Bitcoin has become an increasingly accessible asset for investors, with growing participation from both institutional and retail investors through regulated investment vehicles. Institutional adoption, new regulatory frameworks and improved custody solutions continue to bring Bitcoin further into the mainstream.
Cryptocurrency ownership among U.S. investors has increased from 6% in 2021 to 17% in 2025, according to Gallup[1].
At Hamilton ETFs, we focus on developing innovative solutions that address real portfolio needs. As interest in Bitcoin has grown, we saw an opportunity to apply our options expertise to the asset class in a way that addresses the needs of income-oriented investors while avoiding the traditional trade-off between income generation and upside participation.
Introducing BDAY
The Hamilton Enhanced Bitcoin DayMAX™ ETF (BDAY) is a first-of-its-kind strategy designed to provide 100% exposure to Bitcoin’s potential upside while generating income through Hamilton’s innovative DayMAX™ strategy, which utilizes zero-days-to-expiration covered call writing (0DTE).
Until now, investors seeking income from Bitcoin have generally faced a trade-off: generating option premium in exchange for less Bitcoin upside potential. By not writing call options on BDAY’s Bitcoin holdings (achieved through investing in IBIT, iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF), we preserve full participation in Bitcoin: up or down. In addition, the actively managed DayMAX™ covered call strategy offers more opportunities for income generation by monetizing volatility every day.
In short, BDAY consists of:
100% Bitcoin exposure, via iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), without covered calls
25% Nasdaq 100 exposure, via Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (QQQM), from modest leverage, on which to apply 0DTE options strategy to generate attractive semi-monthly income
The DayMAX™ advantage
BDAY brings our popular DayMAX™ approach to investors seeking Bitcoin exposure and income. Rather than writing covered calls directly on Bitcoin, BDAY generates attractive tax-efficient yield through a separate QQQM sleeve and an actively managed 0DTE covered call strategy.
This structure allows the portfolio to clearly separate its roles. Bitcoin serves as the growth potential, providing 100% exposure to the asset, while QQQM in conjunction with the DayMAX™ strategy is used to generate option premium income.
Expectations of the future shape how we behave today, especially when it comes to planning for retirement. When people overestimate or underestimate where their retirement income will come from, it can affect how they save, how they plan, when they retire, and how financially secure they feel over time.
That sounds simple enough. But retirement has a way of making simple things complicated.
Recent research from CAAT Pension Plan shows a clear gap between what working Canadians expect retirement to look like and what retirees actually experience.
The retirement we picture
Nearly one in four working Canadians expect personal savings to be their primary source of income in retirement. In reality, only about one in seven retirees rely on personal savings as their primary source of income.
At the same time, working Canadians appear to underestimate the role of workplace pensions. Among working people with a pension, only 10% expect it to be their primary source of income in retirement. But among retirees with a pension, 23% say their pension is their primary income source. Pensions are a foundational source of income for many. Retirees with pensions report approximately $2,750 more in average monthly household income than retirees without pensions.
For many Canadians, that is the difference between getting by and living well. Defined Benefit [DB] pensions can provide a predictable stream of retirement income, reduce the burden of managing investments alone, and help protect against the risk of savings running out.
This expectation gap matters because expectations are not harmless. If people expect personal savings to carry more significance than they realistically will, they may delay planning, undersave, or assume they will have more time to catch up later. That can increase the risk of outliving savings, delaying retirement, or becoming more dependent on public supports.
The reality today is that 38% of Canadians without a workplace pension report taking little or no action toward saving for retirement. Among Canadians with household income below $50,000, that figure rises to 60%.
This can show up as delayed retirement. For Canadians, the average ideal retirement age is 60, while the average expected retirement age is 67. For many people, there is a meaningful seven-year gap between the retirement they hope for and the retirement they think is realistic.
There is a quiet lesson in that gap. When people do not have a clear path to retirement, they do not always change their savings behaviour today. Sometimes they change their expectations about tomorrow.
The pension habit
This research challenges the idea that pensions crowd out personal saving. Savings habits are an important building block in creating predictable income in retirement. Pensions can act as a foundation for those habits because they make saving structured, automatic, and easier to sustain.
