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General Market Comment. There have been many new ETFs developed. Any new theme will cause the launch of a new product line such as block chain and cannabis. Low cost, beta funds were particularly popular last year in the US. The funds make money on low MERs by taking advantage of economies of scale. He thinks ETFs will likely save the fixed income bond product environment, especially as rates are beginning to rise.

ETFs and Withholding Tax. He is not a taxation expert and suggests you seek expert opinion. A withholding tax will have only a marginal impact if the yield is low. Some registered account may not allow for all this to be recovered. When it is a US ETF that holds foreign tax, then it becomes even more complicated.

Swap based ETFs taxation. He is not a taxation expert and suggests you seek expert opinion. The total return swap based ETFs don’t hold the underlying stocks, which introduces counter-party risks of the derivate swap sources. There is no dividend income from a derivative based ETF, so this does offer a form of tax deferral. Corporate class ETFs offer other advantages because it holds a mix of Canadian and US stocks, but they are sometimes classified as a Canadian holdings thus avoiding US withholding tax issues.

Block Chain ETFs. There are now three block chain ETFs in Canada, the first being HBLK-T, and there are more on the way. This space is in its very earliest development, which makes it challenging to build an ETF with good diversification and liquidity. Early investors may be taking on speculative risk and would not recommend it for a large long-term holding.

This is a smart beta strategy fund. The fund manager, Dimensional, takes advantage of momentum and other factors to outperform the market. There is also a small Canadian Manulife Multifactor mid-cap ETF.

This gives a diversified exposure to the four largest internet stocks with over 40% of the portfolio value dedicated to them. This gives narrow exposure to the big players.

This is an interesting class as it has a very high dividend yield. Part of the yield is made up of the covered calls. Just remember this will limit your upside potential so they would not recommend it as a large part of your portfolio. The ZWE-T ETF offers a similar exposure to Europe markets and is also good to have some in your portfolio. Yield 5.4%.

Dividend investing is a long term factor strategy and this is one of the granddaddies in the sector. To be classed as Aristocrat, dividends have to have been steady or rising for 5 years in Canada and 25 years in the US holdings. Its fee is a little higher than new products. ZEI-T is perhaps another alternative with a lower fee.

This ETF uses MSCI’s quality screening method to select holdings. These have higher ROE and lower financial leverage. It can therefore take some time for the value to emerge compared to outright market indices. He likes it because it is liquid and attractively priced – although there may be cheaper ETFs out there (XEH-T for example). The offset is that the holdings have relatively high PE ratios due to the quality of the holdings. He would recommend ZDM-T as it offers a higher level of diversification into Asia as well.

The market loves these as they represent a one-stop ETF for market diversification. It is a balanced portfolio that holds 60% fixed income and 40% stocks. The stocks will be globally diversified as is the fixed income portion. It is an ETF of ETFs. It depends if this portfolio split fits your needs. The MER is approximately 0.25% -- incredibly low for a balanced fund even against the Robo-portfolio offerings.

This ETF is better than holding any individual company as it offers better diversification including some of the smaller producers. His view that these niche sector ETFs should be viewed as a speculative holding as many of the holdings are not even showing positive earnings yet. MER is 0.75%. It is a little early to consider this as a long term holding.

This is an enhanced income covered call Canadian ETF. It is a yield vehicle and not a growth strategy. In up trending markets this will underperform the market due to the covered calls being sold. It is better for steady income. MER is 0.82% Yield 5.7%.

His strategists have been drawn to the emerging market sector because the performance over the past two years has been a confirming signal of positive things yet to come. These markets are become much more technologically driven and the returns should continue. The Emerging Market space is four times that of the Canadian market and is no longer directly correlated to commodity pricing.

This holds 80% equities and 20% fixed income. This is appropriate for younger investors with a long term investment horizon. It is a balanced portfolio ETF of ETFs offered at a low cost.

This is backed by physical gold receipts – not even an ETF. It holds physical gold at the Canadian Mint in Ottawa and should be uncorrelated to the rest of your portfolio.