WRAP Funds Report – November 2016
Fund of Fund or WRAP funds have consistently led the mutual funds sales stats in the past few years. Investor and advisor interest in the products are at an all time high, given the unprecedented levels of market volatility and uncertainty that is prevalent in the markets today. To help you zero in on the best WRAP funds available, we have created our new Monthly WRAP Funds Report that will be...
Read MoreInvestment Fund Ranking Report – November 2016
Each month, we analyze nearly 2000 mutual funds, pooled funds, and hedge funds putting them through our proprietary quantitative valuation model. We then prepare our Monthly Fund Ranking Report which rates and ranks each of the funds in our universe based on a number of key risk / reward metrics. You can download our November 2016 Investment Fund Ranking Report here.
Read MoreETF Focus List – December 2016
Vanguard Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF (TSX: VAB) – This TSX traded ETF provides broad exposure to the Canadian bond market. It is designed to track the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Canadian Float Adjusted Bond Index, net of fees. The index is cap weighted and holds investment grade government and corporate bonds of Canadian issuers.
It is rather like the iShares Canadian Universe Bond Index (TSX: XBB), but there are some differences. The first is VAB has a higher exposure to government bonds than XBB. VAB holds around 80% in government bonds, which is equally split between provincial and federal/agency debt. In comparison, XBB holds 70% in government debt, with a very slight tilt towards federal/agency debt. Because of this, the average credit quality is higher with VAB. A drawback is the interest rate sensitivity is higher. The duration of VAB is 7.8 years, compared to 7.3 years for XBB. In practical terms, this means VAB is likely to be hit modestly harder in the event of a bump in yields. Given the market volatility of the past few weeks, this has played out as expected, with XBB dropping by 2.05% in November, while VAB was down 2.18%.
Read MoreTop Funds Report – November 2016
Download a PDF Copy of this report Trump Wins!?!?!? American election surprises pundits and markets… I’ll be honest, I didn’t see Trump winning. Obviously, I was wrong. But, looking at the millions of disenfranchised people living the rust belt of middle America, who have been hurt badly by globalization, and the carving out of the American manufacturing sector, and it starts to...
Read MoreOctober 2016 Portfolio Review
October was a mixed month for the major asset classes, with bonds finishing down, Canadian equities slightly higher, and global equities mostly lower in local currency terms. A drop in the Canadian dollar helped to push many foreign equities into positive territory for the month. In this environment, the portfolios all finished in negative territory.
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