Utilities are attractive right now

Article Excerpt

High interest rates boost bond yields—and their appeal with investors. Conversely, those high or rising rates can hurt the appeal of high-yield utilities, and their shares, since utilities are then forced to pay higher interest on their debt. However, with interest rates falling in Canada, and poised to fall in the U.S., the outlook for high-quality utilities is attractive for investors seeking high dividend yields and growth prospects. Below we discuss two utilities ETFs. Meanwhile, the supplement on page 79 considers the outlook for utilities. That includes the boost from growing demand for electric vehicles (EVs) as well as artificial intelligence (AI) datacentres. VANGUARD UTILITIES INDEX ETF $150.33 (New York symbol VPU; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Conservative; Market cap: $7.0 billion) tracks the MSCI US Investable Market Utilities Index, which includes U.S. companies that distribute electricity, water, or gas or operate as independent power producers. Stocks are allocated weightings based on their market capitalization. The portfolio includes electric utilities (62% of assets), water utilities (4%), gas…