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The latest MoneySense ETF All-stars has just been published for 2019. click on the highlighted text in the headline to access the full article: Best ETFs in Canada for 2019 (you don’t need to subscribe to access).
I’ve been writing this annual feature every year since 2013, always with the help of several ETF experts. This year, as the article reprises, there were a few changes in the makeup of the panel but we more than replaced the departing analysts, for a total of nine in total, including several returning experts. Among the newcomers are two regular Hub contributors: fee-only planner Robb Engen of Boomer & Echo, and CuttheCrapInvesting blogger Dale Roberts. Bios of the rest are below.
While there are more than 800 ETFs available on Canadian stock exchanges, our “All-Star” list remains an elite one: despite the multitude of new product launches in 2018, we increased the number of All-stars from just 21 to 25, although we also added a new feature we dubbed “Desert Island picks” to give a little more latitude to the individual preferences of each analyst.
Canadian Equity ETFs
All four Canadian equity ETFs are returning under the new revised panel: VCN, XIC, HXT and ZCN. There were also a couple of vigorous debates about Canadian equities, particularly about the fate of Horizons HXT, a swap-based total return product that has long been a pick of the All-Star panelists because of its tax-efficiency in non-registered portfolios. Last week’s federal budget added the possibility of regulatory risk to HXT and more than a dozen other similar products from Horizons. For 2019 at least, the panel opted to retain HXT as an All-Star, and we will monitor developments in the meantime. In the meantime, caveat emptor. (See Dale Roberts’ post on the topic.) Go to this MoneySense link for the chart of the winners and further commentary.
US equities
Here the panel again stood pat, opting to retain all four of our 2018 US equity picks: XUU, VFV, VSP and ZSP. Go to this MoneySense link for the chart of the US equity winners and further commentary.
International Equities
The panel was in favor of retaining our three international ETF All-stars from previous years but also decided to add two new ones, both from Vanguard. The returning picks include the two from BlackRock: the iShares Core MSCI All Country World ex Canada Index ETF (XAW) and the iShares Core MSCI EAFE IMI Index ETF (XEF.) Also back is Vanguard’s Emerging Markets ETF (VEE). A new addition this year is VXC, the Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap ex Canada ETF. Also new this year is VIU, the Vanguard FTSE Developed All Cap ex North America Index ETF. Go to this MoneySense link for the chart of the International winners and further commentary.
Fixed Income
Six of our previous fixed-income All-Star picks are back: ZAG, VSB, ZDB, BXF, ZPR and XSB (Again, refer to the accompanying charts for full ETF names). The panel also decided to reinstate VAB from the 2017 edition, bringing the total number of fixed-income All-Stars to seven. Go to this MoneySense link for the chart of the Fixed Income winners and further commentary.
One-Solution picks
Among the highlights of the package are recaps of heated debates about whether a crop of imitators for Vanguard’s game-changing asset allocation ETFs should be included. As Dale Roberts — former Tangerine advisor and the blogger behind CuttheCrapInvesting — described here at the Hub, Vanguard gathered $1 billion in its first year offering three asset allocation ETFs, and recently added two more to flesh out the risk spectrum to cover the gamut from 100% equities (VEQT) to a very conservative 20% equities to 80% fixed income (VCIP).
Horizons, BlackRock iShares and most recently BMO followed suit, typically with remarkably similar ticker symbols but for 2019 anyway the panel was virtually unanimous in reaffirming the (now) five Vanguard Asset Allocation ETFs as All-Stars, with an honorable mention for the imitators. Here’s the MoneySense link to the 5 winning One-Solution picks.
Here are the other new 2019 MoneySense ETF All-Star panelists
PWL Capital’s Dan Bortolotti and Justin Bender have departed from the panel this year, but fear not: PWL’s perspective is still there through the Ottawa-based duo of Cameron Passmore and Ben Felix. You may wish to listen to an excellent Rational Reminder podcast the pair conducted with me earlier this year.
The other departure was of Forstrong Asset Management (Tyler Mordy and Karen Tsang) but again we have ably filled those shoes with Robb Engen, a fee-only planner and blogger for Boomer & Echo (often republished here at the Hub); and Dave Nugent, chief investment officer of robo adviser Wealthsimple.
Returning panelists are Mark Yamada, CEO of PUR Investing and his colleague Ioulia Tretiakova; Yves Rebetez, formerly of ETFInsight.ca and Alan Fustey of Adaptive ETF.