This matters because good financial behaviour is often less about willpower than design. If saving depends on making the right decision every month, life has plenty of opportunities to get in the way. A pension changes the architecture of the decision. It turns saving from something people have to repeatedly choose into something that happens more reliably in the background.
The research suggests this happens in the real world. Pension plan members are nearly four times more likely than non-pension plan participants to report using a full suite of retirement savings tools, such as TFSAs, RRSPs, and non-registered accounts. Specifically, 27% of pension members use a full suite of savings tools, compared with just 7% of those without a pension.
Canadians with workplace pensions are also more likely to use multiple savings approaches at the same time, 30% compared with 16% of those without a pension.
Access is the real barrier
Many Canadians want to save, but they do not always have access to the tools that make saving easier. Continue Reading…
Last thing I remember
I was running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
“Relax, ” said the night man
“We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave”
Hotel California, by The Eagles
By Noah Solomon
Special to Financial Independence Hub
I recently met with an acquaintance who does investment due diligence and manager research for a wealth management firm. During our conversation, he told me about a bond fund which had been garnering substantial assets from investment advisors.
After the meeting, I investigated the fund. Unsurprisingly, the fund had delivered very strong returns, outpacing almost any competitor. Upon digging deeper into the fund, the saying “Not all that glitters is gold” came to mind. The fund’s portfolio consists largely of high-yielding, lower-quality, relatively illiquid corporate bonds. Notwithstanding its strong performance, I determined that the fund is not particularly attractive. As I will explain, this determination was based on the simple reason that the fund is unlikely to serve the primary function of bonds within investors’ portfolios.
Plumbers, Electricians and Bonds
In my view, the crucial function of bonds is to mitigate overall portfolio losses during equity bear markets. While some bonds have low correlations to equities and can therefore offset stock losses in bear markets, others lack this critical feature.
Return vs. Correlation to Stocks by Bond Type: 2000 – 2025
At one end of the spectrum, U.S. Treasury bonds tend to be least correlated to stocks. In the middle of the pack lie investment-grade corporate bonds, which tend to move in tandem with equities. At the other end of the spectrum lie high-yield and emerging-market sovereign bonds, which have the greatest correlation to stocks and thus offer no ability to serve as a shock absorber during bear markets.
Investors don’t hold bonds to achieve strong returns: stocks are much better at that, especially over longer time horizons and even more so once taxes are considered. Owning higher-return bonds that are more correlated with stocks is akin to calling an electrician to fix a plumbing issue. Not only would an electrician fail to rectify the issue, but they might even make matters worse. Similarly, not only can corporate bonds fail to diversify portfolios at critical junctures but can contribute to portfolio losses in bear markets.
Don’t get me wrong. All else being equal, higher returns are better than lower ones. Although bonds with higher correlations to stocks have delivered higher returns than those with lower correlations, this is insufficient compensation for their inability to diversify equity exposure. Bonds are first and foremost portfolio diversifiers, not return generators. If given the choice between a bond portfolio with higher returns that is more correlated to stocks and one with a lower return that is uncorrelated, I would choose the latter every time.
Corporate Bonds: A Fairweather Friend
English Poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote “So vanish friendships only made in wine.” This saying can be applied to corporate bonds, which seem like a great idea in good times and anything but in tumultuous markets. When it comes to their higher returns and their ability to offset stock losses in bear markets, corporate bonds are a fairweather friend: they can abandon you in difficult times.
The correlation of corporate bonds to stocks tends to become more pronounced during times of market stress, which can result in unpleasant surprises when, rather than offsetting stock declines in bear markets, they become part of the problem. Alternatively stated, their diversification powers vanish when they are most needed. While this is the case with corporate bonds in general, it is particularly true of lower-quality high-yield bonds.
Global Financial Crisis: Performance by Bond Type
During the global financial crisis, while Treasuries of all durations provided some ballast within balanced portfolios, other segments of the bond market failed to do so, with high yield and emerging market bonds suffering substantial losses.
Forbidden Fruit and the Hotel California
There is no shortage of bond managers who strive to outperform by eating forbidden fruit, which entails holding portfolios with more credit risk and a higher correlation to stocks than their benchmark indexes.
