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The Canadian supermarket for exchanged-traded funds (ETFs) is about to get even bigger.
Bank of Montreal is expected as early as next week to launch a slew of specialty ETFs that will invest in emerging markets countries like China and India and sectors ranging from junior gold miners, utilities, infrastructure to the Nasdaq stock market.
It looks like the bank is doing its best to make a dent quickly in the lion's share of the market now held by iShares Canada ETFs. BlackRock Asset Management Canada Ltd., which offers the iShares Canada ETFs, has also filed a prospectus for China and India ETFs. See Fund Watch blog.
BMO, which entered the ETF space in mid-2009 under the direction of Rajiv Silgardo [who helped build up the iShares Canada ETF business] has filed a prospectus for 9 more offerings. See prospectus.
They newest equity ETFs include BMO China Equity Hedged to CAD (symbol: ZCH), BMO India Equity Hedged to CAD (ZID), BMO Junior Gold (ZJG), BMO Equal Weight Utilities (ZUT), BMO Global Infrastructure (ZGI) and BMO Nasdaq 100 Equity Hedged to CAD (ZQQ).
The management fees for these ETFs range from 0.35 per cent for the Nasdaq ETF to 0.65 per cent for the China and India ETFs.
The bank is also set to launch fixed-income ETFs that include BMO Mid Corporate Bond (ZCM), BMO Long Corporate Bond (ZLC) and BMO Aggregate Bond (ZAG). The management fees range from 0.28 per cent to 0.30 per cent in this group.