High-yield ETFs—two buys, one avoid

High interest rates mean dividend-paying stocks must increasingly compete for investor interest with bonds and other fixed-income instruments. However, focusing on sustainable dividends still offers an attractive and growing income stream for investors—as long as you avoid the riskier strategies that some ETF managers use… Read More

…and include these three sectors as well

Here’s the second part of our discussion on ETFs representing each of the five main economic sectors. Here we cover ETFs in Resources, Manufacturing and Financials.
ISHARES MSCI GLOBAL METALS & MINING PRODUCERS ETF $42.96 (CBOE symbol PICK; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $1.6 billion) provides investors… Read More

They can handle higher loan-loss provisions

The current uncertainty caused by rising interest rates and still-high inflation has prompted Canada’s big banks to increase their loan-loss provisions. Even so, those provisions remain well below their 2020 pandemic peaks.
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $140 is a buy. The bank (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth and… Read More

These banks can handle a slowdown

Canada’s Big Five banks maintained their regular dividend payments during two of the biggest financial shocks in the past 20 years—the 2008-2009 financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though the global economy may slow in 2023, we expect these two banks will continue to… Read More

Q: Pat, what do you think of the Hamilton Enhanced Canadian Bank ETF (HCAL-TSX). Do you think this is a good way to invest in all the banks rather than try to find the best one(s) to buy individually?

A: Hamilton Enhanced Canadian Bank ETF, $21.63, symbol HCAL on Toronto, (Units outstanding: 18.7 million; Market cap: $404.5 million; hamiltonetfs.com) aims to track the Solactive Canadian Bank Mean Reversion Index.

This index invests in the biggest six Canadian banks—Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal, CIBC,… Read More

These ETFs target ‘responsible’ investing

Over the last few years, more and more ETF managers have launched funds focused on taking environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into account.
Sustainable investing offers some investors a lot of conceptual and emotional appeal. But does investing in these kind of stocks hurt your… Read More