Here’s a list of four free online ETF screeners that will help you scour each of the main asset classes for funds that meet your criteria.regionales
At the risk of dating myself, there were two ETFs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange when I started writing about investing. Now, there are 490.
Talk about a good news, bad news story. Exchange-traded funds are excellent portfolio-building tools, but you need to bushwhack your way through an ever-expanding jungle of funds to find the ones best for you. Here's your machete – a list of four free online ETF screeners that will help you scour each of the main asset classes for funds that meet your criteria.
This hub for the Canadian ETF business has a useful screening tool that will help you create a list of funds in a particular category and then rank them by assets, cost, total returns, yield and more. There's also an ETF Portfolios section where you can look at model portfolios based on funds in the database.
This independent investment analysis firm's ETF Finder will appeal to investors who put performance high on their list of criteria for choosing funds. You can search by returns and quartile rankings over various periods, and by Morningstar star ranking. Note: Many online brokers offer clients a Morningstar ETF research package that includes advanced screening and research reports on individual funds.
This screener is located on a website that the people who own the Toronto Stock Exchange have produced for retail investors, and it's a bit slicker than most. You start with the universe of funds and then watch the list get pared down as you adjust your selection criteria. The data display quickly helps you see the high and low extremes in areas like costs, diversification, liquidity, tax efficiency and tracking error.
A U.S. site that is useful if you want to do a detailed search of ETFs listed on the NYSE or Nasdaq. This is the place to go if you want an ETF to invest in the Greek stock market, or a U.S. or global real estate fund. For non-Canadian ETFs, also try the Reuters ETF screener.
In an upcoming column, I'll look at next steps to take after building a short list of ETFs for your portfolio.
Rob Carrick