Larry Berman CFA, CMT, CTA BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call Hedged to CAD ET ZWE-T BUY Jul 14, 2025

Likes exposure to Europe, of which many Canadians have minimal exposure. ZWE looks at the dividend yields of its holdings. Plus, it does some covered writing, which gives you income along the way in tradeoff for upside. Attractive yield, but consider also owning some European stocks on their own. Nice piece of diversification for your portfolio, good bit of income.

Good option for Europe exposure. High dividends that look to be safe. Adds nice balance to portfolio. Would recommend buying. Nice covered call strategy as well. 

Covered call product reduces amount of capital gains. Good for defensive investors. Very reliable dividend yield. Excellent offering of companies covered in the ETF. 

Has been on the market for ~10 years. Average total return(annually) is 10%. Believes is a great product, and would recommend buying for the long term investor. Some of the best dividend companies are from Europe. Owns in portfolio. 

Right now, this is his preference. Going over the history of this ETF, the extreme was $1.50-1.60 CAD to euro. So anything above $1.50-1.55, you'd want to be hedged. Anything lower than $1.35-1.40, you want to be exposed to the foreign currency.

Recently we got back above $1.50. If it keeps going higher, that's fine. When you're hedging the CAD relative to Europe, their interest rates are lower than ours, and so you actually earn extra doing it.

There has been no growth for a number of years in Europe and this is not likely to change in the near term. Stick to the North American market for growth including dividends.

If you like high-dividends with a covered call in Europe, this is a hold and buy on weakness. Most of the return comes from income, mostly international companies. It's tax efficient to get dividends with international exposure. A good diversifier. Likes it very much. ZWE is currency-hedged. 

The U.S. is often the leader in what's going on in the world. He would wait before investing in a European ETF.

These covered-call ETFs have an underlying strategy of generating more income. What differentiates them is how much leverage is or isn't used. Doesn't know that for ZWE. He's never seen great returns outside North America and avoids foreign stocks. He prefers the hedge version.