index etf

ISHARES MSCI TAIWAN INDEX FUND, $61.84, is a buy for aggressive investors. The ETF (New York symbol EWT; buy or sell through brokers) gives you direct exposure to some of the top public companies of this East Asian powerhouse economy.


The fund’s largest holding is Taiwan Semiconductor at 22.8% of assets....

The major Canadian and U.S. stock markets have moved back up since their initial COVID-19 drop. Nonetheless, we think that if you can afford to stay in the market for several years or longer, now is still a good time for new buying. We see ETFs as one way for you to profit from the continuing rise, while at the same time cutting your risk....

High economic growth rates have helped swell India’s middle class over the past two decades. However, the country still comes in well below its main emerging market rival China in global competitiveness rankings.


Apart from the immediate challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the country faces a weak health care system, poor infrastructure, and is only very slowly implementing much-needed economic and political reforms....

The Bank of Canada cut its benchmark interest rate to 0.25% in early 2020. That was meant to support economic activity after COVID-19 hit. Whether the bank continues to hold that rate steady, cuts it further or raises it depends on Canada’s economic growth and employment levels....

The year 2020 was a strong one for e-commerce as the pandemic forced consumers and businesses to increase their use of online transactions. However, this was an acceleration of a trend that has been developing for the past decade—and while growth may slow down as shoppers return to the malls, e-commerce will very likely continue to grow steadily....

A: The PIMCO Global Short Maturity Fund (Canada) ETF, $19.75, symbol PMNT on Toronto (Units outstanding: 2.8 million; Market cap: $55.3 million; www.pimco.ca) began trading on the Toronto exchange on February 1, 2019....

Smaller firms can sometimes generate higher returns than their larger counterparts, but they are often riskier, less liquid, and may underperform for long periods. One way to offset some of the risk is to focus on ETFs that hold top-quality small-capitalization companies....

ISHARES MSCI TAIWAN INDEX FUND, $64.50, is a buy for aggressive investors. The ETF (New York symbol EWT; buy or sell through brokers) gives you direct exposure to some of the top public companies of this East Asian powerhouse economy.


The fund’s largest holding is Taiwan Semiconductor at 21.4% of assets....

The major Canadian and U.S. stock markets have moved back up since their initial COVID-19 drop. Nonetheless, we think that if you can afford to stay in the market for several years or longer, now is still a good time for new buying. We see ETFs as one way for you to profit from the continuing rise, while at the same time cutting your risk....

A: Preferred shares behave more like long-term fixed-income instruments rather than short-term instruments. So, while short-term interest rates are still relatively low, the outlook for long-term interest rates is less certain.

The underlying credit quality of preferred share issuers can be a negative factor in some cases; for example, when the issuer’s share price is falling.

So unlike GICs, which don’t fall in value, the prices of preferreds can decline along with stock markets.

If you want to own a preferred share as part of the fixed-income segment of your portfolio, and you can accept some risk, then preferreds are okay to hold....