Topic: How To Invest

Q: Pat: What’s your view on CIBC’s Canadian Depository Receipts? Is this a better way to hold U.S. investments? What are the pros and cons? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

A: CIBC’s Canadian Depository Receipts (CDRs) give investors the opportunity to buy shares and/or fractions of shares in any of a number of U.S. or other foreign companies, in bundles that start out trading at a price of about $20 Cdn. each. CDRs come with a built-in hedging feature that reduces exchange-rate fluctuations. This feature costs you 0.60% of your investment yearly. CDRs let you invest small sums in U.S. or other foreign stocks, some of which have exceptionally high per-share prices. (For instance, Nvidia currently trades for $457.98 a share.) Note, though, that with highly liquid stocks like Nvidia, or the other shares underlying CIBC’s CDRs, investors can easily buy, say, just one or two shares if they want. CDRs represent shares of U.S. or other foreign companies but are traded on a Canadian stock exchange in Canadian dollars. CIBC currently offers 47 CDRs that trade on the NEO Exchange. Here’s just a few of them: Alphabet Canadian Depositary Receipts – GOOG Amazon.com Canadian…