Exchange traded funds trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Investors can buy them on margin, or sell them short. The best exchange-traded funds offer well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios with exceptionally low management ETF fees. They are also very liquid.
Investors use ETFs in a variety of ways, and some investors work only with ETFs and no other type of investment in portfolio creation.
An amazing aspect of ETFs is their diversity. Some investors may create an entire portfolio solely from a few well-diversified ETFs.
ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. That’s different from mutual funds, which you can only buy at the end of the day at a price that reflects the fund’s value at the close of trading.
Prices of ETFs are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but their low management fees give them a cost advantage over most mutual funds.
As well, shares are only added or removed when the underlying index changes. As a result of this low turnover, you won’t incur the regular capital gains taxes generated by the yearly distributions most conventional mutual funds pay out to unitholders.
ETFs have a place in every investor’s portfolio, at TSI Network we also recommend using our three-part Successful Investor strategy:
- Invest mainly in well-established companies;
- Spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; the Consumer sector; Finance; Utilities);
- Downplay or avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight.
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The stock exchange for this Chinese territory is Asia’s third largest (after Japan’s and China’s); it’s also the world’s fourth largest....
Here is one ETF that provides exposure to top public companies domiciled in this autonomous Chinese territory.
ISHARES MSCI HONG KONG ETF $25.42 (New York symbol EWH; TSI Network ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $2.8 billion) tracks the performance of large and mid-cap Hong Kong-domiciled and listed companies.
Financial companies account for 67.4% of its assets, while Utilities (10.0%), Consumer Cyclicals (8.7%), and Industrials (7.9%) are other key segments.
The ETF holds a portfolio of 47 stocks; the top 10 stocks make up a sizeable 60.4% of the fund’s overall assets.
Those top holdings include AIA Group (financial services, 21.6%), Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (financial services, 7.2%), CK Hutchison Holdings (industrials, 5.0%), Sun Hung Kai Properties (real estate, 4.8%), Link Real Estate Investment Trust (4.3%), Hong Kong and China Gas Co....
Various plausible arguments can be made in favour of investing in physical commodities or their listed producers. However, the practical problems associated with directly holding commodities make the debate almost irrelevant. Holding a well-diversified basket of publicly-listed producers provides investors with a reasonable alternative.
It’s almost impossible to invest directly in commodities due to the costs involved with their storage....
However, well-diversified ETFs that offer exposure to commodity producers can help investors overcome the problems associated with direct investments in physical commodities or funds that track a single commodity.
Below, we look at three ETFs that provide exposure to commodity producers or directly to the commodities themselves....
Eisman argues that Canadian banks will be forced to make bigger provisions for potential losses on their residential mortgages if home prices and economic growth further slow....
U.S. banks have improved their operations considerably since the financial crisis a decade ago. Key performance indicators, such as their net interest margins, are once again approaching pre-crisis levels. A slower-than-expected rise in interest rates, however, has limited investor interest....
The fund’s top holdings are Reliance Industries (conglomerate), 8.9%; HDFC Bank, 7.7%; Housing Development Finance, 6.9%; Infosys (information technology), 6.0%; ITC (conglomerate), 5.7%; ICICI Bank, 5.4%; Tata Consultancy (information technology), 4.8%; and Kotak Mahindra Bank, 3.6%....
The fund’s top holdings include Toyota, 4.2%; Softbank, 2.6%; Keyence Corp....
Right now, the SPDR S&P China ETF holds 372 stocks....