Improved Canadian portfolio benchmarking

Canadian investors, if you haven’t used Sharesight’s benchmarking feature, now’s the time to try it, as we’ve made it even better with the addition of three Canadian index-tracking ETFs to our common benchmark selector.

Why benchmark your portfolio against ETFs?

Benchmarking against the “index” or the “S&P” is purely theoretical. However ETFs make a great benchmark because they’re a legitimate investment option and they take into account all the inner workings of a real portfolio, including fees and any dividends that may apply.

Sharesight’s benchmarking feature allows investors to select any ETF that is tracked by Sharesight as a benchmark, but to make things easier, we’ve added three ETFs to the dropdown selector that will be useful for Canadian investors in particular.

Common Canadian benchmarks

Investors with Canadian portfolios will now see the following three common benchmarks when using Sharesight’s Benchmarking feature:

iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF (TSE: XIU)

iShare S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF units are made up of stocks on the Toronto Stock Exchange that represent the S&P/TSX 60 Index. It focuses on the 60 largest, most heavily-traded stocks on the exchange.

Vanguard FTSE Canadian High Dividend Yield Index ETF (TSE: VDY)

The Vanguard FTSE Canadian High Dividend Yield Index ETF seeks to replicate, net of expenses, the FTSE Canada High Dividend Yield Index. It invests primarily in common stocks of Canadian companies that pay dividends.

Vanguard FTSE Canada All Cap Index ETF (TSE: VCN)

The Vanguard FTSE Canada All Cap Index ETF currently seeks to replicate, net of expenses, the FTSE Canada All Cap Index, which is an equity index that measures the investment return of small to large market capitalisation stocks in the Canadian market.

In addition to these three Canadian benchmarks, investors will continue to see the iShares Europe ETF (NYSE: IEV), SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) and Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (NYSE VEU) common benchmarks.

They may also use the search feature to select any ETF tracked by Sharesight as a benchmark if preferred.

Canadian benchmarks in Sharesight

These common Canadian benchmarks are available on portfolios with a Canadian tax residency on Sharesight Investor, Expert, and Sharesight Pro plans. Upgrade today to access Sharesight’s benchmarking feature.

Make sure to read Sharesight’s step-by-step guide to benchmarking as well as our Help section on how to interpret the return index graph when using this feature.

Please give us feedback in the Sharesight community forum.

FURTHER READING

• Sharesight Help - Benchmarking
• Canadian Capital Gains Tax Report
• Track Canadian Mutual Funds with Sharesight
• Import your Questrade trades into Sharesight
• Import RBC Direct Investing trades to Sharesight