etf

With today’s still-low interest rates, there are few, if any, high return, lower-risk fixed-income investments available to investors.


But if you must hold cash, and are looking for an alternative to bank savings accounts or holding it with your broker, these four ETFs can give you an edge....

HORIZONS ENHANCED INCOME GOLD PRODUCERS ETF $26.82 (Toronto symbol HEP) invests in an equal-weighted portfolio of North American-listed gold mining companies. The portfolio currently holds 14 stocks with all the top producers such as Barrick Gold and Newmont Corp....

Some investors look to reduce volatility in their portfolios for a number of reasons. One is that they can’t sleep at night because they’re nervous about the market outlook. In that case, low-volatilty funds may cut your your losses or even leave you with gains when the market is falling, but they can limit your returns in a soaring market.


Another reason to aim to cut volatility is if you expect you will need to take cash out of your portfolio in the next year or two and you don’t want to risk having to raise cash by selling stocks at low prices.


Below we discuss two ETFs that aim to provide investors with lower volatility portfolios....

A: Harvest Healthcare Leaders Income ETF, $8.29, symbol HHL on Toronto, (Units outstanding: 116.0 million; Market cap: $961.6 million; www.harvestportfolios.com), holds a portfolio of 20 large-cap global healthcare companies, selected by the fund’s manager for their potential to provide attractive monthly income and long-term growth.

The ETF holds mostly attractive stocks with sound long-term prospects....

ISHARES S&P/TSX REIT INDEX ETF, $18.83, is a hold. The ETF (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) lets investors tap all 19 Canadian real estate investment trusts in the S&P/TSX REIT Index....

INVESCO SOLAR ETF, $70.22, is a buy for aggressive investors. The ETF (New York symbol TAN; buy or sell through brokers) tracks solar-related companies (including technology firms and utilities) listed on global exchanges.


The fund’s top holdings are Enphase Energy (U.S.; home solar systems) at 11.2%; SolarEdge Technologies (Israel; solar-power batteries), 8.9%; GCL Technology (China; polysilicon), 6.5%; Xinyi Solar (China; solar panels), 6.3%; First Solar (China; solar panels), 5.9%; and Sunrun (U.S.; solar panels), 4.5%. The ETF charges a reasonable MER of 0.66%.


Renewable stocks have drifted down lately, after big runups last year on President Biden’s support for sun, wind and hydro power—plus strong investor interest in stocks that will gain from the push for global decarbonization....

Generally speaking, Canadians are blocked from buying mutual funds that are registered in the U.S. unless those funds are also registered with provincial securities commissions. (Moreover, some Canadian mutual funds are only available in a limited number of provinces.)


Investors in this country can, however, buy exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, listed on U.S....

The merits of investing in top dividend-paying companies are well known—capital gains, regular income, and lower risk. However, investors in ETFs that focus on dividend-paying companies need to be aware that the dividend payouts of ETFs are not as smooth as those of the best individual dividend-paying companies.


For investors, companies that pay regular and growing dividends have performed very well over time when compared to the broad market indices.


A simple dividend strategy (as represented by the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats) like selecting stocks with a long history of uninterrupted dividend growth has added 11.7% per year over the past 30 years; this compares to the 10.3% annualized returns for the S&P 500 Index....

Aggressive talk of further interest rate increases by the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell contributed to the big drop for stock markets in April. Rising inflation is the main reason that the Fed plans to keep raising rates.


Growth stocks, especially those with only remote prospects of near-term profits, came under considerable pressure....

This month we highlight an ETF that invests in dividend-paying energy stocks, plus another that focuses on renewable energy.


NINEPOINT ENERGY INCOME FUND ETF $19.79 (NEO exchange symbol NRGI) invests in dividend-paying companies involved in the energy industry....