Questrade wagers that the next era of online investing will be defined by more than lower trading fees.
In June, the Toronto-based financial services company unveiled a major expansion of its platform that included AI-connected accounts including secure integration with ChatGPT and Claude.
“Since its inception, Questrade has never accepted the status quo,” Edward Kholodenko, founder and chief executive officer of Questrade, remarked at the time.
Pre-IPO access, which was listed as coming soon, is now real, and includes Open AI, maker of ChatGPT.
With a minimum buy-in of $5,000, Questrade clients have the opportunity to invest in the popular AI pioneer, which boasts a projected initial public offering valuation approaching $1.5 trillion.
“The history of Pre-IPO launches shows that getting access to a company before it goes public can give you exposure to more value creation than investing at launch,” the company states, acknowledging that there are also risks and certainly no guarantees.
One risk is that Pre-IPO investments aren’t liquid, which means that you can’t sell your investment until the IPO happens or the company gets acquired.
The investment is not a direct purchase of shares, but rather “buying into a fund that has access to private shares, giving your portfolio exposure to the private company you want, but not immediate, direct ownership of it.”
Once a company does go public, investors will receive either actual ownership shares of a cash payment from liquidation.
Users will require more than just $5,000 to invest in OpenAI, however; they will also need to carry at least $1M in total assets as well as boast an income of $200K or greater.
For corporate accounts, the requirement is $5M in assets.
Questrade was founded in 1999.
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