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
The speed of the March 2020 stock market decline, as well its rapid recovery to previous peaks, will rank high in the record books. For instance, the 34% drop for the S&P 500 took only 24 days while the recovery to its previous peak was achieved in 150 days.


At the broad market level, the Vanguard Total World Stocks ETF (VT) gained 14.3% for the year....
When we look for ETFs to recommend, we start with what we see as the most important factor: what stocks does the ETF hold?


And when we look at those stocks, we use tools and measures from three key areas to form our assessment:


1) Investment-quality markers—we use them to award our TSINetwork investment-quality ratings;


2) Valuation factors, including the P/E and other financial ratios;


3) Extra value factors—hidden value and other overlooked pluses that help create outsized returns.



How we judge investment quality


The essence of investment quality is a company’s ability to survive a business setback and go on to still greater success when conditions improve....
This month we look at three new ETFs. The first is an actively managed ETF that invests in “frontier” technology companies; they’re selected by a manager with roots in venture capital. The next two funds are ETFs where their managers use a “black box” to pick dividend-paying companies.


INNOVATOR LOUP FRONTIER TECH ETF $54.32 (New York symbol LOUP) is an ETF invested in technology companies that its managers believe will drive the next wave of technological innovation.


Loup Ventures, a venture capital firm with two decades of experience in technology, is the ETF’s advisor....
Novo Nordisk (New York symbol NVO) started up 85 years ago, and is considered a pioneer and leader in diabetes care.


The company claims a 28% share of the $50 billion global diabetes treatment market and half of the $20 billion insulin market....
Stability and a well-educated workforce are two key traits of the Danish economy. The Scandinavian country is also home to leading global companies in the fields of healthcare and green energy. Meanwhile, the economy has coped relatively well with the pandemic and should regain more normal output sometime in late 2021.


Here is an ETF for investors seeking low-fee exposure to Denmark’s top public companies.


ISHARES MSCI DENMARK ETF $97.88 (New York symbol EDEN; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $167.1 million) tracks the performance of the largest publicly listed companies in Denmark.


Healthcare companies account for 39.7% of its assets, while Industrials (26.0%), Financial Services (7.8%), Utilities (7.0%), and Consumer Defensive (6.5%) are other key segments.


The ETF holds a portfolio of 46 stocks; the top 10 make up 67% of its assets....
In 2020, ETFs continued to attract new money at a rapid pace, with almost $33 billion in inflows through the end of November. That should lead to a record year of inflows, beating the previous record of $30 billion set in 2019.


Canada now has 39 ETF sponsors who manage 846 distinct ETFs with $250 billion in assets....
In our February 2020 issue, we recommended a number of ETFs for gains ahead—including our #1 ETF Pick for 2020.


Little did investors know at the time how tumultuous the year would turn out. Economies all over the world suffered under the strain of government-enforced lockdowns....
Vaccination plans in the U.S. and globally have spurred a more positive economic outlook for 2021. Still, there are risks on the horizon, like potential delays in the rollout of those vaccines as well as political and trade-war tensions.


Here’s a look at three popular ETFs and whether we think they are buys for investors in 2021.


VANGUARD U.S....
SPDR S&P 500 ETF $379.79 (New York symbol SPY) lets you hold the top stocks of the S&P 500 Index; they’re the major U.S. companies based on market cap, liquidity and industry.


The fund’s highest-weighted stocks offer a lot of appeal for investors: Apple, 6.5% of assets; Microsoft, 5.2%; Amazon.com, 4.2%; Alphabet, 3.3%; Tesla, 2.1%; Facebook, 2.0%; Berkshire Hathaway, 1.4%; Johnson & Johnson, 1.3%; and JP Morgan Chase, 1.3%.


The ETF’s distribution also offers you a solid 1.5% yield, while the fund charges you a very low 0.095% MER.


Going forward, investors should directly gain from U.S....
COVID-19 pushed down the prices of most stocks and ETFs in early 2020. Some, like airlines, hotels, casinos and many restaurant stocks, are still down. Others have recovered to their old highs but may have trouble moving higher until the global economy returns to normal.


Meanwhile, some stocks and ETFs have taken off since mid-2020 and are now setting new all-time highs....