ishares

ISHARES CHINA LARGE-CAP ETF, $46.96, is a hold for safety-conscious investors. The ETF (New York symbol FXI; buy or sell through brokers) tracks the 50 largest, most-liquid Chinese stocks. Investors are charged a high 0.74% MER. The units yield 2.4%.


Top holdings for the $3.4 billion fund are Meituan Dianping (group buying/food delivery), 10.3%; Tencent (Internet), 9.9%; China Construction Bank, 8.7%; Alibaba (e-commerce), 6.4%; Ping An Insurance, 4.6%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 4.5%; Wuxi Biologics, 3.9%; and Xiaomi (smartphones), 3.8%.


China now appears to have COVID-19 increasingly under control, and has steadily reopened its economy....

All of the major global stock markets fell in the wake of COVID-19’s spread. But many top markets have since rebounded. We think the outlook remains positive for quality stocks, and one way to profit, while cutting your risk, is to invest in quality ETFs.


Here’s a look at four international funds that we believe are well-suited for your new buying....

A: iShares Canadian Financial Monthly Income ETF, $6.17, symbol FIE on Toronto (Units outstanding: 108.8 million; Market cap: $671.3 million; www.blackrock.com/ca), invests primarily in the common shares, preferred shares and corporate bonds of firms in the Canadian finance industry.

The fund charges investors an MER of 0.96%, which is high by ETF standards....

While inflation remains very low, conditions for an eventual uptick may well be building. Those factors include today’s very low interest rates, massive government spending and borrowing to inject money into the economy, growing import barriers, and the higher cost of doing business in a pandemic....

Diversification is a key part of our approach to successful investing. Done right, it can help investors cut the overall risk of their portfolios. Here’s a look at two different approaches: one ETF holds bonds in addition to stocks; the other invests globally in real estate stocks.


Still, our approach to portfolio diversification generally takes a broader view....

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 to buy. We see ETFs as one way for you to profit from that rise, 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, $14.53, 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 top holdings are Canadian Apartment REIT (15.4%), RioCan REIT (8.8%), Granite REIT (8.7%), Allied REIT (8.6%), Choice Props....

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....

A: The iShares S&P/TSX Composite High Dividend Index ETF, $17.60, symbol XEI on Toronto (Units outstanding: 35.3 million; Market cap: $621.3 million; www.blackrock.com/ca), aims to track the S&P/TSX Composite High Dividend Index, which effectively holds the 75 highest-yielding Canadian stocks.

The index is market-capitalization weighted, with each stock capped at 5% (any stock may rise above 5% temporarily until rebalancing)....

The German economy is the largest in Europe and ranks among the top five globally. The country was an early adopter of COVID-19 containment efforts—and its healthy fiscal situation before the pandemic has let it unleash substantial economic supports and a recovery package....