Topic: How To Invest

ISHARES MCSI CANADA INDEX FUND $26 – American Exchange symbol EWC

ISHARES MCSI CANADA INDEX FUND $26 (American Exchange symbol EWC; buy or sell through brokers) invests in most of the stocks in the Morgan Stanley Capital International Canada Index. These stocks represent Canada’s largest and most-established public companies, accounting for about 60% of the market capitalization of all publicly traded stocks. These shares are managed by Barclays Global Investors. There are now 27 different MCSI index funds.

This fund has an MER of 0.84%. That’s a lot higher than the 0.17% MER on the S&P/TSE 60 units, also managed by Barclays. It’s also no better than most open-end index funds, which have MERs as low as 0.54%.

We think MCSI Canada’s high MER defeats the main advantage of index funds. The spread between iShares MCSI Canada’s high MER and that of a low-fee fund may not appear to make a lot of difference in a single year, but there is no point in paying more than you need to. We don’t recommend iShares MCSI Canada Index Fund.

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