ETFs

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:

  1. Invest mainly in well-established companies;
  2. Spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; the Consumer sector; Finance; Utilities);
  3. Downplay or avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight.

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ETFs Library Archives
EVOLVE INNOVATION ETF $20.85 (Toronto symbol EDGE; Market cap: $8.2 million) invests in companies that its managers see as having the potential to disrupt established industries such as automobile manufacturing, retail and health care.


Evolve has previously launched similar ETFs including Evolve Automobile Innovation ETF (Toronto symbol CARS) and the Evolve Cyber Security ETF (Toronto symbol CYBR).


The Innovation ETF invests in these two ETFs and selected other companies....
Here are two ETFs that emphasize value investing in their stock selection. Academic studies suggest that, on average, value stocks can produce better results than growth investing. Still, it’s important to look closely to see if they’re truly undervalued. They may, after all, only be cheap due to hidden problems.


At the same time, we think you benefit most from a balance of high-quality value stocks and growth stocks....
ISHARES CDN REIT INDEX FUND $17.70 (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds all 15 Canadian real estate investment trusts in the S&P/TSX REIT Index.


The fund has an MER of 0.61%, and it currently yields a high 4.7%.


The ETF’s top ten holdings are RioCan REIT (16.7% of holdings), Canadian Apartment Prop....
Pennsylvania-based Vanguard Group is one of the world’s largest investment management companies. In all, it administers over $5 trillion U.S., spread across 400 mutual funds and ETFs.


Generally speaking, Canadians are blocked from buying mutual funds that are registered in the U.S....
ISHARES CHINA LARGE-CAP ETF $41.29 (New York symbol FXI; buy or sell through brokers) tracks the 50 largest, most-liquid Chinese stocks.


The ETF started up October 4, 2004, and has an MER of 0.74%. It yields 2.1%.


Top holdings for the $4.7 billion fund are China Construction Bank, 9.0%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 8.2%; Tencent (Internet services), 8.1%; China Mobile, 6.6%; Ping An Insurance, 6.2%; Bank of China, 4.4%; CNOOC (oil), 4.2%; China Petroleum, 4.1%; China Life (insurance), 3.1% and PetroChina, 2.9%.


China still has strong growth potential....
The Bank of Canada increased its benchmark interest rate in July 2018 from 1.25% to 1.50%. That rate could rise further later this year on stronger economic growth and low unemployment. Inflation has also moved up steadily, sitting at 3.0% in July 2018.


We continue to caution against investing in bonds....

Gold has had a poor run since its peak of $1,950 U.S. an ounce in 2011; its current price of $1,174 an ounce is now 40% lower. Over the same period, stock markets have soared. This has led many investors to question the role of gold in their investment portfolios.


Gold has historically offset U.S....
More than two centuries ago the New York Stock Exchange was created under a tree to facilitate trade among a small list of U.S. companies. China was considered a “frontier market” less than 40 years ago. Today, it and the U.S. are the world’s two largest economies.


Some frontier markets did not exist a decade ago....
Emerging markets, especially those in Latin America, saw a strong recovery in July. The iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (New York symbol EWZ) gained 13.1%, while the iShares MSCI Mexico Capped ETF (New York symbol EWW) rose 11.9%....
Here we take a closer look at two relatively new North American ETFs. This month’s selections include a quantitative, low-volatility Canadian equity ETF and a global pet-products ETF.


FRANKLIN LIBERTY RISK MANAGED CANADIAN EQUITY ETF $21.04 (Toronto symbol FLRM; Market cap: $12.7 million) aims to invest in Canadian equities to generate capital gains, but with lower volatility.


The fund does not provide much detail on how it will reduce volatility except that it uses a “black box” rules-based model to select stocks “based on a mix of historical and projected financial and stock-market data....