Topic: How To Invest

Pat: What do you think about these three ETFs: iShares Canadian Financial Monthly Income ETF, iShares Global Monthly Dividend Index (CAD-Hedged) ETF and the iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index ETF?

Article Excerpt

iShares Canadian Financial Monthly Income ETF, $6.99, symbol FIE on Toronto (Units outstanding: 45.0 million; Market cap: $314.6 million; www.blackrock.com), is a balanced fund with 16% of its assets in bonds and 16% in preferred shares. The other 68% is in common stocks. We don’t generally recommend balanced funds, as bonds are unlikely to perform well over the next few years, if only because interest rates will likely hold steady or rise. That means the fund would only earn interest income on its bonds; instead of capital gains, its bond holdings could produce capital losses. The iShares Canadian Financial Monthly Income ETF holds mostly corporate bonds, which expose you to varying levels of risk. Some are almost as safe as government bonds and offer only slightly higher yields. Others offer higher yields but are much riskier. This ETF has a 6.9% yield and a 0.90% MER. We don’t recommend the iShares Canadian Financial Monthly Income ETF. A: iShares Global Monthly Dividend Index (CAD-Hedged) ETF, $18.18,…