High-yield ETFs—two buys, one avoid

Article Excerpt

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 to boost their yields (see supplement on page 60). Here are three ETFs that aim to provide high-yield exposure to Canadian, as well as U.S., dividend payers. VANGUARD FTSE CANADIAN HIGH DIVIDEND ETF $42.00 (Toronto symbol VDY; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $2.1 billion) tracks the FTSE Canada High Dividend Yield Index. The index includes small, medium and large companies that pay dividends, but excludes real estate investment trusts. The industry exposures are mainly Financials (57%), Energy (26%), Telecommunications (9%), and Utilities (6%). If you do invest in this ETF, be sure to adjust the rest of your portfolio so that owning this fund won’t overly concentrate your stock and fund holdings in Financials and Energy. The fund currently offers…