This tactic works until it doesn’t. During “normal” markets, such managers will deliver higher returns than their benchmarks. Moreover, their higher correlation to stocks is of no concern when stock prices are rising. However, when bear markets materialize (which sooner or later they always do), their outperformance turns into underperformance. Perhaps more importantly, their higher correlations to equities render ineffective in mitigating stock losses exactly when you need them to. Rather than being a solution they become part of the problem! You might just as well own low-volatility stocks: if you’re not getting any diversification benefit you should at least reap a better after-tax return. Continue Reading…
By Dale Roberts, Retirement Club/cutthecrapinvesting
Special to Financial Independence Hub
It appears to be an overlooked part of retirement planning. While we should always invest within our risk tolerance level we should also match our investment portfolios to the retirement cash flow plan. The plan gives the marching orders for each account. If you create a portfolio-to-plan mismatch, you could increase the risk of depleting an account too soon. On the other side if you are too conservative where an account has the time horizon to run, you create opportunity cost. You missed the opportunity to create significantly more wealth over time.
As always the following is not advice.
We can look to the Canadian asset allocation ETFs for a lesson on risk and asset allocation. In that post that tracks the performance of the asset allocation ETF providers, you’ll find this key table.
Source: Dale/ETF providers. Keep in mind there is no guarantee of returns for any period
We can see that when our time horizon is short we create conservative portfolios with lots of bonds and cash. When we have a longer time horizon of 10 years and more, we can be more aggressive perhaps even holding an all-equity portfolio. But once again, risk tolerance permitting.
I recently discussed risk and common mistakes on the BMO ETF Insights YouTube channel.
In the accumulation stage we might pay attention to this chart if you are saving for a home and plan to buy within the next two years. If would be very risk to hold those home down payment funds in an all equity (XEQT-T) portfolio. Your $100,000 could quickly be turned into $50,000 in a severe bear market.
Sequence of returns risk in retirement
Risk gets flipped in retirement. In the accumulation stage if you have 20 years to go before retirement and we enter a severe bear market, “great”. You can now buy your companies/equities at fire-sale prices. Over time that can generate a boost to your wealth creation. You own more of those great companies. Continue Reading…
This summer does not seem to be shaping up to be one that those nearing Retirement can take a long vacation and forget about the markets.
Global macroeconomic headwinds like the ongoing on-again, off-again Iran war continues to impact the price of oil and thus aggravate inflation fears already stoked by high government borrowing levels.
Add to that growing trepidation of a fast-expanding AI Bubble that skeptics warn may burst at any moment, the often-parabolic moves of now-trendy chip and memory stocks and it seems a time to retrench and rebalance. And if that were not enough, Canadian investors need to worry about the ongoing Tariff and global trade wars ignited by the deranged Tariff Man in the White House, and repeated signals that the CUSMA/USCMA negotiations may result in no free trade deal at all.
For this blog — which is being published precisely half way through 2026 — I once again reached out to Linked In and Featured.com, which recently changed its name to Connectively, to get expert opinions from financial advisors, investment executives, business owners and other experts to get their views and suggestions for getting through this summer of investor ennui.
Here’s how the question was posed at Connectively:
How cautious about their investments do you think those in or near Retirement need to be this summer, in light of the ongoing Iran war and impact on inflation; increased nervousness about an AI Bubble and volatile chip and memory stocks, and finally global trade uncertainties in light of the negotiations of CUSMA/USCMA? Suggestions for rebalancing or hedging, role of commodities in preparing for higher inflation.
Out of almost 100 responses, we have picked 19 shown below. As usual, the complete responses are accompanied by the sources’ head shots and bio links to their respective web sites. We have added subheadings to speed readers to the content that seems relevant to particular readers.
Capital preservation deserves equal attention to growth
Investors approaching or living in retirement face a particularly challenging environment this summer. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, persistent inflation risks, AI-driven market exuberance, and ongoing trade negotiations have created a backdrop where capital preservation deserves equal attention to growth. Research from the Federal Reserve shows that inflation remains one of the greatest threats to retirement income because rising costs can erode purchasing power over time. At the same time, concentration risk has become more pronounced, with a small group of AI and semiconductor stocks accounting for a significant share of recent market gains.
A prudent approach often involves broad diversification rather than attempting to predict short-term market movements. Exposure across dividend-paying equities, high-quality bonds, inflation-protected securities, and select commodities can help reduce portfolio volatility. Gold and other commodities have historically served as partial hedges during periods of geopolitical uncertainty and inflationary pressure, though excessive concentration in any single asset class may introduce new risks.
