Larry Berman CFA, CMT, CTA BMO US Dividend ETF ZDY-T COMMENT Apr 20, 2015

ZWH-T vs. ZWI-T. ZDY-T is dividend payers, the best US payers. ZWH-T has a covered call. In a downward market he likes the covered call overlay. In a strong market you don’t want it. He prefers ZDY-T right now.

BMO U.S. dividend: make sure there's a quality measure in this ETF. US equities are doing quite well. This is offered in hedged and unhedged. Consider both 50/50 for portfolio diversity. It'll be large-cap names. This is not horrible.

ZDY-T vs. ZUD-T. They are identical holdings. ZUD-T has a currency hedge. He buys ZDY-T to get exposure to the US dollar as well as US dividends. If he thinks the CAD$ will get stronger, he trades to ZUD-T. You can also get ZDY.U-T to buy it in US$.

Screens for flat or positive dividend growth, as well as dividend stability. Includes names like Wells Fargo, Abbvie, IBM. About a 34 basis point MER. Tilted to the value side. Not hedged. Pays about a 2.95% yield.

At market bottoms you don’t want ETFs with covered calls like ZWH-T because you are giving away some of the upside. You want ZDY-T or the currency hedged version of that. CYH-T is a benchmark for world dividends. It is a Canadian dollar currency hedged ETF. TDIV-Q is a technology dividend play.

ZDY-T vs. XDU-T. He is indifferent. We will be challenged for the next few years in dividend growth. XDU-T outperformed ZDY-T recently. You get a slightly different mix of companies. You get high dividend payers or quality dividend payers. He would get both, not one or the other.

VFV is about 34% tech and communications, so it's pricey. 25x PE, 4.4x price to book. Yield is 1.6%.

ZDY has better valuations, less exposure to tech and communications of about 20%. 18x PE, 3.3x price to book. Yield is 2.8%. More conservative. Better risk/reward.