What’s On Your ETF Wish List?
It seems like ETFs are appearing in Canada every month, but it’s been a while since I got genuinely excited about a new product. It was great to see both Vanguard and BMO create S&P 500 funds with [...]
Updated Couch Potato Report Card
Last week I announced the 2012 returns for my model portfolios. Now it’s time to present the updated longer-term returns of the portfolios, with data provided by Justin Bender. This information covers [...]
Ask the Spud: Combining e-Series Funds and ETFs
I use the Global Couch Potato with e-Series funds in my TD Waterhouse account, but I eventually want to use the Complete Couch Potato. Once my portfolio gets to $50,000 and I qualify for $9.95 trading [...]
Inside the iShares Minimum Volatility ETFs
Last week we looked at two low-volatility ETF strategies based on beta and the standard deviation of daily price movements. Now let’s complete our roundup by looking at a third methodology used by MSC [...]
Inside the BMO and PowerShares Low-Vol ETFs
In the last 14 months or so, Canada’s ETF providers have launched several funds based on low-volatility strategies. As we saw in my last post, the research suggests it may be possible to build a portf [...]
Virtual Brokers Becomes the ETF Leader
The Globe and Mail announced its annual discount brokerage rankings yesterday and crowned a new winner. Virtual Brokers took top spot for 2012, ending a six-year run by Qtrade. In his article about th [...]
Barry Gordon on Building an Index: Part 2
In Monday’s post I shared part one of my interview with Barry Gordon, CEO of First Asset, who explained how his firm worked with Morningstar to create new ETF indexes. In part two the interview, Gordo [...]
Barry Gordon on Building an Index
Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, all ETFs tracked well-known third-party indexes like the S&P 500. But it wasn’t long before all of the major benchmarks were spoken for and ETF providers bega [...]
ETF Fees Keep Falling
When Vanguard arrived in Canada last year, a number of my readers suggested the competition would prompt other ETF providers to lower their management fees. I was skeptical: after all, competition in [...]
Ask the Spud: Should I Unbundle My ETF?
Q: What do you think of investing directly in Canadian REITs instead of buying an ETF? It may be possible to achieve similar results without paying the ETF’s management fee. – Philippe V. ETFs promise [...]