Retirement portfolios generally benefit from maintaining adequate liquidity, regularly rebalancing allocations, and ensuring that investment decisions align with income needs rather than market headlines. In uncertain periods, resilience tends to outperform speculation. — Arvind Rongala, CEO, Edstellar
Retirees should focus first on Iran and its Inflation spillover
Retirement timing matters enormously here. I’ve worked with clients who looked fully prepared on paper but had nearly everything exposed to the same macro headwinds you’re describing: trade disruption, energy price shocks, and concentrated tech positions all hitting simultaneously.
The Iran situation and its inflation spillover is where I’d focus first for near-retirees. In April 2025, we watched gold hit nearly US$3,500/oz and money market funds absorb record inflows precisely because investors needed somewhere to park cash when equities wobbled. A deliberate cash buffer covering 12-18 months of withdrawals changes your emotional decision-making completely: you’re not forced to sell equities into a bad market.
On the AI bubble concern specifically, the Nasdaq entered bear market territory earlier this year largely on tech concentration. If you’re holding broad index funds, a target-date fund, and individual chip or memory stocks, you likely have far more AI exposure than you realize. Run a simple overlap check across every holding before assuming you’re diversified.
For commodities as an inflation hedge, I’d think about it sequentially rather than reactively: energy-linked assets and real assets like REITs behave differently depending on whether inflation is demand-driven or supply-shock-driven. With CUSMA/USMCA renegotiation creating genuine input-cost uncertainty for North American manufacturers, agricultural and metals exposure makes more structural sense right now than chasing whatever commodity headline is hot that week. — Daniel Delaney, Owner, Seek & Find Financial
Cut back on concentrated tech holdings and replace with a proportion of your money in short-duration TIPS and I-Bonds
If you’re approaching retirement age in the next few years, this is a particularly critical summer to be proactive. Here’s what I tell folks at MintWit: The problem is not the potential for picking the wrong stock. The risk lies in having been entirely too heavy in equities such that, come a simultaneous geopolitical shock, an AI-driven stock price correction and an inflation spurt triggered by trade war, all three can come crashing down at once before you even have the chance to catch your breath.
The prudent response here is to run your current allocation through a stress test of chip stocks falling 30% while energy prices surge owing to a crisis in the Middle East, and rising costs due to renegotiation of CUSMA terms for North American goods. The reason why you’re losing sleep over it is because you may well be too heavily exposed to growth equities with too little hedging against inflation.
As far as your reallocations, my recommendation is to cut back sharply on concentrated tech holdings and replace with a proportion of your money in short-duration TIPS and I-Bonds, in order to build up that buffer for the likelihood of sticky inflation. I would also recommend a small investment (say 5-10%) in commodities – especially energy and agriculture-related ETFs – to cover your inflation exposure, rather than speculative trades in commodities. As ever, gold continues to function as a geopolitical hedge, although you want to remain disciplined about it.
In sum, the most important thing for those close to retirement at this juncture is optionality. Make sure you have enough of your assets in low-risk, liquid investments so that when the worst-case scenario strikes the market, you don’t end up selling your stocks at rock bottom. — Scott Brown, Founder, MintWit
Chasing every new trend or algorithm change just doesn’t work
I work in tech, but I’ve learned to be cautious. Chasing every new trend or algorithm change just doesn’t work. The steady approach wins every time. I think retirees should treat their money the same way. Don’t panic over headlines. Make small, gradual adjustments to your investments instead. Keeping some money in commodities can help with inflation, and regular check-ins ensure your savings match your life, not the market noise. — Vlad Ivanov, CEO, Search GAP Method
Be cautious but don’t panic … take a barbell approach
I’d be cautious, but I wouldn’t panic. The S&P 500 is now so concentrated in the Magnificent-7 that those names effectively drive the whole index. Off the March low, the Nasdaq-100 ran up roughly 20%, and at points was going nearly parabolic. With renewed tensions and conflict involving US and Iran, we’re now seeing that move cool off with both profit taking and sector rotation into more defensive areas.
On the surface that looks scary. But if you step back to the technicals, we still haven’t broken the 50-day moving average or the 10-week moving average, so there’s real support underneath this market for now.
