High fees, often not directly visible to investors, can substantially lower investment returns over time. It is therefore key that investors carefully consider fees before deciding to buy an ETF or mutual fund.

The damaging effect of high fees
The following example demonstrates the outcome of a.. Read More

The month of October saw declines in most asset classes, especially during the last trading week. That came after very strong gains for most assets starting in April.
Representing the broad global, U.S. and Canadian markets, the Vanguard Total World Stocks ETF (VT) lost 2.0%… Read More

The market recovery continued in June to cap off the second quarter’s strong performance. In fact, U.S. equities delivered their best quarter since 1998 while Canadian equities saw their best quarter since 2009. This followed one of the worst quarters ever recorded in both the… Read More

A: The Desjardins Alt Long/Short Equity Market Neutral ETF, $21.15, symbol DANC on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 11.9 million; Market cap: $251.7 million; www.fondesjardins.com), holds a portfolio that consists primarily of pairs of Canadian stocks in the same sector, one of which is a long position… Read More

Exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) have taken the investment world by storm.
In Canada, ETF assets under management have grown by 150% over the past five years, from $77 billion to $192 billion. At the same time, the number of ETFs has doubled. Robust growth was also evident… Read More

If you’re like a lot of Canadians, your foreign investment is often spurred by a vacation abroad. Greece’s sundrenched islands and archeological wonders are undoubtedly attractive, but many investors wonder about the future prospects for its stock market.
The Greek economy is emerging from a deep… Read More

Investor demand for gold is very strong right now, with consistent buying by central banks as well as exchange-traded funds. Silver has also moved lately, but platinum has lagged.
Those last two precious metals have proportionally larger industrial applications than gold (see graph), which strengthens their… Read More

The U.S. equity markets and the U.S. dollar have been star performers for the past decade. However, there are signs that their dominance may be ending.
The U.S. economy makes up about 25% of the global economy, while its equity markets represent 56% of the global… Read More

Cash can be a useful asset in a balanced portfolio, although the very low-interest rates of the last decade greatly diminished the attractiveness of that strategy. Nevertheless, many investors will hold a portion of their portfolios in cash to cover emergency expenses or to take… Read More

Commodities can help diversify portfolios, but are cyclical and come with high levels of price volatility.
However, well-diversified ETFs that offer exposure to commodity producers can help investors overcome the problems associated with direct investments in physical commodities or funds that track a single commodity.
Below, we… Read More