You Can See Our Exchange-Traded Funds Portfolio For January 2026 Here.


ETFs in brief


Exchange-traded funds are set up to mirror the performance of a stock-market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings of that index or sub-index and will allow the fund to “track” its performance.



The MER (Management Expense Ratio) is generally much lower on traditional ETFs than on conventional mutual funds. That’s because most traditional ETFs take a much simpler approach to investing. Instead of actively managing clients’ investments, ETF providers invest so as to mirror the holdings and performance of a particular stock-market index.



ETFs practice this “passive” fund management style, in contrast to the “active” management that conventional mutual funds traditionally provide at much higher costs.

New developments in the field of medical technology, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI), are contributing to the efficient supply of medical products and services to meet growing demand.


In this Supplement, we summarize some of the main developments in the field of AI and its usefulness for the healthcare sector.

ETF managers use different methods to construct their portfolios—and this can lead to different performance outcomes, even if they target the same universe of stocks. ETF managers who construct their portfolios by passively replicating target indexes will mostly use a market capitalization-weighted index. But there are also alternatives available, such as equal-weighted indexes.


Market-cap weighted indexes



The most popular method to construct passively managed ETFs is to aim to replicate a market capitalization-weighted index, such as the S&P 500 or the S&P/TSX 60. In the case of the S&P 500, the 500 largest U.S. companies by market value are included in the index. Individual stocks are weighted based on their market value.

his month, we highlight two new actively managed global equity funds—one from Manulife and one from smaller Canadian fund manager Rocklinc Investment Partners.

Toyota Motor has been recognized as the world’s biggest carmaker for the past 5 years, selling about 10.8 million units last year. The company operates in 170 countries, with 72 manufacturing facilities and a global workforce of 380,000. In the 2025 financial year, the company had sales of $320 billion and profits of $32 billion.


Over the past 10 years, Toyota’s sales increased on average by 7.6% per year while profits increased by 10.8% per year. In line with this profit growth, the stock returned 11.1% per year.



The success of the company is attributable to a range of factors, including the following:

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


Structural challenges such as an aging population and high levels of government debt remain challenges for the Japanese economy. Still, the top Japanese companies continue to do well; in fact, the country’s stock market is hitting new highs.



Here is one ETF that provides exposure to the top Japanese public companies.

The demand for healthcare has been growing at a rapid pace as the population in the developed world grows older and developing countries become wealthier. Meanwhile, new technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) can help to smooth out supply constraints by improving the management of patient diagnostics, administrative processes, and drug discoveries.


In the Supplement starting on page 10, we discuss this in more detail and also highlight some of the companies on the leading edge of new developments. Here are three ETFs that aim to benefit from the opportunities presented by healthcare.

BMO MSCI EAFE INDEX ETF $28.06 (Toronto symbol ZEA; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $10.9 billion) invests in companies listed in Europe, Australasia and the Far East.


The main country allocations are Japan (23%), the U.K. (14%), France (10%), Germany (10%), Switzerland (10%), Australia (7%), the Netherlands (6%), Sweden (3%), Singapore (2%), and Hong Kong (2%).



Financial companies account for 23% of assets, followed by Industrials (19%), Healthcare (11%), Technology (10%), and Consumer Discretionary (9%) .



The ETF currently holds a portfolio of 694 stocks; the top 10 make up 18% of its assets. Core holdings include ASML Holdings (Netherlands, Technology; 1.9%), SAP (Germany, Technology; 1.4%), Nestle (Switzerland, Consumer Staples; 1.3%), AstraZeneca (U.K., Healthcare; 1.2%), Toyota (Japan, Industrials; 0.9%), and Sony (Japan, Consumer Discretionary; 0.8%).

SavvyLong (2x) Barrick ETF $32.94 (Toronto symbol ABXU) invests in the shares of gold miner Barrick Mining (symbol ABX on Toronto). Barrick is the second-largest gold miner in the world after Newmont Corp. (symbol NEM on New York).


This fund’s manager—LongPoint Asset Management Inc.—then uses debt to provide investors with two times the daily returns (or losses!) of Barrick shares.



The ETF launched in October 2025 and holds assets worth $2.8 million. The MER is a high 1.25%.

When selecting ETFs, investors should look not just at the stocks they hold, but also at the methodologies each uses. These are strategies aimed at boosting returns and cutting risk. The two ETFs below employ unique strategies to achieve those goals.


Meanwhile, the supplement starting on page 9 provides more information on how the most popular ETFs are constructed and how the different methods play into the performance of those ETFs.