Volatility like this is genuinely uncomfortable, though, so for someone in or near retirement I’d lean into a barbell approach. Keep some of your high-growth exposure, but balance it with quality dividend payers that cushion the ride and pay you while you wait.
Off the top of my head, two names that fit the stable, income side of that barbell are THG, The Hanover Insurance Group, and PSTL, Postal Realty Trust, a REIT that leases almost exclusively to the US Postal Service, so its rent is effectively government-backed. Neither is a rocket ship. They grow slowly, pay a dividend, and hold up better when the high-flyers wobble. That dividend income is also what helps offset paper losses in a drawdown, so you’re not forced to sell your growth positions at the worst possible time.
These are just examples of the type, not recommendations, but the principle holds is that in a summer like this, you want both ends of the barbell. — Adrian Rosebrock PhD, Chief Investment Officer & Founder, WheelMetrics
Early signs of Stagflation in major economies worldwide
The ongoing Iran conflict is beyond energy deficiency. You could see early signs of stagflation in the major economies worldwide. The volatility is pressuring retirees and the ones approaching retirement with underwhelming returns. According to the latest research by Goldmann Sachs, the uncertainity imposes lower returns on equities and bonds for a brief 1.5-2 years approximately.
With the AI bubble, the tech-heavy portfolio takes the backseat by default. CUSMA renegotiations including currency fluctuations and supply chain instability, navigating pitfalls collectively. All the factors compound to an inflation scenario. Rebalancing is safeguarding the assets and materials, ensuring protection of the equity before inflation wears down.
The average retirement portfolio is leaning more towards innovation but with less focus on the practical inflation scenarios. Last minute-hassle is not going to help in navigating the situation this summer. Portfolio review has become more vital with ongoing fluctuations. — Ankit Sarawagi, Curator, CFO Matrix
Trim the Sails, don’t abandon the Boat
If you’re close to retirement or already in it, the headlines this summer can feel pretty scary. Conflicts overseas, shaky tech stocks, trade deals up in the air, it’s a lot. But here’s what I’d tell anyone in that season of life: don’t let the noise push you into a panic move.
The real risk for retirees isn’t market swings. It’s making emotional decisions that lock in losses or leave you without income when you need it most. If your money is set up right with a solid base of guaranteed income and some protection built in, short-term chaos shouldn’t shake your foundation.
That said, this is a good time to take a closer look at your mix. With inflation still a concern, partly because of oil and energy tied to what’s happening overseas, it makes sense to have some exposure to real assets like commodities. Gold, energy, and other hard assets have historically held up better when prices rise. They’re not glamorous, but they do a job.
If you’re heavy in tech or growth stocks right now, some rebalancing could reduce your risk without pulling you out of the market entirely. Think of it like trimming the sails, not abandoning the boat. The goal at this stage isn’t to chase gains. It’s to protect what you’ve built and make sure it lasts as long as you do. That’s what smart financial planning for this chapter of life is really about. –– Paul Mauro, Founder & Author, Smart Financial Lifestyle
The biggest risk is being overly concentrated in assets that have performed well recently
For investors who are in or approaching retirement, I believe caution is warranted, but not panic. The biggest risk is often not a war, an AI bubble, or trade negotiations themselves, but being overly concentrated in assets that have performed well recently. Retirees generally have less time to recover from significant market declines, so preserving capital becomes increasingly important. If a portfolio has become heavily weighted toward high-growth technology or AI-related stocks, this may be a sensible time to rebalance and lock in some gains rather than relying on a single investment theme to drive future returns.
I would focus on diversification across asset classes, including quality dividend-paying stocks, investment-grade bonds, and a reasonable cash reserve. Commodities can also play a useful role as an inflation hedge, particularly energy and precious metals, but I view them as a supporting allocation rather than a core holding. The goal is not to predict whether inflation will rise or whether technology stocks will correct, but to ensure the portfolio remains resilient under multiple scenarios.
The most successful retirees I have seen are not those who accurately forecast every market event. They are the ones who build portfolios that can withstand uncertainty. In today’s environment, disciplined rebalancing and risk management are likely more important than trying to predict the next geopolitical or economic headline. — Bowen He, Director, Webzilla Digital Marketing Continue Reading…
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