IShares Canadian short-term bond Index ETF $28.44 – Toronto symbol XSB

Article Excerpt

ISHARES CANADIAN SHORT-TERM BOND INDEX ETF $28.44 (Toronto symbol XSB; buy or sell through brokers) mirrors the performance of the DEX Short-Term Bond Index. This index consists of a range of investment-grade federal, provincial, municipal and corporate bonds with one- to five-year terms. The fund holds 449 bonds with an average term to maturity of 2.96 years. The bonds in the index are 65.7% government and 34.3% corporate. The fund’s MER is 0.28%. The iShares Canadian Short-Term Bond Index Fund yields 2.3%, but this high yield is due to the fact that some of the fund’s bonds pay above-market interest rates. As a result, they trade above their face value. When these bonds mature, holders will only get the bonds’ face value, meaning the portfolio will incur predictable capital losses. These losses will offset some of the appeal of the above-market yields. The key figure when looking at the long-term return of this fund is yield to maturity. This yield…