{"id":104973,"date":"2019-10-24T13:39:26","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T13:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/?p=104973"},"modified":"2019-10-24T13:39:26","modified_gmt":"2019-10-24T13:39:26","slug":"etfs-for-everyone-most-popular-etfs-for-your-portfolio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/etfs-for-everyone-most-popular-etfs-for-your-portfolio\/","title":{"rendered":"ETFs for everyone: Most Popular ETFs for Your Portfolio"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Discover What&#039;s Inside<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/etfs-for-everyone-most-popular-etfs-for-your-portfolio\/#Who_are_ETFs_for\" >Who are ETFs for?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/etfs-for-everyone-most-popular-etfs-for-your-portfolio\/#Why_buy_ETFs\" >Why buy ETFs?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/etfs-for-everyone-most-popular-etfs-for-your-portfolio\/#Canadian_and_US_Utilities_ETF\" >Canadian and US Utilities ETF<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/etfs-for-everyone-most-popular-etfs-for-your-portfolio\/#Information_Technology_ETF\" >Information Technology ETF<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/etfs-for-everyone-most-popular-etfs-for-your-portfolio\/#Emerging_Market_ETF\" >Emerging Market ETF<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/etfs-for-everyone-most-popular-etfs-for-your-portfolio\/#Fossil_Fuel_Free_ETF\" >Fossil Fuel Free ETF<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_are_ETFs_for\"><\/span>Who are ETFs for?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Are you a passive investor who doesn&#8217;t have time to study individual stocks, but wants to invest in the markets? Then, buy some ETFs.<\/p>\n<p>If you don&#8217;t know them, ETFs are exchange-traded funds, which you can buy and sell like a stock, but which collect several stocks often strung together according to <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/country-specific-etfs-bet-on-countries-you-believe-will-grow\/\">country<\/a> (i.e. <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/XIU-T\">XIU-T<\/a> for Canada) or sector (e.g. IGV-N for tech).<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_buy_ETFs\"><\/span>Why buy ETFs?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>However, the biggest attraction of ETFs are their minscule fees, with MERs as low as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/investing\/article-could-etf-fees-fall-to-zero-they-already-have-sort-of\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">0.08% <\/a>compared to the over 2% average for a Canadian mutual fund, not to mention fees you pay to an advisor. <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/4822018\/retirement-investment-fees-trailing-commissions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The savings between ETFs and these fees<\/a> can be enormous by the time you retire.<\/p>\n<p>This article whittles down the vast galaxy of ETFs into some common investor themes, from dividend-payers to ESG.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Canadian_and_US_Utilities_ETF\"><\/span>Canadian and US Utilities ETF<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-116629\" src=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/BMO-cov-1-760x254.jpg\" alt=\"BMO-COV stock chart\" width=\"825\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZWU-T\">BMO Covered Call Utilities ETF (ZWU-T)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-116630\" src=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/BMO-equ-1-760x254.jpg\" alt=\"BMO-EQU stock chart\" width=\"825\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZUT-T\">BMO Equal Weight Utilities Index ETF (ZUT-T)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZWU-T\">ZWU<\/a> is a long-time favourite of ETF specialist, <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/expert\/view\/106\/Larry-Berman-CFA-CMT-CTA\">Larry Berman<\/a>, for holding Canadian and American utilities and telcos, which pay heavy dividends and rise when interest rates go down, like now. <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/FTS-T\">Fortis<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/EMA-T\">Emera<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/T-N\">AT&amp;T<\/a> are <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZWU-T\">ZWU<\/a>&#8216;s top holdings. <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZWU-T\">ZWU<\/a> pays a 6.29% dividend, but charges an MER of 0.71%, which is relatively high.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/expert\/view\/106\/Larry-Berman-CFA-CMT-CTA\">Berman<\/a> would buy it below $13, because it&#8217;s fully valued now around $13.90. <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/expert\/view\/1285\/John-DeGoey\">John DeGoey<\/a> adds that the covered call overlay pays investors a little if <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZWU-T\">ZWU<\/a>&#8216;s price doesn&#8217;t budge. Also, utilities are more stable than many other sectors and <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZWU-T\">ZWU<\/a> is nicely diversified.<\/p>\n<p>However, <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/expert\/view\/1418\/Mike-Philbrick\">Mike Philbrick<\/a> points out that its non-covered call cousin, <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZUT-T\">ZUT-T<\/a>, is performing better, with <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZUT-T\">ZUT<\/a> rising 16.6% in the past 12 months vs. 8.6% for <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZWU-T\">ZWU<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZUT-T\">ZUT<\/a> pays a lower dividend, though, of 4.25%. That&#8217;s still respectable (matching the Canadian banks) and it charges a slightly lower MER of 0.60%. <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/H-T\">Hydro One<\/a>, Brookfield Renewable and <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/AQN-T\">Algonquin Power<\/a> are among its holdings.<\/p>\n<p>That said, <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/expert\/view\/106\/Larry-Berman-CFA-CMT-CTA\">Berman<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/expert\/view\/1286\/John-Hood\">John Hood<\/a> prefer <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZWU-T\">ZWU<\/a> for its American and sector diversification. It&#8217;s a toss-up between <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZWU-T\">ZWU<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZUT-T\">ZUT<\/a>, but you&#8217;re in good hands owning either.