iShares U.S. Fundamental Index ETF (TSX: CLU)
Like the PowerShares FTSE RAFI Canadian Fundamental Index ETF (TSX: PXC) highlighted above, this ETF is constructed using the same fundamentally driven, rules based process, ranking stocks on a number of fundamental criteria. Apart from investing in U.S. traded stocks, this ETF holds roughly 1,000 names, ten times that of its Canadian counterpart. The concentration issue that is prevalent in the Canadian fundamental ETFs is not seen in the U.S. versions. While there is still an overweight in energy and financials, the combined weight is roughly half that of PXC.
Read MorePowerShares FTSE RAFI Canadian Fundamental Index ETF (TSX: PXC)
This rules based ETF is built using a process that rates and ranks the Canadian universe of stocks on key fundamental factors including sales, cash flow, book value, and dividends. The stocks are each ranked by the four fundamental measures, which results in a total score for each company. They are then ranked by their scores from best to worst, and the top 100 or so make up the ETF. Stock weights are determined by the fundamental score, with the better ranked stocks making up a higher weight in the ETF. There are no constraints on sector weights, which is where I begin to get a little worried about this particular ETF.
Read MoreiShares Canadian Short Term Bond Index ETF (TSX: XSB)
Short term bonds underperformed in the period, as stability in the commodity sector put upward pressure on Canadian short term rates. For the three months ending April 30, the yield on the Canada two-year bond rose from 0.42% to 0.68%, while the Canada five year finished the period at 0.87%, up from 0.67%. Despite this bump, XSB managed to end the period modestly higher.
Read MoreMackenzie Ivy Foreign Equity
With market volatility high in the first quarter, this concentrated, quality focused global equity fund did what it does best – protect capital better than its benchmark and peer group.
Read MoreFidelity Northstar Fund
This go anywhere, all cap fund is managed by the team of Joel Tillinghast and Daniel Dupont. Both managers use their unique individual bottom up stock selection process.
Read MoreManulife U.S. Equity Fund
The U.S. market is one of the toughest to beat on a consistent basis, which is why I tend to favour low cost ETFs for my U.S. equity expo-sure. However, if you are looking for a well-managed, high quality, mutual fund that will give you a shot at outperforming the S&P 500 once in a while, then this fund, which mirrors the Mawer U.S. Equity Fund (MAW 108) is definitely worth considering.
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