BMO Low Volatility Cdn Eqty ETF (ZLB.TO)

(A Top Pick June 23 / 17, Up 6%) Safer stocks. Use as a base in portfolios for when markets are getting dicey. Recently bought more of XIC, a broader performing index, which has energy and more volatile stocks.

He's looking for something that won't fall as much as the markets this summer, when he expects a correction. This is it.

(A Top Pick Oct 31/17. Down 1%.) Like owning the TSX, but taking energy and materials out. He didn't want any gold, and thought he would buy his own oil stocks.

(A Top Pick Oct 31/17, 0%) This ETF is a good way to play the TSX without the higher volatility sectors such as energy and mining.

Wanted some Canadian exposure, and this has less exposure to oil. It gives you a way of playing the Canadian market without too much oil. Plus, it's top position is Fairfax Financial (FFH-T), one of his other Top picks.

There are people concerned about Trump, NAFTA, real estate, etc. and have withdrawn form the market and are sitting on cash. He has come up with suggestions that are relatively safe and represent a broad diversification in relatively safe areas. This one is a low volatility Cdn equity ETF. The stocks in this are relatively secure and not very volatile. If the market sells off, this will probably outperform the market.

He likes this. It’s for people who want the low volatility. Sometimes you will get the 2^nd tier stocks with the low volatility. He likes to do a comparison of the regular Canadian ETF in terms of BV and PE. You should be okay with this.

A Canadian ETF that does not include energy, mining and financials? This is the only one that he can think of. It has outperformed the market fairly consistently. It is low volatility and there are very few energy stocks in it. This tends to be stocks that are not volatile.

When he sees markets getting into the patterns they have been lately, this is a package of stocks, low volatility, that seems to do well in rather uncertain kinds of environment. A good fall-back position if you are concerned about markets.

One of his favourite holdings. It has a 35-basis point management fee. It has all the names in it that you would like, with a combination of growth, value and momentum. He likes that it doesn’t look at all like the TSX. Dividend yield of 2.47%.

Low volatility, low beta holding of equities. It is not fixed income. They are not risk free and should not replace fixed income in your portfolio.

(A Top Pick April 14/16. Up 12.59%.) This gives you a reasonable amount of protection with the low volatility aspect and markets like we are having right now. It has a good diversification.

A low volatility ETF. It is a formula that measures companies in Canada that is purchasing very low volatility lower beta type of names. He is not a fan of low volatility at this stage. Low volatility did very well up until last year, but since then it has underperformed the broader markets. It’s a basket of names right now that are in the real estate space along with some food names and utility names. These names are more expensive than the broader market, and probably going to underperform going forward.

(A Top Pick March 4/16. Up 12.33%.) These are the kind of investments that really helped in 2015, when the market was really getting beaten up. Subsequently, he has moved a bit away and brought in iShares S&P/TSX Capped Composite (XIC-T). (See Top Picks.)

A low volatility product, and he would absolutely continue to hold this in spite of the market. If you are an aggressive investor, you probably should not have bought this in the 1^st place.