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
Higher interest rates in Canada, the U.S. and many other parts of the world have made high-yielding securities, including real estate investment trusts (REITs), much less appealing compared to bonds for income-seeking investors. In fact, over the past two years or so, ETFs focused on U.S....

BMO Asset Management recently added seven ETFs to their already extensive lineup. Here’s a look at two of these funds—one takes long and short positions in Canadian equities and a second aims to participate in U.S. stock gains while also providing some downside protection.


BMO LONG SHORT CANADIAN EQUITY ETF $30.86 (Toronto symbol ZLSC) aims to provide income and capital appreciation by taking both long (stocks expected to go up) and short (stocks expected to drop) positions in Canadian companies....
Tourism is a major business in France. In 2019, 91 million international tourists visited the country while domestic travellers added another 152 million.


In fact, France is ranked as the most visited tourist destination in the world. International visitors come mostly from the U.K., Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the U.S.


Chinese visitors have been absent from France for several years due to COVID-19 restrictions....
The French economy continues to recover from disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but high interest rates and strained government finances continue to dampen consumer and government spending and growth.


On the positive side, tourists are returning in a big way, helped along by large sporting events such as the Rugby World Cup and the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympic Games.


Meantime, France is home to several of the top luxury goods companies in the world....

BMO MSCI ALL COUNTRY HIGH QUALITY ETF $53.98 (Toronto symbol ZGQ; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $362.5 million) tracks the MSCI ACWI Quality Index. That index includes firms from both developed and emerging markets with high returns on equity, stable earnings growth, and low debt.


The U.S....
Here’s a look at three popular ETFs in three different areas—medical-device makers, natural resource producers and S&P 500 companies (but with a twist). We like the first two, but we think the third is likely to underperform its “plain vanilla” counterpart.


Meanwhile, the Supplement on page 10 provides more information on the three investment areas.


ISHARES US MEDICAL DEVICES ETF $50.47 (New York symbol IHI; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $5.0 billion) invests in U.S....
BETAPRO EQUAL WEIGHT CANADIAN REIT 2X DAILY BULL ETF $13.24 (Toronto symbol HREU) aims to use a combination of derivatives and debt to offer daily returns that correspond to twice the daily gains of the Solactive Equal Weight Canada REIT Index....
In early 2022, most real estate stocks and REITs were well on their way to recovering their pre-COVID highs. That was before investor worries about rising interest rates and a potential economic downturn set them back.


Nonetheless, for most real-estate classes (except for offices), occupancies are now mostly in line with pre-pandemic levels, and rents are rising....
INVESCO SOLAR ETF, $45.84, is a buy for aggressive investors. The ETF (New York symbol TAN; buy or sell through brokers) tracks solar-related companies (including technology firms and utilities) listed on global exchanges.


The fund’s top holdings are First Solar (China; solar panels) at 10.5%; Enphase Energy (U.S.; home solar systems), 10.1%; SolarEdge Technologies (Israel; solar-power batteries), 6.4%; Xinyi Solar (China; solar panels), 5.3%; GCL Technology (China; polysilicon), 5.1%; and Sunrun (U.S.; solar panels), 5.0%. The ETF charges a relatively high MER of 0.69%.


Renewable stocks have drifted down since early 2021; that follows big run-ups in 2020 on President Biden’s support for sun, wind and hydro power—plus strong investor interest in stocks gaining from environmental concerns....
Generally speaking, Canadians are blocked from buying mutual funds that are registered in the U.S. unless those funds are also registered with provincial securities commissions. (Moreover, some Canadian mutual funds are only available in a limited number of provinces.)


Investors in this country can, however, buy exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, listed on U.S....