Topic: How To Invest

Pat: What do you think about the BMO S&P/TSX Laddered Preferred Share Index ETF? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

BMO S&P/TSX Laddered Preferred Share Index ETF, $14.48, symbol ZPR on Toronto (Units outstanding: 70.1 million; Market cap: $1.0 billion; www.etfs.bmo.com), holds Canadian floating-rate preferred shares. Issuers include Bank of Montreal, Enbridge, BCE, TransCanada and Canadian Utilities. The ETF’s MER is 0.45%. It currently yields 4.3%. Note that the dividends you receive from this fund do benefit from the Canadian dividend tax credit. Floating-rate preferred shares pay dividends that fluctuate with changes in interest rates. The dividend rate may range from 50% to 100% of (usually) the prime bank rate. As interest rates rise, so do floating-preferred dividend yields. Sometimes the floating-rate feature only kicks in several years after the issuer sells the preferred to investors. For example, the preferred may pay dividends at a fixed rate for five years, and then the payout floats with interest rates. Floating-rate preferreds are an advantage to investors if interest rates go up, but put you at a disadvantage if rates go down. Given that interest rates…