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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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ETFs Library Archives

ETFs

Emerging markets offer key pluses

Over the last couple of years, many emerging-market ETFs are down more than the overall market. They have struggled to attract investors because the growing U.S. economy and sharply higher interest rates have pushed up the U.S. dollar. That typically results in capital flowing to the U.S....

3 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Hold this top REIT ETF

ISHARES S&P/TSX REIT INDEX ETF, $16.39, is a hold. The ETF (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) lets investors tap all 16 Canadian real estate investment trusts in the S&P/TSX REIT Index. Investors pay an MER of 0.61%, and the fund gives you a 4.9% yield.

The iShares...

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Buy the best of solar

INVESCO SOLAR ETF, $69.98, 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 10.1%; SolarEdge Technologies (Israel; solar-power batteries), 9.7%; Enphase Energy (U.S.; home solar systems), 8.4%; Xinyi Solar (China; solar panels), 4.7%; GCL Technology (China; polysilicon), 4.6%; and Sunrun (U.S.; solar panels), 4.1%. 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....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

These ETFs offer top-quality foreign stocks

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....

2 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Ways ETFs determine their stock weightings

Most of the large and popular exchange-traded funds are passively managed index-tracking funds. Passive fund management for ETFs involves investing to mirror the holdings and performance of a specific stock-market index. The indexes that form the basis of these ETFs are provided by major index providers such as MSCI, S&P, FTSE and Solactive.

Meanwhile, the methods used to construct those major indexes can dramatically influence their composition and performance....

2 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

The risks and rewards of high-yielding ETFs

Exchange-traded funds offering regular income have grown in popularity lately, especially during the low interest rate years of 2020 to 2021. But with interest rates moving higher over the past 18 months, ETF managers have to become more creative in their efforts to offer appealing yields to investors....

3 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Two new ETFs for Canadian investors

Royal Bank is the partner of BlackRock for the distribution of the iShares ETFs in Canada. But the Royal Bank platform also hosts a considerable number of RBC branded ETFs. The Bank recently expanded its ETF roster by adding RBC-branded ETFs that mirror existing actively managed mutual funds.

RBC NORTH AMERICAN GROWTH ETF $20.47 (NEO exchange symbol RNAG) invests in U.S....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Warren Buffett likes Japan’s investment outlook

On August 30, 2020, the day of his 90th birthday, billionaire investor Warren Buffett announced that his Berkshire Hathaway company (symbol BRK.B on New York) had acquired a little over 5% of each of five Japanese trading companies, or Sogo Shosha as they are called in Japan.

The five are Itochu Corp., Marubeni Corp, Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co., and Sumitomo Corp....

1 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

Japan offers investors a bright future

The Japanese economy ranks third in the world and hosts some of the most-profitable global corporations.

The economy is, however, facing a declining and rapidly aging population. Still, an older population also presents opportunities, and Japanese companies are already coming up with innovative and technology-driven aids for the elderly....

5 min read

Pat McKeough

ETFs

High-yield ETFs—two buys, one avoid

High interest rates mean dividend-paying stocks must increasingly compete for investor interest with bonds and other fixed-income instruments. However, focusing on sustainable dividends still offers an attractive and growing income stream for investors—as long as you avoid the riskier strategies that some ETF managers use to boost their yields (see supplement on page 60).

Here are three ETFs that aim to provide high-yield exposure to Canadian, as well as U.S., dividend payers.

VANGUARD FTSE CANADIAN HIGH DIVIDEND ETF $42.00 (Toronto symbol VDY; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $2.1 billion) tracks the FTSE Canada High Dividend Yield Index....

4 min read

Pat McKeough

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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.