Opinions
Daniel Straus
BMO Aggregate Bond Index
ZAG-T
COMMENT
Jan 13, 2017
Stock price when the opinion was issued
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With rates coming down, bonds are seemingly back in favour. He likes shorter- to medium- (7-10 years) duration bonds. This ETF follows that strategy. You'll see some performance if rates continue to move lower. Decent yield of 3.6+%.
If you want something without duration risk, you could look at shorter-term bonds with a floating rate. Shorter-term yields are higher than long at this point. But you won't get that lift if bond yields come down.
Canadian benchmark bond ETF. About 30% corporate bond exposure. Very cheap. Largest fixed income ETF in Canada now. 7-year average duration, so a better opportunity now than 1-2 years ago. Works for portfolio ballast. He recommends "barbelling" it in with some shorter-term fixed income exposure ETFs such as CASH or ZMMK.
74% government bonds in Canada, rest in investment-grade corporate. Likes bonds at this stage, with interest rates calming and starting to come down. There will be small upticks pushing down the price of bonds, but up 6.6% in last 3 months. With yield plus potential for capital appreciation, makes sense to have as core part of your portfolio. Yield is 3.5%.
Fixed income or bond ETF? When he talks about bond ETF’s, he begins with what he thinks of as the core holdings. The core holdings will be the most liquid with the lowest fees and access to the whole market. These are for long-term Hold positions. The asset class he favours is aggregate bonds, a mix of government and corporate. In Canada, there are a good number of them. This Index recently had its fee dropped, and he believes it makes them the lowest cost one in Canada. A long-term aggregate Bond ETF, and will have duration risks, so if there are rate movements in Canada, it could suffer. He thinks Aggregate Bonds are the way to go. Dividend yield of 3.1%.