dividend growth

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) may have a place in your portfolio. That’s because, unlike many other financial innovations, they don’t load you up with heavy management fees, or tie you down with high redemption charges if you decide to get out of them. Instead, they give you a low-cost, flexible, convenient alternative to mutual funds. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Prices are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You’ll have to pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell ETFs. However, ETFs’ low management fees still give them a cost advantage over most conventional mutual funds. As well, shares are only added or removed when the underlying index changes. As a result of this low turnover, you won’t incur the regular capital-gains bills generated by the yearly distributions most conventional mutual funds pay out to unitholders....

ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $20.26 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through a broker; ca.ishares.com) holds 30 of the highest-yielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of assets. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. It yields 5.3%. The fund’s top holdings are CIBC, 8.0%; Bank of Montreal, 6.4%; National Bank, 5.7%; TD Bank, 5.6%; Telus, 5.2%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.6%; Manitoba Telecom, 4.5%; IGM Financial, 4.2%; Royal Bank, 4.0%; Enbridge, 3.5%, TMX Group, 3.5%; and TransCanada Corp., 3.3%. The fund holds 60.1% of its assets in financial stocks. Utilities are next, at 23.0%. The top Canadian finance stocks have sound prospects. However, if you invest in this ETF, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so it won’t be overly concentrated in the financial sector....

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) may have a place in your portfolio. That’s because, unlike many other financial innovations, they don’t load you up with heavy management fees, or tie you down with high redemption charges if you decide to get out of them. Instead, they give you a low-cost, flexible, convenient alternative to mutual funds. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Prices are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You’ll have to pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell ETFs. However, ETFs’ low management fees still give them a cost advantage over most conventional mutual funds. As well, shares are only added or removed when the underlying index changes. As a result of this low turnover, you won’t incur the regular capital-gains bills generated by the yearly distributions most conventional mutual funds pay out to unitholders....

ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $18.63 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through a broker) holds 30 of the highest-yielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of assets. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. It yields 4.0%. The fund’s top holdings are CIBC, 7.7%; Bank of Montreal, 6.8%; TD Bank, 5.8%; National Bank, 5.3%; Telus, 5.1%; Manitoba Telecom, 4.7%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.6%; Royal Bank, 4.2%; IGM Financial, 4.0%; and TransCanada Corp., 3.5%. The fund holds 60.3% of its assets in financial stocks. Utilities are next, at 23.0%. The top Canadian finance stocks have sound prospects. However, if you invest in this ETF, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so it won’t be overly concentrated in the financial sector....

ISHARES DOW JONES CANADA SELECT DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $19.08 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through a broker) holds 30 of the highest-yielding Canadian stocks. Its selections are based on dividend growth, yield and payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10%. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. It yields 4.0%. The ETF’s top holdings are CIBC, 7.9%; Bank of Montreal, 7.2%; TD Bank, 5.8%; National Bank, 5.3%; Telus, 4.8%; Manitoba Telecom, 4.8%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.5%; Royal Bank, 4.3%; IGM Financial, 4.1%; and Sun Life, 3.4%. The fund holds 61.4% of its assets in financial stocks. Utilities are next at 22.6%. The top Canadian finance stocks offer sound prospects. However, if you invest in this ETF, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so it won’t be overly concentrated in the financial sector....

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) may have a place in your portfolio. That’s because, unlike many other financial innovations, they don’t load you up with heavy management fees, or tie you down with high redemption charges if you decide to get out of them. Instead, they give you a low-cost, flexible, convenient alternative to mutual funds. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Prices are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You’ll have to pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell ETFs, but you will quickly make these back because of the low management fees. Shares are only added or removed when the underlying index changes. As a result of this low turnover, you won’t incur the regular capital-gains bills generated by the yearly distributions most conventional mutual funds pay out to unitholders....

ISHARES DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $18.40 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through a broker) holds the 30 highest-yielding Canadian stocks based on dividend growth, yield and average payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of of the fund’s assets. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. iShares Dividend Index Fund has a 3.7% yield. Top holdings are CIBC, 7.3%; Bank of Montreal, 6.3%; Manitoba Tel, 5.7%; National Bank, 5.5%; TD Bank, 5.3%; IGM Financial, 4.5%; Royal Bank, 4.4%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 4.3%; Telus, 4.2%; Sun Life, 3.6%; Power Financial, 3.4%; and TransCanada Corp., 3.4%....

ISHARES DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $17.74 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through a broker) holds the 30 highest-yielding Canadian stocks based on dividend growth, yield and average payout ratio. The weight of any one stock is limited to 10% of assets. The fund’s MER is 0.50%. iShares Dividend Index Fund has a yield of 4.0%. Top holdings are National Bank, 8.9%; Bank of Montreal, 8.0%; CIBC, 7.2%; TD Bank, 6.3%; IGM Financial, 5.0%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.0%; Royal Bank, 4.9%; Manitoba Telecom, 4.6%; TMX Group, 3.6%; Sun Life, 3.2%; Power Financial, 3.2%; Telus, 3.1%; and Russel Metals, 2.8%. iShares Dividend Index Fund is a buy.

While ETFs won’t protect you from the three costliest mistakes an investor can make, they may have a worthwhile place in your portfolio. Unlike many other innovations, ETFs don’t load you up with heavy management fees, or tie you down with heavy redemption charges if you decide to get out of them. Instead, they give you a lower-cost and more flexible and convenient alternative to mutual funds. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Prices are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You’ll have to pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but you will quickly make these back because of the low management fees....

ISHARES DIVIDEND INDEX FUND $16.92 (Toronto symbol XDV; buy or sell through a broker) currently holds the 30 highest yielding Canadian stocks. Stocks are included in the index based on their dividend growth, yield and average payout ratio. The weight of any one stock in the fund is limited to 10% of the fund’s assets. iShares Dividend Index Fund’s MER is 0.50%. The fund now yields 4.8%. The fund’s top holdings are: National Bank of Canada, 8.9%; Bank of Montreal, 8.0%; CIBC at 7.2%; TD Bank, 6.3%; IGM Financial, 5.0%; Bank of Nova Scotia, 5.0%; Royal Bank of Canada, 4.9%; Manitoba Telecom 4.6%; TMX Group, 3.6%; Sun Life Financial, 3.2%; Power Financial Corp., 3.2%; Telus Corp., 3.1%; and Russel Metals, 2.8%....