Key Features
choose
an asset-allocation ETF
Liquidity
Popular ETFs that mimic large / broad indices are more liquid. This means you can sell them easily without incurring additional costs.
An ETF is liquid if it has a high trading volume and a low bid-ask spread.
- High trading volume means that a lot of investors are buying and selling the ETF - it's easy for you to find a buyer / seller.
- The ETF's 'asssets under management' (its total value)
- Bid-ask spread is the difference between the price investors are willing to buy at and one they're willing to sell at. The lower the bid-ask spread, the less money you'd lose if you bought and instantly sold an ETF.
Read more about these metrics / where to find them here.
Updated September 2, 2022.
Use our table as a guideline and do your own research.
what are you choosing from?
Asset-allocation ETFs are new to Canada - they were introduced in 2018/19. There are about 30 asset-allocation ETFs and new ones pop-up every day.
Vanguard, BlackRock, and BMO are some of the largest and most established Canadian index ETF providers - they also offer newer products, like asset-allocation ETFs. Some of their asset-allocation ETFs in our table are actively managed - but their providers state they intend to keep asset mixes close to what was advertised.
Updated September 2, 2022.
Use our table as a guideline and do your own research.
Fees
- Annual MER (management expense ratio), measured as a percentage of your account balance.
- Withdrawn annually from your account.
- The lower the MER, the faster you money grows.
What else do you need to know about fees?
We’ve done some research for you on asset-allocation etfs
Asset allocation ETFs are identified by unique ticker symbols, like VEQT (you may see a "T" added, like VEQT-T - because it trades on the Toronto exchange).
There are some rules you can follow:
- Those starting with "Z" are from a provider called BMO asset management.
- Those starting with "V" are from Vanguard.
- Those starting with "X" are from BlackRock.