ETFs - The Successful Investor Inc

ETFs

What are ETFs?

ETF is an acronym for exchange traded fund. These exchange traded funds are used to track indexes as closely as possible, since investors cannot actually buy an index outright.

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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You Can See Our Exchange-Traded Funds Portfolio For April 2025 Here.

ETFs in brief

Exchange-traded funds are set up to mirror the performance of a stock-market index or sub-index....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Physical gold is strong—but miners still lag

Physical gold and silver have been stellar performers over the past two decades even beating the S&P 500. And in fact, gold hit a new all-time high in February 2025 of $2,974 U.S. an ounce. Gold has also been much less volatile than the stock markets.

Investors shouldn’t overindulge in any one investment, and that includes gold, silver, platinum or any other precious metals....

2 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Cybersecurity firms forecast outsized growth

Hackers, organized crime, and even state-sponsored actors are increasingly targeting Internet-linked networks and databases to gain access to confidential information and extract large ransom payments.

The lucrative nature of online crime, combined with a relatively low risk of being caught, and a massive and growing target market, indicate that this criminal industry will continue its rapid growth....

3 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

The “Magnificent Seven” in retreat

Global equity markets made modest further gains in February—although the magnificent seven U.S. companies (Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta and Tesla) dragged the U.S. market down. Bonds had a good month as interest rates moved lower. Interest rates sensitive equities, such as utilities and REITs also moved higher.

China equities (Toronto symbol ZCH) had a strong month on hopes for a more market friendly approach from the government....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

New ETFs for Canadian investors

This month we highlight six new funds that trade in the form of Canadian Depository Receipts (CDRs).

BMO Asset Management recently launched a series of single stock CDRs. These new funds complement a long list of already existing single stock CDRs available from CIBC....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Sweden—Home to a global music streaming giant

Spotify is a Swedish audio streaming and media service provider founded in April 2006 by Daniel Ek (the CEO) and Martin Lorentzon (the CFO).

The primary listing of Spotify is in Sweden and there is also a secondary listing in the U.S. in the form of American depositary receipts (ADRs)....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Sweden: Nordic leader with investor appeal

The free market-orientated economy of Sweden is complemented by a comprehensive welfare system. Despite the high taxes, the country ranks among the most competitive in the world and is home to a range of successful multinationals. One of these is Spotify—the global leader in music streaming services (see box next page 36).

The country has struggled the last few years with households and businesses under pressure from high inflation and rising interest rates....

4 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

ETFs are rapidly gaining market share on mutual funds

By the end of 2024, Canadian mutual funds had assets under management of $2.24 trillion, compared to the $519 billion in Canadian ETFs. However, the overall distribution of investable assets is changing rapidly.

Just five years ago, Canadian ETFs had $257 billion of assets under management, or 13% of total mutual fund and ETF assets combined.

By the end of 2024, ETF assets represented about 19% of the total mutual fund and ETF assets combined....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Here are four ETFs for precious-metal gains

Physical gold and silver have been stellar performers over the past two decades—including beating the S&P 500—and with gold hitting an all-time high in February 2025.

Here we look at four ETFs that aim to benefit from the long-term positive trends in precious metals (see the supplement on page 40 for more information).

SPROTT PHYSICAL GOLD AND SILVER TRUST $39.07 (Toronto symbol CEF; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $7.8 billion) invests in physical gold and silver bullion held in the vaults of the Royal Canadian Mint....

4 min read

Pat McKeough

Testimonials

The cornerstones of Pat’s strategy–value, diversification and timelines–make his newsletter, The Successful Investor, highly profitable while minimizing risk. His advice is no-nonsense, down-to-earth and based on solid research. You’ll know what to invest in and what to avoid.

Chuck Chakrapani, PhD
Investors Association of Canada
The older I get the better dividends look. For retirees and would-be retirees who want to sleep at night, I can’t think of a better source of information on reliable growing dividend income than Pat McKeough’s newsletter, Dividend Advisor.

Jonathan Chevreau
Financial Post Columnist
As a manager of more than $500 million in mutual funds, I have access to the best brokerage research available in this country. But I still take time to read Pat McKeough’s premium newsletters

John Sartz
I appreciate the 25 years of above market returns I received by following your advice. at least 95% of my investment decisions were based on TSI recommendations.

Chuck J.
Subscriber since 1996. Inner Circle Member Since 2006
The newsletters I receive in Inner Circle Pro are fantastic! I have been following Pat’s advice for years and everything he has said has been amazing. His commentaries are brilliant, insightful, educational, rational and balanced. My returns are almost double the TSE and I have referred many of my friends who have switched over to your services.

Walter H.
Inner Circle Pro subscriber

Browse Premium Topics

Cannabis

Spinoffs

One of the ways a company can try to unlock its own hidden value is by creating a separate company out of a corporate subsidiary. The parent company can either sell stock in the new company to the public, or spin it off—hand the stock out to its own investors.

Dividend Stocks

Dividend stocks make cash payouts that serve as a way for companies to share the wealth they’ve accumulated. These payouts are drawn from earnings and cash flow and paid to the shareholders of the company. Typically, these dividends are paid quarterly, although they may be paid annually or even monthly as well.

ETFs

What are ETFs?

ETF is an acronym for exchange traded fund. These exchange traded funds are used to track indexes as closely as possible, since investors cannot actually buy an index outright.

Value Stocks

What are value stocks?

One of the sweetest and most profitable pleasures of successful investing is to buy high-quality “value stocks” (or stocks that are reasonably priced, if not cheap, in relation to its sales, earnings or assets), then hold on to them as mainstream investors recognize the value and push up the share price.

Blue Chip Stocks

Blue chip stocks are big, well-established, dividend-paying corporations with strong business prospects. These are companies that also have sound management that should be able to make the right moves to keep competing successfully in a changing marketplace.

Penny Stocks

A penny stock in general trades for under five dollars a share, and as the name implies, sometimes for pennies. Most of the time they’re young companies, or start-ups in speculative markets like mining or technology.

Growth Stocks

Growth stocks are companies that are likely to have sales and earnings growth well above market average. Frequently they pay few, if any, dividends. Instead they typically reinvest any extra cash flow to promote further growth. Chosen wisely—according to Pat McKeough’s advice—high-quality growth-oriented stocks can be worthwhile additions to most well-diversified portfolios.

Wealth Management

Wealth management is the practice of putting your savings to work so that it continues to grow over your lifetime and will also benefit your heirs. Wealth management encompasses many different areas of investing like long term investment planning and retirement planning.

Mining Stocks

Mining stocks are investments in companies that produce or explore for minerals. Some of these minerals include uranium, coal, molybdenum (which is used in steelmaking), copper, silver and gold. They are affected by fluctuating commodity prices in addition to their own business and operating risks.

How To Invest

Pat McKeough has been making investing for beginners simple—and profitable—by helping investors make big gains for more than 25 years. His advice to beginning investors is the same as it is for all investors: buy high-quality, mostly dividend paying stocks (or ETFs that hold these stocks) and evenly spread your investments over the five main economic sectors (Resources, Manufacturing, Finance, Utilities and Consumer). Pat also believes investors should avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight and focus on those with hidden or little-noticed assets.

Energy Stocks

What are energy stocks?

Businesses that work in the extraction, refining and delivery of energy sources such as natural gas, oil, uranium and coal, are considered energy stocks.