Topic: How To Invest

Pat: Could you please comment on the iShares Core S&P 500 Hedged ETF (CAD-Hedged) as a good place to park money in order to prevent currency risk? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

iShares Core S&P 500 Hedged ETF (CAD-Hedged), $23.17, symbol XSP on Toronto (Units outstanding: 125.4 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; www.blackrock.com), holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, which is comprised of 500 major U.S. stocks chosen by market size, liquidity and industry group. The index’s 10 highest-weighted stocks are Exxon Mobil, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, General Electric, AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Pfizer. It has a 1.6% dividend yield. iShares Core S&P 500 Hedged ETF (CAD-Hedged) is hedged against movements of the U.S. dollar against the Canadian dollar. The fund’s Canadian-dollar value rises and falls solely with the movements of the stocks in its portfolio. Expenses on the units are 0.10% of assets, excluding the cost of currency hedges. Those hedges add costs of 0.13% to the units, for a total of 0.23%. That’s more than double the 0.10% MER on the unhedged iShares Core S&P 500 Index ETF, symbol XUS on Toronto. Of course,…