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Information_Technology_ETF\"><\/span>Information Technology ETF<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-116631\" src=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vanguard-info-1-760x254.jpg\" alt=\"vanguard info\" width=\"825\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/VGT-N\">Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT-N)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The hottest American sector has no shortage of ETFs for investors who don&#8217;t know or can&#8217;t afford to choose between <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/AMZN-Q\">Amazon<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/GOOG-Q\">Google<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/AAPL-Q\">Apple<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/NFLX-Q\">Netflix<\/a> and (increasingly) <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/MSFT-Q\">Microsoft<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/VGT-N\">VGT<\/a> includes <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/AAPL-Q\">Apple<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/MSFT-Q\">Microsoft<\/a>, plus credit card giants <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/V-N\">Visa<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/MA-N\">Mastercard<\/a> in its top four holdings. The first two names alone account for 30% of this ETF. The yield isn&#8217;t bad for the tech sector: 1.18%, but the MER charges only 10 basis points (0.10%).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/expert\/view\/1379\/Daniel-Straus\">Daniel Straus<\/a> loves <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/VGT-N\">VGT<\/a> for these reasons, but <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/expert\/view\/1272\/Stan-Wong\">Stan Wong<\/a> cautions that we&#8217;re late in the cycle, so holding safer defensive names is better than tech.<\/p>\n<p>Year-to-date, <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/VGT-N\">VGT<\/a> has outperformed the NASDAQ 37% to 26%. A general caveat: if markets tumble, tech will fall hard. Just look at August or last December.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Emerging_Market_ETF\"><\/span>Emerging Market ETF<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-116632\" src=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vanguard-emer-1-760x254.jpg\" alt=\"vanguard emer\" width=\"825\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/VWO-N\">Vanguard Emerging ETF (VWO-N)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-116633\" src=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/BMO-ind-1-760x254.jpg\" alt=\"BMO-IND stock chart\" width=\"825\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZID-T\">BMO India Equity Index ETF (ZID-T)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Diversify. Break out of the Canadian ghetto and avoid <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bnnbloomberg.ca\/personal-investor-canadian-investors-feel-the-sting-of-home-country-bias-1.1151573\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">home country bias<\/a>. Canada accounts for only 3% of the world&#8217;s stocks, and ours are largely in energy and financials.<\/p>\n<p>Even look beyond America and consider the rest of the world. Because it&#8217;s a big world, it&#8217;s hard to choose which Asian, Latin American or even European equities to buy. That&#8217;s where an ETF works.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to dig further into country-specific ETFs, you might want to have a look at our <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/country-specific-etfs-bet-on-countries-you-believe-will-grow\/\">country-specific ETFs<\/a> post.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/expert\/view\/1362\/Cameron-Hurst\">Cameron Hurst<\/a> recommends <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/VWO-N\">VWO<\/a> for its exposure to China (he doesn&#8217;t foresee a recession there) and its 2.71% yield. Also, VWO&#8217;s MER is merely 0.12%. Its top two holdings are <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/TCEHY-OTC\">Tencent<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/BABA-N\">Alibaba<\/a>. As of this writing, the market is optimistic about the US-China trade war, but if Trump tweets or either side imposes fresh tariffs, then expect anything China to decline.<\/p>\n<p>If you see potential in India, with a growing economy and a middle class larger than the population of the United States, then consider <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZID-T\">ZID-T<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/expert\/view\/59\/Richard-Croft\">Richard Croft<\/a> suggests a 5% weighting in India through this ETF, but he does warn that India needs to build further infrastructure. <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/expert\/view\/1388\/Tyler-Mordy\">Tyler Mordy<\/a> projects India&#8217;s economic contribution to the world will rise from 9% to 12% in five years (while America&#8217;s will decline).<\/p>\n<p>However, <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZID-T\">ZID<\/a> pays only a 0.76% dividend and charges just as much, a 0.69% MER. Not cheap. Though it hit a high of almost $30 in early June, <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZID-T\">ZID<\/a> has fallen back sharply to around $25.60, basically where it started the year.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/ZID-T\">ZID<\/a> is a play on a huge, growing economy, but you need a long-term view and strong stomach.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Fossil_Fuel_Free_ETF\"><\/span>Fossil Fuel Free ETF<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-116634\" src=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/change-finance-1-760x254.jpg\" alt=\"change finance\" width=\"825\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/CHGX-Q\">Change Finance U.S. Large Cap Fossil Fuel Free ETF (CHGX-N)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msci.com\/www\/blog-posts\/esg-investing-is-here-to-stay\/01251377498\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ESG investing on the rise<\/a>, driven by socially conscious millennials, there has been a rise of recent ETFs. <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/expert\/view\/1424\/Tim-Nash\">Tim Nash<\/a>, who specializes in green and ESG stocks, recommends <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/CHGX-Q\">CHGX<\/a> as a responsible, yet profitable way to invest in the U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/CHGX-Q\">CHGX<\/a> holds only socially responsible stocks with no oil.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/WDC-Q\">Western Digital<\/a>, TransUnion and <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/SBUX-Q\">Starbucks<\/a> are its biggest holdings. <a href=\"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/CHGX-Q\">CHGX<\/a> pays a 1.00% yield and charges 0.49%. Year-to-date, it has outperformed the S&amp;P at 27% vs. 23%. Caveat: it&#8217;s a new ETF with low daily volume of only 3,600 shares.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who are ETFs for? Are you a passive investor who doesn&#8217;t have time to study individual stocks, but wants to invest in the markets? Then, buy some ETFs. If you don&#8217;t know them, ETFs are exchange-traded funds, which you can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":116627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cwp_meta_box_check":"No","cwp_rev_product_name":"","cwp_rev_product_image":"","wppr_links":[],"cwp_rev_price":"","wppr_options":[],"wppr_pros":[],"wppr_cons":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[126,170,13,28,116,197,167,66,196,198],"class_list":["post-104973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lists","tag-china","tag-dividends","tag-diy-investing","tag-earnings","tag-emerging-markets","tag-esg","tag-etf","tag-green-energy","tag-india","tag-mer"],"wppr_data":{"cwp_meta_box_check":"No"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}