Here’s a look at three popular ETFs in three different areas—medical-device makers, natural resource producers and S&P 500 companies (but with a twist). We like the first two, but we think the third is likely to underperform its “plain vanilla” counterpart.
Meanwhile, the Supplement on page… Read More

Commodities can help diversify portfolios, but are cyclical and come with high levels of price volatility.
However, well-diversified ETFs that offer exposure to commodity producers can help investors overcome the problems associated with direct investments in physical commodities, or funds that track a single commodity.
Below, we… Read More

Most commodity production is capital intensive with long development times. Producers face considerable costs to establish or replace mines, oilfields, and so on, or to build processing, storage and transportation facilities. This means that the selling prices of their products can vary significantly from the… Read More

Some investors today feel highly uncertain about the stock market outlook, mostly because of the surprise results of the recent U.S. Presidential election. A handful feel tempted to “go into cash,” as the saying goes—that is, sell some or all of their stocks, and hold… Read More

Investors aiming to beat inflation over time—without taking undue risk—have a variety of options presented by exchange-traded funds. While, looking back is of limited use going forward, here are some of the results from academic studies of the volatility, downside risk, and total return of… Read More

Commodity production is capital intensive with long development times. Producers face considerable costs to establish or replace mines, oilfields, and so on, or build processing, storage and transportation facilities. This means that the selling prices of their products can vary significantly from the time of… Read More

High fees, often not directly visible to investors, can substantially lower investment returns over time. It is therefore key that investors carefully consider fees before deciding to buy an ETF or mutual fund.

The damaging effect of high fees
The following example demonstrates the outcome of a.. Read More

The month of October saw declines in most asset classes, especially during the last trading week. That came after very strong gains for most assets starting in April.
Representing the broad global, U.S. and Canadian markets, the Vanguard Total World Stocks ETF (VT) lost 2.0%… Read More

The market recovery continued in June to cap off the second quarter’s strong performance. In fact, U.S. equities delivered their best quarter since 1998 while Canadian equities saw their best quarter since 2009. This followed one of the worst quarters ever recorded in both the… Read More