Topic: How To Invest

Pat: Your opinion please on the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-Canada Index ETF. Is it a good low-MER holding of foreign companies? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

A: The Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-Canada Index ETF, $31.63, symbol VXC on Toronto (Units outstanding: 17.0 million; Market cap: $537.7 million; www.vanguardcanada.ca), aims to track the FTSE Global All Cap ex Canada China A Inclusion Index. That’s a broad global equity index focused on large- and mid-capitalization stocks in emerging and developed markets, excluding Canada. The ETF’s top eight markets are varied: 56.2% in U.S. stocks, 8.3% in Japan, 6.2% in the U.K., 3.0% in France, 3.0% in Switzerland, 2.6% in China, 2.4% in Australia, and 1.5% in South Korea. Its top 10 stock holdings are Apple, Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, Google, Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, Amazon.com, General Electric, Berkshire Hathaway and Facebook. The MER for the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-Canada Index ETF is 0.27%; it yields 1.8%. The ETF holds mostly large-capitalization global companies. We don’t see any particular advantage to investing solely in the world’s biggest stocks, and we have no reason to believe that Vanguard can create any such advantage. However, the fund…