ishares

Some Canadian investors use currency hedging to protect against a future drop in the U.S. dollar. Consider the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) give you a low-cost, flexible alternative to mutual funds. Here are five ETFs we recommend and one to sell.

Investing in agriculture ETFs could be a smart move if you choose the right investments for the right reasons

A Member of Pat McKeough’s Inner Circle asked for his advice on an ETF that focuses on Canadian finance firm common shares, preferred shares and corporate bonds.

Pat likes the high distribution rate but warns that rate may be unsustainable....

ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND, $86.81, is a buy. The ETF (New York symbol EWJ; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) aims to mirror the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International Japan Index.


Top holdings are Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 4.0%; Toyota., 3.7%; Hitachi (conglomerate), 3.2%; Advantest (chip testing), 3.1%; SoftBank (investment holdings), 2.7%; Tokyo Electron (computer chips), 2.7%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.5%; Sony Corp., 2.5%; and Mizuho Financial Group, Inc., 2.1%. The ETF’s MER is reasonable at 0.50%.

Below, we highlight an ETF that’s soaring. The iShares MSCI Brazil Index ETF is up 22% since the start of this year. The gain largely reflects the soaring price for its largest holding, Petrobras, the majority state-owned oil company. Disruption to Iran/Middle East shipping routes has pushed oil prices—and the stock—higher.


Even so, it’s uncertain how long Petrobras will stay high; meantime the country’s challenges are significant. The ETF is okay to hold, but only for investors willing to accept the risk of a sharp oil-price drop.

Canadian REITs are a good option for those wanting real estate representation in their portfolio

Low interest rates make bonds unattractive, but for investors who want stable income through bonds, we see two Canadian bond ETFs as buys

Most precious metal stocks dropped along with the market in March 2020. They then quickly reversed that trend to soar for investors, in part because of gold’s appeal as a “safe harbour” in times of economic uncertainty. In fact, in August 2020, gold jumped to over $2,000 U.S. an ounce for the first time ever. The shares of gold miners also soared. Prices for the shiny metal then drifted down to about $1,800 as pandemic fears eased. Shortly after, they spiked to over $1,991 in March 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.

These two Canadian ETFs track Canada’s best-established indexes and provide low-fee exposure to widely traded blue chip stocks.