There are no bargains in hedged ETFs

Article Excerpt

Investors in Canadian-listed ETFs with non-Canadian international holdings effectively gain exposure to the currencies of the countries where those holdings are listed. Investors in unhedged ETFs with foreign exposure will receive the foreign currency gains on the underlying securities, expressed in Canadian dollars. Simply stated, investments held in a falling foreign currency will lower the returns in Canadian dollars while investments held in a rising foreign currency will improve your Canadian dollar returns. Meanwhile, many ETFs also offer investors the choice of buying currency hedged versions as well. Investors in the hedged versions will only receive the returns of the stocks themselves. Any foreign currency movements in those stocks will be eliminated by the hedging. Here is an example: BMO offers two versions of the same ETF that invests in U.S. banks; the portfolios are exactly the same, but the one version is hedged into Canadian dollars (symbol ZUB) and the second is unhedged (symbol ZBK). During periods of currency volatility, the returns…