Vanguard Announces Five New ETFs
When I spoke with Vanguard’s managing director Atul Tiwari back in June, he said the company would be announcing a new suite of ETFs in the coming months. That announcement arrived late yesterday...
View ArticleVanguard ETFs Get New Indexes
Vanguard has announced it is changing the benchmark indexes on four of its Canadian and 22 of its US ETFs, including some of its most popular funds. Over the next several months, Vanguard will be...
View ArticleFour New ETFs and an Invitation
BMO has announced it’s launching four new ETFs, which will start trading on Tuesday, November 20: BMO S&P 500 (ZSP/ZSP.U) BMO S&P/TSX Laddered Preferred Share (ZPR) BMO S&P/TSX Equal Weight...
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The Promise of Low Volatility
The relationship between risk and reward is one of the most fundamental in finance: to get higher returns, say the traditional models, you must accept more risk. There’s just one problem with that...
View ArticleInside 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...
View ArticleInside 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...
View ArticleCouch Potato for Hire
In the three years since I launched Canadian Couch Potato, I’ve received countless e-mails from readers. Often they’re baffled by the ETF choices available today. Others are unsure how to determine an...
View ArticleScary When They’re Down, Scary When They’re Up
It’s been barely a month since Alexander Green remarked that we’re currently enjoying “the most disrespected bull market in history.” Green described how investors who were shell-shocked by 2008 were...
View ArticleUnder the Hood: Vanguard FTSE Canadian Capped REIT (VRE)
This post is part of a series called Under the Hood, where l take a detailed look at specific Canadian ETFs or index funds. The fund: Vanguard FTSE Canadian Capped REIT (VRE) The index: The fund tracks...
View ArticleWhat’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...
View ArticleNew BMO Funds Come in Several Flavours
This week BMO announced more additions to its line of ETFs. What’s most interesting about these new funds is not so much the asset classes they track, but the fact that each comes in two or three...
View ArticleNew iShares ETFs Give Canadians the World
In an era when ETFs are becoming increasingly narrow and specialized, the new iShares funds launched this week were a pleasant surprise. Granted, they were late to the game with the iShares S&P 500...
View ArticleA New ETF of Strip Bonds
Back in February I asked readers to share their ideas for new ETFs that might fill gaps in the current marketplace. The idea for that blog post came from a contest run by First Asset, who invited...
View ArticleWhy Use a Strip Bond ETF?
Barry Gordon admits he was surprised when he first read Justin Bender’s entry in First Asset’s Search for Canada’s Next Top ETF contest, which I introduced in my previous post. “It runs against the...
View ArticleThe Wait is Over: New ETFs From Vanguard
“Ask and ye shall receive.” That should be the refrain of Couch Potato investors during the last 10 months or so as the industry has filled just about all the gaps in the ETF marketplace. First it was...
View ArticleInside the New Vanguard ETFs
Vanguard Canada launched some new ETFs this week, and I spoke with managing director Atul Tiwari about the funds. Let’s take a closer look. Cross-Canada coverage The Vanguard FTSE Canada All Cap (VCN)...
View ArticleMore 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...
View ArticleA 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...
View ArticleThe Failed Promise of Market Timing
I’ve long believed the most difficult part of being a Couch Potato investor is resisting temptation. Index investors are asked to be content with market returns, but they are bombarded daily by fund...
View ArticleRemodelled Portfolios for 2014
Another new year is upon us, and it’s time review my model Couch Potato portfolios. I’ve been at pains to discourage investors from tinkering with their portfolios every time a new fund comes along,...
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