The True Cost of Foreign Withholding Taxes
Back in the fall of 2012, I wrote a pair of blog posts about the impact of foreign withholding taxes in US and international equity funds. The first explained the general idea of this tax on foreign d [...]
Why Has VRE Outperformed Its Rivals in 2013?
It's been a marvellous year for equities, but 2013 has not been kind to real estate investment trusts. Like other income-producing investments, REITs are sensitive to rising interest rates, and the sh [...]
Ask the Spud: When Should I Use US-Listed ETFs?
Q: Under what specific circumstances would it be better to hold a US-listed ETF if there is a Canadian equivalent? For example, when it is preferable to use the Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI) rathe [...]
The Hidden Cost of Bid-Ask Spreads
Trading commissions get a lot of attention from ETF investors, and rightly so. But depending which ETFs you use and the size of your trades, the impact of bid-ask spreads may be larger than you though [...]
A Touch of (Corporate) Class
ETFs are generally more tax-efficient than mutual funds, but there is one area where they’re at a disadvantage. Investors who use non-registered accounts can take advantage of corporate class mutual f [...]
Looking for Value in Canadian Equity ETFs
Monday’s post about factor analysis was, I admit, too technical for most readers’ tastes. At least that’s the conclusion I drew when the two most enthusiastic comments came from a professor of statist [...]
Finding the Perfect Pair for Tax Loss Selling
If you’re using ETFs in a non-registered account, there’s plenty of opportunity to harvest capital losses and reduce your tax bill. Justin Bender and I tell you exactly how to do this in our new white [...]
More Swap-Based ETFs on the Horizon
I have to admit I was skeptical when the Horizons S&P/TSX 60 (HXT) appeared back in September 2010. In an interview with a Horizons executive a few months later, I asked why the company would go h [...]
Will Mutual Fund Advisors Soon Be Selling ETFs?
There are many reasons why relatively few Canadian investors use ETFs compared with actively managed mutual funds. There’s about $900 billion in mutual funds in this country, while ETF assets total ab [...]
