Rob Carrick’s ETF Buyer’s Guide 2021: The complete series

This year’s edition of the ETF Buyer’s Guide offers Globe and Mail subscribers an opportunity to look at how exchange-traded funds responded during of the most dramatic periods in recent stock market history – a massive crash in the winter of 2020, followed by a sustained surge higher.

The guide shows you how ETFs in six categories managed these ups and downs. Canadian, U.S. and global international equity funds are included, as are Canadian dividend funds, Canadian bond funds and balanced ETFs, also known as asset allocation funds.

Investing in ETFs requires an online brokerage account. For help choosing an online broker, consult the latest Globe and Mail Online Brokerage Ranking.

Best Canadian equity funds So much drama is hidden in the rather bland results from Canadian equity ETFs in the past 12 months. A crash in March, 2020, was followed by a monster rally. What did we learn about using exchange-traded funds as a low-cost way to add Canadian market exposure to a portfolio?

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Best Canadian bond funds Maybe bond funds will pull out of the slump that began in the first two months of 2021. But in early 2021, with yields in the bond market moving higher, the price of bonds and bond ETFs slipped a bit.

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Best U.S. equity funds The recent outperformance by U.S. stocks argues for some caution in selecting ETFs.

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Best international equity funds Returns in the past year for international and global equity funds were uncharacteristically excellent. The average 12-month return clocked in at just over 18 per cent.

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Best Canadian dividend funds As good as dividend ETFs were, most still trailed the S&P/TSX Composite Index in total returns over the past one-, three- and five-year periods..

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Best Balanced ETFs Balanced ETFs managed the sharp stock market decline in the first quarter of 2020 and wired investors directly into the subsequent rally.

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