O’Leary Canadian Bond Yield Fund
Fund Card On a risk adjusted basis, one of the strongest Canadian bond funds over the past five years has been the O’Leary Canadian Bond Yield Fund. It is managed with a focus on capital preservation by a team lead by Connor O’Brien at Stanton Asset Management. The managers use an active investment process that blends a top down macro analysis, and bottom up security selection. The macro...
Read MoreBMO MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF (TSX: ZEM)
Fund Card With the slowdown in China, and global demand for commodities weak, the emerging markets have struggled. For the year ending October 31, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index lost more than 14% in U.S. dollar terms. While the recent past is dismal, the medium to long term outlook is more positive. Valuation levels are significantly below historic averages. According to Brandes Investment...
Read MoreiShares MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility Index ETF (TSX: XMI)
Fund Card Low volatility funds are designed to provide returns that are roughly in line with the broader equity markets, but also offer lower volatility, and much stronger downside protection. While there isn’t sufficient history for a lot of these funds, the early results are certainly encouraging. For example, according to Morningstar, for the past three years, XMI has shown a down capture...
Read MoreiShares US Fundamental Index ETF (TSX: CLU)
Fund Card Looking only at the fundamentals of the portfolio, this appears to be the most attractive U.S. ETFs around. Valuation metrics such as price to earnings, price to book, and price to cash flow are significantly more favourable than either the iShares Core S&P 500 Index ETF (TSX: XSP), or the Vanguard U.S. Total Market Index ETF (TSX: VUS). This is not particularly surprising, given...
Read MoreiShares Core S&P/TSX Capped Composite Index ETF (TSX: XIC)
Fund Card Canadian equities have struggled of late, with the S&P/TSX Composite Index losing 5.8% on a total return basis. There were two key factors driving this decline; continued weakness in the energy markets, and Valeant Pharmaceuticals fall from grace. The energy sector was off more than 3.3% as the outlook for oil remains weak. Until we see a stabilization in the energy markets, I...
Read More