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iShares Core S&P/TSX Capped Composite Index ETF (XIC)
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iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index ETF (CDZ)
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CI Canada Quality Dividend Growth Index ETF (DGRC)
Q: Two questions on Canadian equity/dividend ETFs:
1) The holdings in DGRC are selected based on market cap, expected earnings growth, return on equity, and return on assets. How is it that none of the Big 5 Canadian banks qualify for inclusion in their portfolio? This is puzzling to me. What is your opinion of this ETF for the core Canadian equity component of one's portfolio, for a longterm hold?
2) You continue to recommend XIC despite reminding members, many a time, of how the TSX index is heavily concentrated in financials and energy. Why? It is a cheap ETF, but other CDN equity ETFs (like DGRC) are modestly more expensive but I can't help but think that the few extra basis points in cost are worth it if it allows for a more balanced sector allocation overall. You continue to recommend CDZ even though it is very expensive, with a MER of 0.66. Why? I know it is analogous to VGG/VIG, which you (and I) love, but I don't think they're comparable, since VGG/VIG contains many companies with a much longer history of dividend increases (including many so-called 'Dividend Aristocrats' and 'Dividend Kings' whereas inclusion in CDZ only requires that a company has a history of increasing its dividend in at least four of the last five years. It almost seems like the continued recommendation of XIC and CDZ is due more to historical reasons rather than their merits as of right now, relative to other ETFs that may not have been available when XIC and CDZ were first made available.
1) The holdings in DGRC are selected based on market cap, expected earnings growth, return on equity, and return on assets. How is it that none of the Big 5 Canadian banks qualify for inclusion in their portfolio? This is puzzling to me. What is your opinion of this ETF for the core Canadian equity component of one's portfolio, for a longterm hold?
2) You continue to recommend XIC despite reminding members, many a time, of how the TSX index is heavily concentrated in financials and energy. Why? It is a cheap ETF, but other CDN equity ETFs (like DGRC) are modestly more expensive but I can't help but think that the few extra basis points in cost are worth it if it allows for a more balanced sector allocation overall. You continue to recommend CDZ even though it is very expensive, with a MER of 0.66. Why? I know it is analogous to VGG/VIG, which you (and I) love, but I don't think they're comparable, since VGG/VIG contains many companies with a much longer history of dividend increases (including many so-called 'Dividend Aristocrats' and 'Dividend Kings' whereas inclusion in CDZ only requires that a company has a history of increasing its dividend in at least four of the last five years. It almost seems like the continued recommendation of XIC and CDZ is due more to historical reasons rather than their merits as of right now, relative to other ETFs that may not have been available when XIC and CDZ were first made available.
