Weekly Wrap: Horizons escalates ETF price war, Questrade expands active ETFs, CSA to review robo advisers

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Three significant developments in the ETF and robo-adviser space late this week, the full recap of which can be found in my new Weekly Wrap that may run online Fridays in the Financial Post.  You can find the link for the first one here.

Horizons ETFs has rejigged fees on its popular Canadian equity fund, Horizons S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF [ticker HXT,] to just 0.03% or three basis points (plus taxes, down from the previous 0.05%. Previously the low-fee threshold was 0.05%, shared with three other providers.

Meanwhile, Questrade Wealth Management launched two actively managed ETFs, a global equity fund plus a fixed income ETF  subadvised by institutional money manager, Jarislowsy, Fraser Ltd. These expand the lineup of six Questrade Smart ETFs launched in March.

On Thursday, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) issued CSA Staff Notice 31-342 directed at portfolio managers providing online advice, popularly known as robo advisers.   The CSA says it may conduct compliance reviews of online advisors within one or two years following launch, particularly as operations become more complex than the first generation that had basic ETFs or mutual funds as its underlying  investments, and “uncomplicated” asset allocation models.

 

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