Topic: How To Invest

Q: Pat: Thank you for your advice over the years. May I have your view of the iShares S&P/TSX SmallCap Index ETF? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

A: iShares S&P/TSX SmallCap Index ETF, $16.97, symbol XCS on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 8.3 million; Market cap: $140.9 million), holds the 200 stocks in the S&P/TSX SmallCap Index. That index is made up of the smaller companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange. These stocks are chosen by their market size (their market caps must be between $100 million to $1.5 billion) and their liquidity. The fund’s expenses are 0.62% of its assets. The 10 highest-weighted stocks of the 200 companies in the index are: Laurentian Bank, 1.63%; Secure Energy Services, 1.52%; Canadian Energy Services & Technology, 1.52%; HudBay Minerals, 1.49%; Russel Metals, 1.32%; Gran Tierra Energy, 1.28%; Enerflex Ltd., 1.25%; MEG Energy, 1.20%; Baytex Energy, 1.17%; and Intertape Polymer, 1.16%. The fund’s breakdown by industry is: Resources, 49.3%; Industrials, 12.8%; Consumer Discretionary, 9.9%; Real Estate, 8.2%; Financials, 5.7%; Information Technology, 4.5%; Health Care, 3.8%; Consumer Staples, 2.9%; and Utilities, 2.7%. We like some of the stocks the fund holds, but don’t recommend some…