The Canadian ETF industry has expanded rapidly over the last several years. Assets have swelled to more than $65 billion, nearly doubling over the past three years. As ETFs have grown in popularity, we have seen massive product proliferation (today there are roughly 300 TSX-listed ETFs) and a slew of new entrants in the industry.
While a growing menu of choices and competition among fund providers are good for investors, the increasing complexity also poses a bit of a challenge for many investors. Namely, there is a heavier burden of "homework" to sort through the growing number of choices from an increasingly diverse group of providers.
ETFs have evolved well beyond traditional passive, market-capitalization-weighted indexes. The question is not only which asset class or segment would an investor like exposure to, but also howthey would like to achieve that exposure. Along with the traditional passive options, investors can also select from a wide variety of strategy and factor indexes, including low-volatility, equal-weight, momentum, value, and so on.
