Category: Audience

Underlying indices of all-in-ones

RobH1 Comment

(New to asset allocation ETFs aka all-in-ones? Here’s a good place to start.)

Asset allocation ETFs can be purchased from any number of companies. In this article, we look at 4 of the biggest names:

  • TD, with TEQT, TGRO, TBAL et al
  • Blackrock/iShares with XEQT, XGRO, XBAL et al
  • BMO with ZEQT, ZGRO, ZBAL et al
  • Vanguard with VEQT, VGRO, VBAL et al

The blueprint for each of these ETFs are similar: pick Canadian, US, International and (where applicable1) bond indices, pick a target percentage allocation for each slice of the pie, and carry on…

I previously talked about the variations in percentage allocation (the size of the pie slices) between the major funds over here.

But what about the indices that each of the major fund families track? What’s in the pie? Are there significant differences? Here’s a summary of what I found:

TD
iSharesBMO Vanguard
TEQT, TGRO, TBALXEQT, XGRO, XBALZEQT, ZGRO, ZBALVEQT, VGRO, VBAL
CAD EquitySolactive Canada Broad MarketS&P/TSX Capped Composite
S&P/TSX Capped Composite		FTSE Canada All-Cap
US EquitySolactive US Large Cap CAD IndexS&P Total MarketS&P 500
S&P Midcap 400
S&P SmallCap 600
CRSP US Total Market
Int’l EquitySolactive GBS Developed Markets ex North America Large & Mid Cap CADMSCI EAFE® Investable Market, MSCI Emerging Markets Investable MarketMSCI EAFE Index, MSCI Emerging Markets IndexFTSE Developed all-cap, FTSE Emerging all-cap
Bonds FTSE Canada Universe Bond IndexFTSE Canada Universe Bond Index and othersFTSE Canada Universe Bond Index and othersBloomberg Global Aggregate Canadian Float Adjusted Bond

So there is variation in the pie recipes (the underlying indices), but is it really of any significance? At a glance, I wonder how different the offerings from iShares and BMO actually are — the same index providers show up in each. Without looking at what stocks are actually found in each of these, here’s a quick take, simply based on the names of the indices:

  • Canadian Equity: All of these funds hold the broad Canadian market, over three different index providers23. iShares and BMO use a capped index, which, in theory, should limit exposure to the very largest Canadian businesses somewhat.
  • US Equity: Three different index providers seen here (Solactive, S&P and CRSP). TD only holds large US companies, the others hold smaller and midsized US companies. In the last ten years, this has been a winning strategy, but it’s not always been that way.
  • International Equity: Three different index providers: Solactive, MSCI, FTSE. TD excludes emerging markets (e.g. Brazil, Russia, Taiwan, China, India). The others don’t.
  • Bonds: Hard to tell just based on the names, but three of them use the same FTSE index. Vanguard uses a Bloomberg index. So I’ll say that it’s likely that Vanguard’s bond portfolio will look different from the other three.

In a future post, I’ll delve into what the main holdings of each of these funds are in each of these categories to see what differences emerge. And whether these differences actually matter!

  1. This excludes 100% equity funds like XEQT, naturally ↩︎
  2. The “composite” in “Capped Composite” means “all the stocks of the TSX”. ↩︎
  3. Solactive, S&P and FTSE ↩︎

Credit Card Cheapskate

RobH1 Comment

I try to take advantage of free money whenever it is tossed my way. (You will have seen this demonstrated by my chasing of free money from online brokers). A recent visit to Costco triggered a credit card assessment exercise, something I haven’t done for a while. The staffer at Costco suggested that given my affinity for shopping at Costco, perhaps a Costco Mastercard would be a better fit for me?

My current household1 go-to credit card2 is a fee-based cashback Mastercard from CIBC3. I chose this card some time ago because I got tired of points-based cards and their infuriating habit of changing the rules/exchange rates/partners with little notice (I think I had an Aeroplan card at some point and could never seem to book the flights I wanted). The card we use is pretty simple — get cash back with any purchase, no limit, but the percentage of cash one gets back changes as one spends. It starts low (0.5%), then climbs higher and higher (1%, 1.5% and 2%) before hitting a cap and setting all purchases thereafter to 1% cashback4.

Anyway, the Costco card was more complicated, giving various cashback incentives depending on what I bought and where. I ran some numbers5 and yes, without making any changes to my habits, I could get more cash back than I was getting, but it wasn’t a lot more…I could improve the windfall by changing my shopping habits (e.g. buy gas at Costco) but at this point the thought of standing in queues for gasoline felt like unpleasant work and laziness set in.

But the exercise got me wondering…am I really using the best credit card?

It didn’t take long for me to uncover Rogers red Mastercards6, which come in two flavours: the basic and the “World Elite” for those with higher income. These cards look rather interesting:

  • No fees
  • Either 1% (basic) or 1.5%(World Elite) cashback on everything, increasing to 2% cashback if you use a Rogers service of some kind
  • No charge for additional cards
  • A 1.5x multiplier to your cashback if you use your cashback to pay for Rogers services
  • 2% cashback on US dollar transactions, increasing to 3%7 if you have a Rogers service8

What’s more, I’ve been noticing my Bell Fibe service bundle (internet, TV, home phone) getting more expensive with each passing month.

