Canada
The Plain Bagel is the YouTube channel of Richard Coffin, a CFA charterholder and CFP professional based in Ottawa, Canada, who has built a following of over a million subscribers by translating…
Total Followers +0.8%
1.2M
Across YouTube
Primary Platform
YouTube
1.2M followers · 100% of audience
Engagement
4.4%
vs. 1.5% category median
Sponsorship Tier
Macro
The Plain Bagel's Richard Coffin appeared on BNN Bloomberg's The Open to talk about financial education content creation and building strong audience trust in an era of rampant online misinformation.
Richard Coffin crossed the 1M subscriber mark in January 2025, earning a feature in Investment Executive alongside other Ottawa-based finfluencers. The outlet noted his professional CFA/CFP credentials as a differentiator in the crowded online finance space.
Richard Coffin appeared on The Wealthy Barber's podcast (episode #7), covering the rise of finfluencers, the pros and cons of getting financial advice online, and the cognitive biases that affect everyday investors.
| Platform | Followers | 30d Growth | Engagement | Posts / wk | Last upload |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 1,220,000 | +10K | 4.4% | 0.5 | 10 days ago |
| Window | YouTube | Combined | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 7 days | +10K +0.8% | +0 +0.0% | +0 +0.0% | +10K |
| Last 30 days | +10K +0.8% | +0 +0.0% | +0 +0.0% | +10K |
| Last 90 days | +41K +3.4% | +0 +0.0% | +0 +0.0% | +41K |
| Last 365 days | +41K +3.4% | +0 +0.0% | +0 +0.0% | +41K |
Daily follower snapshots from CreatorDB's longitudinal index.
| Brand | Type | Platform | Date | Performance vs. baseline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blinkist Sponsorship | Sponsored content | YouTube | May 2026 | — |
| Brilliant Sponsorship | Sponsored content | YouTube | Jan 2026 | — |
| Incogni Inc. Sponsorship | Sponsored content | YouTube | Jul 2025 | — |
| Morning Brew Sponsorship | Sponsored content | YouTube | May 2025 | — |
The Plain Bagel is the YouTube channel of Richard Coffin, a CFA charterholder and CFP professional based in Ottawa, Canada, who has built a following of over a million subscribers by translating the mechanics of investing, personal finance, and macroeconomics into accessible, measured explainer videos. Coffin maintains his day job as an investment management analyst, and that professional grounding shows in his content — videos debunking claims about index fund giants like BlackRock and Vanguard, scrutinizing prediction markets, or unpacking Canada's condo oversupply problem reflect the analytical rigor of someone genuinely embedded in the industry rather than a generalist commentator.
Theplainbagel reaches an audience concentrated in Canada primarily through YouTube, and is best activated via long-form YouTube integrations. As a finance creator they map naturally to brands targeting that space. Demonstrated partners include Blinkist and Brilliant. Engagement on YouTube runs around 4.4%, which points to an audience better suited to category-relevant, mid-funnel campaigns than to pure-reach buys. Their YouTube-first format lends itself to integrations that sit inside the creator's usual content rather than running as standalone ads. Because the audience follows finance content rather than arriving through untargeted reach, sponsorships that match the channel's subject matter tend to convert more efficiently than broad placements. A consistent, on-topic posting focus gives sponsors a predictable, brand-safe environment, lowering placement risk compared with broad, general-interest channels. Campaigns here are best measured on qualified engagement and consideration within the niche rather than on raw impression volume. For Canada-focused brands in finance and related categories, Theplainbagel offers a defined, creative-fit audience rather than broad, low-intent impressions.
Benchmark estimates for a creator at Theplainbagel's tier (Macro, 1.2M combined followers, Canada). Pulled from CreatorDB's category benchmarks.
The CreatorDB Agency runs end-to-end influencer campaigns globally — shortlisting, outreach, contracting, and performance reporting. Talk to our team about building a campaign around creators in this niche.
The Plain Bagel's real name is Richard Coffin. He chose a channel name that reflects his investing philosophy — plain, no-frills, straightforward — rather than leading with his personal identity.
Yes, Richard holds both the CFA charterholder designation and the CFP (Certified Financial Planner) professional credential, making him genuinely credentialed in a space full of unqualified commentators. He's mentioned both in his channel bio and frequently references his professional background to ground his explanations in industry-standard thinking.
As of his channel bio, Richard works as an analyst at an investment management company in Ottawa, Canada, alongside running his YouTube channel. He presents this dual role as intentional — keeping him embedded in the actual industry rather than just commenting on it from the outside.
The name is a nod to the plain vanilla, keep-it-simple approach to personal finance and investing that Richard advocates — think index funds and boring-but-effective strategies over flashy picks. It signals upfront that the channel isn't about hype or hot takes.
Yes, Richard made a video directly addressing the popular conspiracy theory that BlackRock and Vanguard secretly control global markets and corporations. He uses his background in investment management to walk through why the theory misunderstands how institutional asset managers actually work and where their voting power does and doesn't apply.
Richard released a video arguing that prediction markets are ruining the finance industry, taking a critical stance at a time when platforms like Polymarket were getting mainstream attention. His concern centers on how these markets can distort incentives and be misread as serious financial forecasting tools rather than speculative sentiment gauges.
Richard released a video describing the SpaceX IPO situation as "wild," unpacking the unusual structure and the complications that come with taking a company like SpaceX — with its mix of government contracts, Starlink, and Elon Musk's personal brand — public. His coverage reflects his broader style of breaking down complex market events for a general audience without losing technical accuracy.
In "Canada's Condo Conundrum," Richard examines the structural problems hitting the Canadian condo market — including oversupply in certain cities, rising carrying costs for investors, and what it means for buyers and the broader housing market. It's part of his recurring coverage of Canadian-specific financial and economic issues, which stands out given that most of his audience is actually based in the United States.
Recent confirmed sponsors on his YouTube channel include Brilliant, Blinkist, Morning Brew, and Incogni. These partnerships fit the channel's educated, financially curious audience — learning tools, newsletters, and privacy software rather than trading apps or crypto exchanges.
The Plain Bagel has passed the one-million-subscriber mark on YouTube and sits comfortably in the Macro creator tier, with an engagement rate well above the category median for educational finance content. For a Canadian-based finance educator tackling dry topics like trade policy and asset management, that reach is notably large — with the majority of his audience coming from the United States.
Stats (followers, engagement, audience demographics, growth) are pulled live from the CreatorDB API covering YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Bio and FAQ content is AI-assisted; news items are sourced from cited public press at generation time. Read the full methodology →
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@theplainbagel · YouTube
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