Market Research

I’ve spent the past few weeks looking deeper under the hood of the high-yield bond ETFs and the results might surprise you. They certainly surprised me! Let’s first define what a high-yield bond is.

If we priced tickets fairly, we’d be out of business. It is getting to be that time of year when many of us are booking flights for vacations. Let me relate to you what I learned about “full service” airlines.

Once again this year, as they have for 30 years, international stocks are lagging behind the U.S. and Canadian markets. This may lead you to wonder why you should invest outside of North America when the returns have been so paltry.

In episode 22 of the podcast, I revisit smart beta, one of the most significant trends in the ETF marketplace. To help explain what smart beta is, and the challenges faced by investors who use these strategies, I interviewed John West of Research Affiliates, a California-based firm that was one of the pioneers of smart beta ETFs.

The story of what happened to tens of millions of dollars deposited with the QuadrigaCX cryptocurrency exchange is as modern as the latest thinking in cyber-security. But why 115,000 clients would hand over their savings to Quadriga is as old as human folly.

Yes, they did! In 2018, passively managed index funds once again increased their market share in the United States, rising from 35% to 37%, according to Morningstar. So, is this good or bad? Should you follow the trend?

In the first installment in my “Understanding ETFs” series, we toured the Canadian equity ETF landscape, covering solutions you can use for your investment portfolio’s domestic stock allocation. Today, I want to switch gears and head south of the border, to explore some of the U.S. equity ETFs you can add in, to diversify your Canadian-heavy portfolio.

Shock and awe! In 2018, Vanguard Canada, a fervent advocate of passive management, launched traditional, actively managed mutual funds. Actively managed mutual fund companies also successively launched their own array of exchange traded funds (ETFs). As a result, the great majority of the Canadian market’s 33 suppliers now offer mainly active management. Are we looking at the end of passive ETFs?

We consider whether an equal weight index ETF outperforms a comparable market cap weighted ETF by any measures of value to investors.

Another year under the belt. 2018 seemed to mirror 2017 in the news headlines. Trump, Bitcoin, and marijuana stocks were top of mind for much of the year, with the addition of trade agreements (or a lack thereof), and a dash of market volatility that had been missing in 2017.