PowerShares Canada today launched a trio of exchange-traded funds employing rules-based strategies. The new offerings include PowerShares Low Volatility Portfolio (PLV/TSX), for which the target allocations are 50% global equities, 20% Canadian equities and 30% Canadian short-term bonds.
The portfolio will be managed by Invesco Advisers Inc., an Atlanta-based affiliate. PowerShares Canada is a division of Invesco Canada Ltd.
The ETF's bond holdings are consistent with a low-volatility strategy, according to Invesco, because shorter-term bonds are less sensitive to interest-rate changes. The portfolio will be rebalanced monthly. The management fee is 0.55%.
The other two new PowerShares ETFs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange are:
PowerShares Global Shareholder Yield (PSY/TSX), which will invest in U.S. and international equities of companies with strong track records of returning free cash flow to shareholders.
"Companies typically return free cash flow to shareholders in one of two ways: share buybacks and dividends," said Jamie Kingston, senior vice-president, product management and development, at Invesco Canada. "PSY gives investors exposure to both in a globally diversified equity portfolio."
The ETF will pursue its strategy by investing equal portions of its assets in four U.S.-listed PowerShares ETFs: PowerShares Dividend Achievers Portfolio (PFM); PowerShares International Dividend Achievers Portfolio (PID); PowerShares BuyBack Achievers Portfolio (PKW); and PowerShares International BuyBack Achievers Portfolio (IPKW). The management fee for the shareholder-yield ETF is 0.75%.The strategy is also available for purchase on the TSX in U.S. dollars, trading under the symbol PSY.U.
PowerShares FTSE RAFI Global Small-Mid Fundamental (PZW/TSX), which will hold a 50-50 mix of two PowerShares ETFs: PowerShares FTSE RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid Portfolio (PRFZ) and PowerShares FTSE RAFI Developed Markets ex-U.S. Small-Mid Portfolio (PDN). The management fee is 0.60%.This mandate also has a U.S.-dollar version, trading on the TSX under the symbol PZW.U.
The global small- and mid-cap mandate becomes the newest of PowerShares Canada's ETFs to employ FTSE RAFI methodologies that weight stocks according to company fundamentals as opposed to market capitalization.