And so, my next cheapskate project is taking shape:

  • Apply for the Rogers card — done October 3rd, took only a few minutes
  • Get my hands on the card — received October 9th9
  • Switch from Bell to Rogers — I did the opposite a little over 2 years ago…It’s mildly painful, but very short lived, especially compared to the long drawn-out affair of switching online brokers. — executed October 9, installation pending
  • Switch preauthorized credit card transactions: numerous charities, Bell bill, Fizz bill, newspapers, Apple Pay… — I think I got them all as of October 10.
  • Cancel my “for fee” CIBC card10
  • Collect more free money
  • Do happy dance

  1. My wife and I both have cards linked to the same account so we both get rewarded for using the cards. ↩︎
  2. And close to 100% of my transactions are paid using credit — only the barber and bike shop I frequent are paid using debit. I don’t run balances on my credit card, ever. ↩︎
  3. This one: https://www.cibc.com/content/dam/personal_banking/credit_cards/agreements_and_insurance/dwe-mc-benguide-en.pdf ↩︎
  4. I didn’t actually remember this tiered model previously, maybe the card changed at some point? I dunno. ↩︎
  5. I actually downloaded all household credit card transactions for the last 12 months. ↩︎
  6. Offered by Rogers Bank, which I didn’t know was a thing… ↩︎
  7. Which wipes out the 2.5% foreign exchange charge, and then some. ↩︎
  8. There’s other travel insurance benefits tied to the World Elite version but I hold an annual travel policy with a third party provider that includes cancellation insurance for any reason. ↩︎
  9. So one problem I see is that the default credit limit is awfully low; unless I can up the limit in the not too distant future, I’ll have to rely on a 2nd card some months… ↩︎
  10. I try to stay with at most two credit cards. Given my Costco habit, having a Mastercard as one of them is mandatory. ↩︎

News: Wealthsimple ends cashback on prepaid Mastercard

RobHLeave a comment

Wealthsimple’s prepaid Mastercard (aka the Cash Card) has stopped offering cashback on purchases, effective October 2nd, 2025. Don’t confuse this with Wealthsimple’s Visa card, which is an actual credit card, and still offers a nice 2% cashback reward.

I’ve been a fan of Wealthsimple’s prepaid Mastercard for a while now. I wrote about it over here. My favourite feature of this prepaid Mastercard is that it does not charge the usual 1.5% foreign exchange fees most other credit cards bury in their transaction costs.

The demise of the 1% bonus isn’t a deal-breaker for me but it was nice while it lasted. The card is also noteworthy because it permits ATM access globally with no fees. This isn’t a feature I’ve used, but it might be of interest.

I signed up for the waitlist for Wealthsimple’s Visa card when it was released, but the rollout has been v-e-r-y slow, and I’m still waiting for that to materialize1. Once I get my hands on one, I will have no incentive to use the prepaid card since the Visa card also offers no-charge foreign exchange AND 2% cashback on all purchases. That’s a great deal.

  1. About every third post on Reddit’s Wealthsimple sub is complaining about the slow rollout. ↩︎

HISA and HISA-like ETF Table for October 2025

RobH1 Comment

HISAs are “High Interest Savings Accounts” and offer a nearly zero risk, highly liquid way to earn some interest on your cash holdings. If your broker doesn’t give you access to HISAs (or you have to pay large transaction fees to acquire them), then there’s also ETFs that fit the bill, and some of them are now in this table, too.

Since there’s no central bank meetings until the very end of this month, most of the September 2025 version of this table applies. The exception are the ETFs, which publish new yields monthly, so those figures are updated in the table below:

ProviderFundLinkRate SheetRate
RBCRBF2011, RBF2021, RBF2031, RBF2041RBCLink2.30%
ScotiabankDYN6004, DYN5004, DYN3065, DYN3055, DYN3075ScotiabankLink2.45%
Equitable BankEQB1001, ETR1001Equitable Bankn/a2.30%
TDTDB8151, TDB8156, TDB8158, TDB8160TDn/a2.30%
RenaissanceATL5071Renaissancen/a2.30%
Home TrustHOM101,
HOM201		Home TrustLink2.40%
B2BBTB101B2B Bankn/a2.40%
ManulifeMIP610, MIP810Manulifen/a2.15%
National BankNBC200, NBC6200, NBC8200NBI Altamira CashPerformern/a2.30%
Global XCASHCASH Fact Sheetn/a2.39%1
EvolveHISAHISA Fact Sheetn/a2.39%2
BMOZMMKZMMK Fact Sheetn/a2.76%3
Canadian HISA and HISA-like ETF rates, last updated October 3 2025

ZMMK is a very short-term bond fund that carries more risk than a HISA, but gives a slightly better return as a result. ZMMK appears in my ETF All-Stars list.

Since I hold a substantial amount of USD-denominated ETFs, I also track US interest rates.

ProviderFundLinkRate SheetRate
RBCRBF2015RBCLink3.90%
ScotiabankDYN6005,
DYN5005		ScotiabankLink3.90%
Equitable BankEQB1101,
ETR1101		Equitable Bankn/a3.80%
TDTDB8153TDn/a3.90%
RenaissanceATL5075Renaissancen/a3.90%
ManulifeMIP611Manulifen/a3.05%
National BankNBC201NBI Altamira CashPerformern/a3.90%
Global XUCSHUCSH Fact Sheetn/a3.96%4
EvolveHISUHISU Fact Sheetn/a3.96%5
iSharesICSHICSH Fact Sheetn/a4.48%6
USA HISA and HISA-like ETF rates, last updated October 3, 2025

UCSH and HISU invest in HISAs exclusively; I instead use ICSH which is a rough equivalent of ZMMK in terms of portfolio makeup. Like ZMMK, I enjoy a slight premium in yield as a reward for taking a bit more risk.

  1. September 29 distribution ↩︎
  2. September 25 distribution ↩︎
  3. September 29 distribution ↩︎
  4. September 29 distribution ↩︎
  5. September 25 distribution ↩︎
  6. October 1 distribution ↩︎