Larry Berman CFA, CMT, CTABMO Balanced SeriesUnits ETFZBAL.TOBUYOct 19, 2026

Allocation of 60% equities (to harness growth), 40% fixed income (for ballast). S&P 500 (28%), bonds (28%), TSX (capped at 15%), aggregate bonds (12%). Nice mix of international, EM, some small caps. MER is 18 bps, cheap and cheerful.

Challenge is what if stocks and bonds go down together as they did in 2021-22? That's when precious metals and futures strategies can add some diversity.

But if you want to keep it simple, this one's pretty good.

They're similar. ZMI is for income portfolios vs. ZBAL is for balanced ones. ZMI focuses on high dividends vs. ZBAL which carries international stocks which is more of broad, MSCI-type index. He prefers ZMI because it generates income if you need current income vs ZBAL where you have to sell shares to generate cash.

He uses these balanced ETFs in smaller accounts. These ETFs do the rebalancing for you. But eventually, you want to invest in the individual building blocks instead of this single solution.

You don't need any fixed income 15 years ahead of retirement, because it depends on your level of risk. If inflation is more persistent for a decade or more because of tariffs, the bonds in a portfolio will fail. Fixed income has been terrible for a decade and will be for a decade more.