Q: What is your view on BlackRock (BLK) for new buying? If not is there another U.S. financial sector stock you’d prefer?

A: BlackRock Inc., $921.04, symbol BLK on New York (Shares outstanding: 152.2 million; Market cap: $140.8 billion; www.blackrock.com), is one of the world’s largest publicly traded investment management firms.

The company manages $9.5 trillion of assets on behalf of institutions and individuals through a variety of… Read More

Low volatility funds attract buyers

Global ETF assets as of July 31, 2019, amounted to $5.7 trillion, spread across 7,900 ETFs; this was an increase of 19% compared to the end of 2018. These ETFs are listed on 72 exchanges in 58 countries.
Stock ETFs have attracted net-new inflows of… Read More

These ETFs aim for stable returns

One of the key lessons from financial market history is that stocks perform better than almost any other asset class over long periods. There will inevitably be periods of heightened volatility or even sustained market downturns. But at the same time, a focus on high-quality,… Read More

Four providers control the market

Four large global ETF providers dominate the global industry, with an estimated 75% market share. Three of them—Blackrock (iShares), Vanguard and State Street Global Advisors (SPDR)—are U.S. based. Deutsche Bank is the fourth. Sheer size allows each provider to offer exceptionally low management fees on… Read More

Canadian ETFs keep pace with U.S.

After a slow start in the early 1990s, the ETF industry gained traction around the turn of this century as more and more investors realized the benefits of making room for those funds in their portfolios.

The global ETF industry has now gathered assets valued at… Read More

A brief history of ETFs

The history of ETFs is one of the evolution of indexing and of market innovation
The best Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) offer well diversified, tax-efficient portfolios with exceptionally low management fees. Investors large and small can use ETFs to build diversified portfolios across… Read More

Dear Pat: Can I have your opinions on the iShares MSCI World Index Fund ETF and the BMO Global Infrastructure Index ETF? Thank you.

iShares MSCI World Index Fund ETF, $34.01, symbol XWD on Toronto (Units outstanding: 5.8 million; Market cap: $197.3 million; ca.ishares.com), holds large- and mid-cap stocks across 23 developed countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S.

The ETF… Read More