etf

A: The BMO Low Volatility Canadian Equity ETF, $30.67, symbol ZLB on Toronto (Units outstanding: 47.2 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; www.etfs.bmo.com), provides exposure to a low beta-weighted portfolio of Canadian stocks.

The ETF selects the 40 or so (currently 46) of the lowest beta stocks from the 100 largest and most-liquid securities in Canada....

ISHARES INDIA 50 ETF $36.07 (Nasdaq symbol INDY; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an ETF that tracks the Nifty 50 index—the 50 largest, most liquid Indian securities. It began trading in November 2009.

The fund’s top holdings are HDFC Bank, 9.4%; Reliance Industries (conglomerate), 7.8%; Housing Development Finance, 6.7%; ITC (conglomerate), 5.5%; ICICI Bank, 5.0%; Infosys (information technology), 5.0%; Larsen & Toubro (conglomerate), 3.7%; and Tata Consultancy (information technology), 3.3%....

VANECK VECTORS VIETNAM ETF $16.98 (New York symbol VNM; buy or sell through brokers) holds Vietnamese companies and foreign firms that get a significant share of their revenue from the Southeast Asian nation.

The ETF’s top holdings are FLC Faros Construction, 11.2%; Vingroup (conglomerate), 8.7%; Vietnam Dairy Products, 7.4%; Masan Group (a food, resources and banking conglomerate), 6.9%; and No Va Land Investment Group (real estate), 6.1%.

Investing in Vietnam still comes with aboveaverage political risk....

We think conservative investors can hold up to 10% of their portfolios in foreign stocks. One way to do that is by choosing exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with an overseas focus.

The best ETFs continue to offer very low management fees and well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of high quality stocks....

What are index funds and what are the main benefits (and risks) for investors?

A: Purpose Core Dividend Fund ETF, $27.78 symbol PDF on Toronto, (Units outstanding: 13.0 million; Market cap: $361.1 million; www.purposeinvest.com), holds U.S. and Canadian stocks that its managers view as able to sustain and grow their dividends.

The fund holds mostly high-quality companies....

When investing in gold vs silver, not all that glitters is worth the price. Here are our tips on what to do if you want to benefit from minerals like gold and silver.

To help you decide if certain ETFs are suitable for your portfolio and investment temperament, we classify them into three easy-to-understand categories: Conservative, Aggressive and Income. To determine how an ETF fits into one of those three classifications, we examine a number of factors....

Exchange-traded funds are set up to mirror the performance of a stock-market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings of that index or sub-index and will allow the fund to “track” its performance.

The MER (Management Expense Ratio) is generally much lower on ETFs than on conventional mutual funds....

What is the legal structure of ETFs? Does it provide investor protection? In Canada, most exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are structured as open-ended mutual fund trusts. As listed instruments, the usual stock market listing, trading and settlement rules apply....