diversification

Blue chip investments are key components of successful investor portfolios

BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call Hedged to CAD ETF, $18.34, symbol ZWE on Toronto (Units outstanding: 2.5 million; Market cap: $45.9 million; www.etfs.bmo.com), holds mostly high-quality European stocks. These include BP plc, Swiss Re AG, HSBC Holdings plc, Total SA, Teliasonera AG, Allianz SE and Nordea Bank AB. The ETF is reasonably well balanced across the five economic sectors. It’s also focused on the more stable European countries, with 23.1% of its assets in Switzerland, 18.4% in France, 15.8% in Germany, 15.0% in Sweden, 12.3% in the Netherlands and 10.1% in the U.K. In general, a substantial portion of the ETF’s portfolio hedges the movement of the Canadian dollar against the euro, Swiss franc, British pound and so on. That guards against the upward movement of the Canadian dollar compared to those foreign currencies. But if they rise while your investment is hedged, any gain you’d otherwise enjoy will be reduced....

Spot the most undervalued stocks in three steps and by using these nine financial, safety and growth factors

We feel that investors will profit the most by holding a well-balanced portfolio of high-quality stocks. However, if you don’t want to build a portfolio, or you want to supplement your individual stock holdings, then ETFs can provide a great alternative. The main factors we use to evaluate ETFs are the stocks they hold, the diversification of their holdings across the five economic sectors and the fees (MERs) they charge. In general, investors holding mainly ETFs would want, say, 60% in Canadian ETFs and 20% to 30% in U.S. ETFs....

Growth investing fills in the gaps in an investor’s portfolio and can lead to an increase in portfolio returns

PLEASE NOTE: One week from today, on February 5, 2016, shortly after the stock market closes at 4:00 p.m. Toronto time, we will reveal our top picks for safety-conscious investors to subscribers of Canadian Wealth Advisor. You can be among the first to hear about our top picks for 2016. Because you’re a loyal subscriber, we are happy to offer you a low-priced, no-risk introduction to Canadian Wealth Advisor. Click here. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++...

The lower Canadian dollar has made it more expensive to buy U.S. stocks. However, the American market gives you access to the world’s leading companies. What’s more, U.S. dollar investments give you foreign currency diversification. We feel it’s more important than ever to build a varied portfolio of high-quality stocks. For 2016, we’ve chosen one from each of our portfolios (Aggressive, Conservative and Income). We think all three could post strong gains in the next two to five years. ALPHABET INC. (Nasdaq symbols GOOG $700 [class C: nonvoting] and GOOGL $718 [class A: one vote per share]; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 687.7 million; Market cap: $493.5 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 7.0; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.abc.xyz) is the new parent company of Google’s Internet search business (still called Google) and other operations. Each of these subsidiaries functions independently....

The lower Canadian dollar has made it more expensive to buy U.S. stocks. However, the American market gives you access to the world’s leading companies. What’s more, U.S. dollar investments give you foreign currency diversification.

We feel it’s more important than ever to build a varied portfolio of high-quality stocks....

Sell stocks in a way that consistently improves your portfolio without predicting when to “buy low and sell high.”

An ETF investment can be a great low-fee way to hold shares in multiple companies with a single investment.