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BMO EQL WGT US BANK HDGD TO CAD IDX ETFZUB.TODON'T BUYJan 26, 2015Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 19, 2026. Market Open.
Largest in the category. ZBK is unhedged, but there's a hedged version as well (ZUB). He'd opt to start hedging risk away a bit more, given what seems a concerted effort to weaken the USD. Gives you diversification in the US banks, instead of Canadian banks, as it's a different market and different economy.
Banks are very sensitive to the economy, and we're in a recessionary period. He'd wait for positive market follow throughs before allocating capital. If you're in it for the long term, you could buy this on the pullback. Interestingly, US banks are down about 21%, whereas Canadian banks (as in ZEB) are down 9%.
If you were going to buy banks, he would buy US banks. Prefers these from both the currency perspective and the fact that growth is a little bit stronger in the US than it is in Canada. He would prefer an ETF that focused on US regional banks, such as SPDR S&P Regional Banking (KRE-N). However, if you are going to be in a financial space, he would prefer to focus on a REIT ETF, like iShares Cohen & Steers Realty (ICF-N), or one of the investment management companies.