etf

We think the long-term outlook for China — and Chinese stocks — is strong. That’s because the country’s huge population is generally younger than North Americans, and large numbers of Chinese have the potential to advance from poverty into the middle class. (One of the best ways for investors to tap into Chinese growth is through low-fee exchange-traded funds. The iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund is one example of an exchange traded fund that focuses on China. You can get our very latest buy/sell/hold advice on this fund in the latest issue of Canadian Wealth Advisor. See below for further details. )

Political instability still a danger to foreign investors in China

...

ISHARES CDN BOND INDEX FUND $29.67 (CWA Rating: Income) (Toronto symbol XBB; buy or sell through a broker) mirrors the performance of the DEX Universe Bond Index. This index consists of a wide range of investment-grade Canadian government and corporate bonds with terms to maturity of more than one year. The 301 bonds in the portfolio have an average term to maturity of 8.62 years. The fund’s MER is 0.30%. The bonds in the index are 85.1% government and 14.9% corporate. The fund sticks with high-quality government bonds from issuers such as Canada Housing Trust, Government of Canada and Province of Ontario, plus high-quality corporate bonds from issuers such as Bank of Montreal, TransCanada Pipelines, Bank of Nova Scotia and Bell Canada....

VANGUARD GROWTH ETF $51.35 (New York symbol VUG; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI U.S. Prime Market Growth Index, a broadly diversified index that mainly consists of stocks of large U.S. companies. The fund has an MER of just 0.15%. The $15.7-billion fund’s top holdings are Microsoft, IBM, Apple Inc., Cisco Systems, Wal-Mart Stores, Google Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Oracle Corp., Philip Morris International and PepsiCo. Vanguard Growth ETF is broken down by economic segment as follows: Information Technologies (36.1%), Health Care (13.8%), Consumer Staples (11.3%), Consumer Discretionary (11.8%), Industrials (8.0%), Energy (7.5%), Financials (5.9%), Materials (4.5%), Telecommunication Services (0.8%) and Utilities (0.3%)....

VANGUARD EMERGING MARKETS ETF $38.72 (New York symbol VWO; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which is made up of common stocks of companies located in emerging markets around the world. The fund has an MER of 0.27%. The fund’s top holdings are China Mobile (China: wireless), Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), Samsung Electronics (South Korea: electronics), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, America Movil SA de CV (Latin America: wireless), Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Brazil: oil and gas), China Construction Bank, Vale SA (Brazil: mining) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. The $32.7-billion Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF’s largest holdings by country are: China (17.8%), Brazil (17.0%), South Korea (12.8%), Taiwan (11.3%), India (7.6%), South Africa (6.9%), Russia (6.5%), Mexico (4.4%), Israel (2.8%), Malaysia (2.7%), Indonesia (1.9%), Turkey (1.5%), Chile (1.5%), Thailand (1.4%), Poland (1.3%), Hungary (0.6%), Philippines (0.5%), Peru (0.5%), Czech Republic (0.4%), Colombia (0.3%) and Egypt (0.2%)....

SPDR S&P CHINA ETF $67.30 (New York Exchange symbol GXC; buy or sell through brokers), is an ETF that aims to track the S&P China BMI Index. This index is made up of all of the publicly traded Chinese stocks that are available to foreign investors. Right now, this ETF holds 136 stocks. The $548.9-million fund’s top holdings are: China Mobile, 9.1%; China Life Insurance, 6.2%; Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, 5.6%; China Construction Bank, 4.8%; PetroChina, 4.5%; CNOOC Ltd., 4.0%; Tencent Holdings, 2.7%; China Petroleum & Chemical, 2.6%; Bank of China, 2.5%; and China Shenhua Energy, 2.4%. The fund’s top industry holdings are: Financials (30.9%), Oil and Gas (16.5%), Telecommunications (11.6%), Industrials (11.4%), Information Technology (10.5%), Consumer Discretionary (7.0%), Basic Materials (5.1%) and Consumer Staples (4.4%)....

ISHARES FTSE/XINHUA CHINA 25 INDEX FUND $38.90 (New York Exchange symbol FXI; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that aims to track the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index, which is made up of the 25 largest and most liquid Chinese stocks. All of the stocks in the index trade on the Hong Kong exchange. Some also trade as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the New York exchange. The $8.2-billion fund’s top holdings are China Mobile, 10.1%; China Construction Bank, 9.6%; Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, 8.5%; China Life Insurance, 7.1%; Bank of China, 6.2%; China Merchants Bank, 4.1%; China Petroleum & Chemical, 4.0%; PetroChina, 4.0%; Ping An Insurance Group, 4.0%; and CNOOC Ltd., 3.9%. The fund’s holdings give it the following industry breakdown: Financials (46.8%), Telecommunications (17.8%), Oil and Gas (11.8%), Basic Materials (11.6%), Industrials (8.7%), Utilities (1.8%) and Consumer Services (1.6%)....

We generally advise against investing in bonds right now, because today’s low interest rates make them unattractive. That’s especially so in light of the potential rise in inflation that may follow the heavy deficit spending and rapid expansion of the money supply that is now underway. However, if you need stable income and want to hold bonds, here are two bond funds that have low fees and high-quality holdings. ISHARES CDN SHORT BOND INDEX FUND $29.35 (CWA Rating: Income) (Toronto symbol XSB; buy or sell through a broker) mirrors the performance of the DEX Short-Term Bond Index....

Pennsylvania-based Vanguard Group is one of the world’s largest investment-management companies. It manages over $1 trillion U.S. in 150 mutual funds. Vanguard, which went into business in 1975, offers low-fee index mutual funds. Generally speaking, Canadians can’t buy units of mutual funds that are registered in the U.S. because they aren’t registered with provincial securities commissions. For that matter, some Canadian funds aren’t available in all provinces. Canadians can, however, buy Vanguard exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that are listed on U.S. stock exchanges. We don’t recommend all of the Vanguard index funds, but here are two that we do see as low-fee buys:...

Chinese stocks have fallen about 10% since the start of this year, even though China’s economy continues to grow rapidly. Lower U.S. markets are part of the reason for the drop, but investors also worry that the Chinese government may raise interest rates to slow inflation. That could dampen growth. However, the long-term outlook for China, and Chinese stocks, is strong. One of the best ways for investors to tap into that growth is through low-fee exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Here are our two new recommendations in Chinese ETFs. One holds the 25 largest Chinese stocks. The other invests in all of the publicly traded Chinese stocks available to foreign investors....

Claymore 1-5 Yr Laddered Corporate Bond ETF, $20.82, symbol CBO on Toronto (Units outstanding: 20.5 million; Market cap: $426.8 million), invests in a portfolio of short-term bonds drawn from the DEX (formerly Scotia Capital) Bond Index. The ETF first sold units to the public at $20 each, and began trading on Toronto on February 25, 2009. The fund’s 25 holdings are divided into five staggered, or “laddered,” maturities that generally range from one to five years. Each maturity is equally weighted and includes five or more bonds with a minimum credit rating of “A.” Each year, the two-year to five-year bonds will be a year closer to maturity and one-year bonds will reach maturity. The fund will use proceeds of the matured bonds to “roll over” or buy new bonds that restore the desired one-to-five year portfolio balance....