ISHARES MSCI CANADA INDEX FUND $28.36 (New York symbol EWC; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) is like a market cap-based index fund, but its managers try to improve its performance by tinkering with the index fund formula. They do this through their Morgan Stanley Capital International Canada Index. The fund has an MER of 0.52%.
The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 6.1%; TD Bank, 5.6%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.5%; Suncor Energy, 4.4%; Barrick Gold, 4.0%; Canadian Natural Resources, 3.5%; Potash Corp., 3.3%; Goldcorp, 3.2%; Bank of Montreal, 3.0%; CN Railway, 2.8%; and CIBC, 2.5%.
If you want to own a Canadian index fund, you should buy the iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index Fund. You’ll pay about a third of the management fees.
We don’t recommend iShares MSCI Canada.
