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
Fees charged by ETFs have several components:


First are the operating expenses of the fund, such as the portfolio management fee, custody and administration fees, and marketing fees. These fees are all rolled into the Management Expenses Ratio (MER) and are paid directly from the ETF’s assets....
Banks and insurance companies have performed strongly over the past year, easily beating the main market indices. However, banks, in particular, use a lot of debt to boost returns, and are prone to volatility when they encounter problems.


We’ve always said most investors should diversify within the finance sector by holding not just banks, but also insurers, fund managers and so on....
BMO MSCI All Country World High-Quality ETF $69.66 (Toronto symbol ZGQ; TSI Network ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $730.7 million) tracks the MSCI All-Country World High Quality Index. From the broad universe of available stocks, those with high-quality scores based on three main fundamental —high return on equity, stable year-over-year earnings growth, and low financial leverage—are selected for inclusion in the ETF.


The ETF currently holds 479 stocks; the largest geographical allocation is to the U.S....
GLOBAL X INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPED MARKETS EQUITY ETF $48.32 (Toronto symbol HXDM) provides exposure to major companies listed in developed markets excluding North America. The fund, launched in September 2017, holds $557.3 million of assets, and it charges what sounds like a reasonable MER of 0.22%.


The ETF tracks the Global X EAFE Futures Roll Index....
Companies that generate a lot of free cash flow (regular cash flow less capital expenditures) are generally in a strong financial position. For investors, free cash flow eliminates the distraction of non-cash deductions like goodwill, purchased R&D, depreciation and so on....
VANECK VECTORS VIETNAM ETF, $12.70, is a buy for aggressive investors. This emerging-markets ETF (New York symbol VNM) taps the leading Vietnamese firms as well as foreign firms that get a significant share of their revenue from this Southeast Asian nation....
ISHARES MSCI TAIWAN INDEX FUND, $53.60, is a buy for aggressive investors. The ETF (New York symbol EWT; buy or sell through brokers) gives you direct exposure to some of the top public companies of this East Asian powerhouse economy.


The fund’s largest holding is Taiwan Semiconductor at 22.7% of assets....

The major Canadian and U.S. stock markets, while still subject to volatility, continue to offer attractive returns for investors—especially if you buy the top stocks. All in all, we think that if you can afford to stay in the market for several years or longer, now is a good time for new buying....
The demand for healthcare products and services has been growing for decades. That trend should only continue as the population of the developed world grows older and medical services expand in the developing world.


Meanwhile, significant new developments in the field of medical technology, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI), should add to the outlook for suppliers of healthcare products and services.


In the next section, we summarize some of the main developments in the field of AI, and its usefulness for the healthcare sector.


Artificial intelligence comes to healthcare


The data-processing and predictive capabilities of AI let health professionals better manage their resources and take a more proactive approach to various aspects of healthcare.


With these technologies, doctors can make quicker and more accurate diagnoses, patients can receive more timely and personalized treatments, and scientists can speed up drug discoveries....
Companies that own and operate unique infrastructure assets have characteristics such as stable profits and cash flows that make them attractive to long-term investors. And investors seeking exposure to these assets have several publicly listed options, including ETFs.


Indexes that track the performance of listed infrastructure companies have performed as well as the broad global equity markets over the long term; they have also experienced similar or lower volatility than the markets....