ETFs Birthday and New Dividend ETFs

Canada Invented ETFs 25 Years Ago

First Published Date: March 29, 2015

Canada is the country that invented peanut butter, walkie-talkies, insulin, garbage bags, basketball, alkaline batteries, sonar, and the telephone, among many other things. Included among all of these is, of course, ETFs. The Toronto Stock Exchange launched the world’s first ETFs called TIPs (for Toronto 35 Index Participation Units), similar to the iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF that trades these days.

Today, global ETF assets have reached a staggering record high of $2.919 Trillion. In Canada alone, the amount is more than $85 billion, and it has a lot more to grow in the future.

New Canadian Dividend ETFs

iShares recently launched 5 new Core ETFs, including one U.S. Unhedged Dividend ETF. Let’s look at these ETFs.

iShares Core S&P U.S. Total Market Index ETF: XUU MER 0.10 – U.S. large, mid, and small cap exposure. Holds 1500 stocks. Similar to Vanguard U.S. Total Market VUN that holds 3800 stocks.

iShares Core S&P U.S. Total Market Index ETF: XUH MER 0.10 – Same as XUU, but hedged to the Canadian dollar.

iShares Core MSCI All Country World ex Canada Index ETF: XAW MER 0.20 – Large, mid, and small cap exposure to US, developed, and emerging markets, excluding Canada. Holds 5000 stocks. Similar to Vanguard FTSE All-World ex Canada VXC that holds 3000 stocks.

iShares Core MSCI EAFE IMI Index ETF (CAD-Hedged): XFH MER 0.20 – Large, mid and small cap exposure across developed markets, excluding the US and Canada.

iShares U.S. High Dividend Equity Index ETF: XHU MER 0.30 – 75 high quality, U.S. dividend stocks. The Canadian dollar hedged version of XHU is XHD.

More ETFs mean more competition, more choices, and lower MER for you. However, before loading up your portfolio with any ETFs, make sure you are not holding similar ETFs from different providers. Keep your holdings minimal and simple, as simplicity applies even when it comes to your finances.