Economic growth spurs global banking

Article Excerpt

Under pressure from shareholders and regulators, banks around the world have spent the past decade rebuilding their balance sheets, reducing costs and returning to their core banking business. After the global financial crisis of 2008/2009, much tighter government regulations, increased compliance costs and low interest rates have kept the recovery modest. However, there are signs that many global banks are now positioned for significant gains (see supplement on page 20). Here are two ETFs that provide exposure to the global financial and banking industry. BMO GLOBAL BANKS ETF $22 (Toronto symbol BANK; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $9.2 million) invests in banks globally. The fund hedges the movement of foreign currencies against the Canadian dollar. That means its value (Cdn.) rises and falls solely with the movements of stocks in its portfolio. The ETF invests globally: 32% of its holdings are banks listed in the U.S., 12% in Canada, 11% in the U.K., 10% in Australia, 8% in Japan, 6%…