In investing, it is always essential to diversify and manage risk. Exchange-traded funds remain an easy and inexpensive way for Canadians to balance their portfolio and provide income potential - and their popularity has been skyrocketing.
The following are some highlights of what drew the most interest among Globe Investor users last year. Note that returns cited are as of Jan. 7, 2022, so they are not based on the full calendar periods of last year. They are also exclusive of dividends.
Top 25 Products
Last year Globe Investor readers looked up 3.2 million ETF quotes. These products are the 25 most popular in terms of page views:
Rank +/1 2020 Ticker Name 3M% 52W% 1 New BTCC-T Purpose Bitcoin ETF -22.8% - 2 3 ZEB-T BMO Equal Weight Banks Index ETF 10.4% 36.7% 3 -1 XIU-T iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF 4.7% 19.9% 4 2 XEG-T iShares S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index ETF 16.2% 74.8% 5 2 HMMJ-T Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF -20.7% -34.7% 6 5 ZWU-T BMO Covered Call Utilities ETF 1.3% 5.1% 7 New ARKK-A Ark Innovation ETF -24.3% -38.4% 8 1 ZWB-T BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF 7.2% 24.7% 9 11 HND-T BetaPro Natural Gas Inverse Leveraged Daily Bear ETF 58.1% -76.6% 10 -2 VFV-T Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF 7.4% 22.8% 11 4 HHL-T Harvest Healthcare Leaders Income ETF 4.4% 9.3% 12 8 HNU-T BetaPro Natural Gas Leveraged Daily Bull ETF -62.6% 31.9% 13 -10 XGD-T iShares S&P/TSX Global Gold Index ETF 1.4% -18.4% 14 2 VGRO-T Vanguard Growth ETF Portfolio 2.6% 9.5% 15 -14 HOU-T BetaPro Crude Oil Leveraged Daily Bull ETF -1.4% 118.0% 16 5 ZWC-T BMO Canadian High Dividend Covered Call ETF 3.9% 14.5% 17 New ETHX-B-T CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF -10.8% - 18 4 ZUT-T BMO Equal Weight Utilities Index ETF -1.5% -6.4% 19 -5 VBAL-T Vanguard Balanced ETF Portfolio 1.4% 5.4% 20 New XIC-T iShares Core S&P/TSX Capped Composite Index ETF 3.3% 17.1% 21 New XDV-T iShares Canadian Select Dividend Index ETF 5.4% 25.5% 22 New FIE-T iShares Canadian Financial Monthly Income ETF 4.5% 21.7% 23 -10 ZQQ-T BMO NASDAQ 100 Equity Hedged To CAD Index ETF 4.9% 20.8% 24 -6 XSP-T iShares Core S&P 500 Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) 6.0% 22.9% 25 New BITC-T Ninepoint Bitcoin ETF -22.1% -
Top Providers
Last year, Globe readers researched 900+ funds from 35+ Canadian (via TSX/NEO) and 2,500+ US funds from 150+ providers (via NYSE Arca/NASDAQ).
Rank Provider Funds %PV Most Popular Product 1 BlackRock/iShares 135 25.22% iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF 2 BMO 116 23.40% BMO Equal Weight Banks Index ETF 3 Horizons ETF 99 15.40% Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF 4 Vanguard Canada 37 10.40% Vanguard S&P 500 Index ETF 5 Purpose Investments 35 5.94% Purpose Bitcoin ETF
New Products
Last year, Globe readers researched 110 ETFs that held a 2021 IPO. The most popular were dominated by speculative crypto assets:
Rank Ticker Name IPO 3M% 52W% 1 BTCC-T Purpose Bitcoin ETF Feb 18 -17.2% -23.1% 2 ETHX-B-T CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF Apr 20 -25.9% -11.5% 3 BITC-T Ninepoint Bitcoin ETF Jan 27 -17.0% -22.1% 4 BTCX-T CI Galaxy Bitcoin ETF Mar 9 -17.3% -22.4% 5 TRVL-T Harvest Travel & Leisure Index ETF Jan 14 4.4% -2.7% 6 ETHH-T Purpose Ether ETF Apr 20 -25.7% -12.1% 7 EBIT-T Bitcoin ETF Feb 19 -17.5% -22.4% 8 HCLN-T Harvest Clean Energy ETF Jan 14 -10.9% -4.5% 9 BITI-T BetaPro Inverse Bitcoin ETF Apr 20 18.0% 22.1% 10 HDIV-T Hamilton Enhanced Multi-Sector Covered Call ETF Jul 20 2.1% 4.4%