Protecting against downside risks with ETFs

Article Excerpt

Over the long term, most stock markets move up. But there are times when sharp declines inflict heavy losses on investors’ portfolio holdings. For example, in 2008 to 2009, U.S. stock markets declined by 51%; in 2020, they dropped by 34%; and in 2022, they fell 25%. Other markets globally had similar declines. What’s more, these types of sharp losses often persist for long periods of time. Meanwhile, there are a range of ETFs that aim to help investors buffer their portfolios against significant losses. Here are three of those options. As well, in the Supplement on page 120, we discuss the extent and frequency of major declines and the time needed to recover those losses. GLOBAL X HIGH-INTEREST SAVINGS ETF $50.06 (Toronto symbol CASH; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Income; Market cap: $5.4 billion) invests in Canadian dollar-denominated, high-rate savings accounts with Canadian banks. The risks involved with this investment are minimal but do include the counterparty risks of the institutions holding the deposits. In the case…