etf

VANECK VECTORS VIETNAM ETF, $13.76, is a buy for aggressive investors. This emerging market ETF (New York symbol VNM) lets you tap leading Vietnamese companies and foreign firms that get a significant share of their revenue from the Southeast Asian nation.


Your top holdings through this ETF are Vinhomes (real estate), 7.5%; Vingroup (conglomerate), 7.5%; Vietnam Dairy, 7.4%; the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, 6.8%; No Va Land Investment, 5.7%; and Mani (Japanese medical instrument maker with a Vietnam factory), 5.6%....

The major Canadian and U.S. stock markets have moved back up since their initial COVID-19 drop. Still, they have yet to regain their 2020 highs. Nonetheless, we think the worst is over for many stocks. We see ETFs as one way for you to profit from that recovery, while cutting your risk.


The best of these funds offer a diversifed group of stocks while charging you low management fees....

ISHARES S&P/TSX REIT INDEX ETF, $14.93, is a hold. The ETF (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) lets you tap all 21 Canadian real estate investment trusts in the S&P/TSX REIT Index. Investors pay a MER of 0.61%, and the REIT fund gives you a high 6.3% yield.


The ETF’s...

The Bank of Canada cut its benchmark interest rate to 0.25% from 1.75% in March. The move was meant to spur the economy after COVID-19 hit. Whether the bank holds that rate steady, or cuts it even further, depends on the country’s economic growth and unemployment levels.


Meanwhile, even for our conservative investors, we caution against investing in bonds....

5 ways to know you’re picking the best ETF to buy

A: The Desjardins Alt Long/Short Equity Market Neutral ETF, $21.15, symbol DANC on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 11.9 million; Market cap: $251.7 million; www.fondesjardins.com), holds a portfolio that consists primarily of pairs of Canadian stocks in the same sector, one of which is a long position and the other a short.

For instance, the ETF recently held a 1% long position in the pipeline utility Enbridge Inc., offset by a similarly sized short position in Pembina Pipeline.

This strategy is aimed at neutralizing market exposure by being long and short in the exact amounts in the same sector when possible....

This month, we look at three tax-efficient ETFs launched by Horizons earlier this year.


The ETFs don’t hold actual stocks or other investments, but rather financial instruments called “total return swaps” that replicate the returns of indexes.


Instead of paying dividends or interest that is taxable each year, these ETFs reinvest the value of the payments and reflect them in the net asset value of the funds....

Australia was a major beneficiary of the boom in the Chinese economy over the past three decades. In the process, China became the largest buyer of Australia’s natural resources, and an important participant in the Australian tourism and education industries. However, the COVID-19 pandemic—and the recent souring of the relationship between the countries—is a big new challenge for investors.


ISHARES MSCI AUSTRALIA ETF $20.31 (New York symbol EWA; TSI Network ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $1.1 billion) gives you exposure to 69 of the country’s major stocks.


Financial Services account for 32.5% of the fund’s assets, while Mining (19.1%), Healthcare (14.8%), Consumer Non-Cyclicals (6.5%), Consumer Cyclicals (6.0%), and Industrials (5.5%) are other key segments.


The ETF holds a portfolio of 69 stocks....

If you expect the price of an asset to rise, you may be tempted to buy ETFs.using borrowed funds to boost their returns. But beware—leveraged ETFs often have big added risks.


Leveraged ETFs use a combination of derivatives and debt to double or triple any value gains for the asset or index they track.


Here is one example: Horizons offers the BETAPRO GOLD BULLION 2X DAILY BULL ETF $12.18 (Toronto symbol HBU), which aims to provide 2 times the daily percentage change in the near-term futures price of gold....

Central banks are keeping interest rates down in order to counter the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. (The Supplement on page 69 offers you more info on how high deficits and low interest rates in the wake of the coronavirus will affect governments going forward.)


Utilities as a sector will benefit from the lower rates....