Tag: canadian index fund

What is a Canadian Index Fund?

Canadian index funds are among the better financial innovations to come along in the past few decades.

A Canadian index fund can be a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) whose goal is to equal the performance of a Canadian market index, such as the S&P/TSX 60. A market index aims to track the performance of a selected group of stocks. For example the S&P/TSX 60 is an index of the 60 largest companies that trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Indexes are also used to determine how well a stock market is performing and are reported on in all forms of media. Most Canadian index funds are passively managed. That means that they don’t have a management team watching them at all times and making adjustments based on their short-term views of individual stock performance.

Canadian index funds may be updated only a few times a year, and for that reason they have much lower management fees. Some Canadian index-fund fees run as low as 0.10% per year, compared to 2.5% or more on many broker-sold mutual funds. Those high fees can eat into your profits. Canadian index funds are especially good for new investors who want to invest in a wide variety of stocks with a single investment. They also make good additions to RESPs and TFSAs. A Canadian index fund is also a sound investment for seasoned investors as well. When investing in stocks, as well as Canadian index funds, TSI Network recommends using our three-part Successful Investor philosophy:

  1. Invest mainly in well-established companies;
  2. Spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; Utilities);
  3. Downplay or avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight.

Most investors who successfully build wealth over the long term follow certain investing practices. Find out what they are in our FREE investing guide, The 10 Best Practices of Successful Investors.

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Six North American ETFs: 5 buys, 1 sell

November 3, 2017||ETFs

These six ETFs mostly hold high-quality stocks that are widely traded on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. Each fund mirrors, or tracks, the performance of a major stock market index. That’s different from ETFs focused on narrower indexes or themes such as solar power and biotechnology… Read More

Five of these North American ETFs are buys

August 3, 2017||ETFs

These six ETFs mostly hold high-quality stocks that are widely traded on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. Each fund mirrors, or tracks, the performance of a major stock market index. That’s different from ETFs focused on narrower indexes or themes such as solar power and biotechnology.
Of… Read More

Our updated advice on six popular ETFs

May 5, 2017||ETFs

These six ETFs hold mostly blue-chip stocks that are widely traded on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. Each ETF mirrors, or tracks, the performance of a major stock market index. That’s different from narrower indexes that focus on resources or themes such as solar power or… Read More

These Canadian ETFs track major indexes

These Canadian ETFs track major indexes
January 17, 2017||ETFs

These ETFs focus on similar Canadian stocks but there is a difference between their fees.
These two Canadian ETFs hold mostly blue-chip stocks that are widely traded on Canadian exchanges. Each ETF mirrors, or tracks, the performance of a major stock market index. That’s different from… Read More

Updates on six North American ETFs

January 6, 2017||ETFs

These six ETFs hold mostly blue-chip stocks that are widely traded on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. Each ETF mirrors, or tracks, the performance of a major stock market index. That’s different from narrower indexes that focus on resources or themes such as solar power or… Read More

Six North American ETFs—5 buys, 1 sell

September 1, 2016||How To Invest

These six ETFs hold mostly blue chip, widely traded stocks on Canadian and U.S. exchanges. All of them mirror, or track, the performance of major stock market indexes. That’s opposed to narrower indexes focused on, say, resources or themes such as solar power or biotech… Read More

ISHARES MSCI CANADA INDEX FUND $24.16

May 6, 2016||How To Invest

ISHARES MSCI CANADA INDEX FUND $24.16 (New York symbol EWC; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds the stocks in the Morgan Stanley Capital International Canada Index. The fund has a 0.48% MER and yields 2.4%.

The index’s top holdings are Royal Bank, 7.9%; TD… Read More