronto Life
• Entrepreneur of the Year at the Canadian Startup Awards in 2017
• Winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award
• Named one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 by Caldwell Partners International
• Member of the Canadian Business Council

Wealthsimple Stock

Wealthsimple does not currently have publicly-traded shares as it is a private company. In the future, the company may decide to complete an initial public offering (IPO) in order to help the company raise additional funds.

In a 2020 interview with Michael Katchen, he mentioned that going public was a big process that introduces a lot of new costs and distractions to the business.

Wealthsimple Valuation

Wealthsimple’s valuation can be roughly estimated by looking to see how much companies’ partial ownership of Wealthsimple is worth.

Wealthsimple raised $750 million in its last major funding round in 2021, achieving a peak valuation of approximately $5 billion at the time.

However, due to broader downturns in tech and fintech markets, Power Corporation of Canada wrote down the value of its stake in Wealthsimple in both 2022 and 2023. While no formal new valuation has been disclosed, these write-downs suggest a notable decline from the peak valuation.

As of 2025, Wealthsimple has not conducted any new public funding rounds or IPOs, and it remains a privately held company.

Conclusion

Wealthsimple is currently a privately-owned company that does not have its shares trading on a public exchange. This means that investing in Wealthsimple is extremely difficult for a regular investor and will have to be done at the private equity level.

The current CEO of Wealthsimple, Michael Katchen, has stated in the past that an initial public offering was not something that the company was considering (at the time).

Things may always change in the future, allowing retail investors to purchase shares in Wealthsimple.

If you are thinking of signing up for Wealthsimple Trade, make sure to use our referral link to get an instant cash bonus of $25 once you sign up.