Best ETFs for 2024: Best all-in-one ETFs for Canadian investors

By Michael McCullough on May 23, 2024
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Asset-allocation ETFs keep growing in popularity, which is why this continues to be a must-see ranking on our “Best ETFs” list.

Photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash

What the financial industry likes to call asset-allocation or all-in-one exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are the perfect solution for Canadian investors who prefer not to put the time and effort into selecting different funds in each asset category and rebalancing the portfolio from time to time. As the name suggests, one-decision funds should do it all for you, usually for a slightly higher weighted average management expense ratio (MER) than managing the portfolio yourself. For more hands-on investors, these ETFs are useful in smaller-size accounts such as tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs); you’ll never have to choose which funds to liquidate when you decide to withdraw money from your account.

To be honest, there isn’t a lot to separate the asset-allocation ETFs offered by Canada’s leading fund companies: iShares, BMO, Vanguard, Global X (formerly Horizons) and TD. Their differences are functions of nuance like Canadian market exposure and tax efficiency. The bigger point for most investors with respect to this category is choosing the right risk tolerance. Virtually all providers offer middle-of-the-road balanced funds composed of 50% to 60% stocks and 40% to 50% bonds along with more conservative (up to 80% fixed income) and more aggressive (up to 100% equity) options.

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That said, our panel leaned towards iShares’ most aggressive offerings, iShares Core Equity ETF Portfolio (XEQT) and iShares Core Growth ETF Portfolio (XGRO), which combine some of the lowest fees in the category with the reach and resources you’d expect from the world’s largest asset manager. Tied for second place with XGRO was TD Growth ETF Portfolio (TGRO), which has just a touch of fixed-income ballast at 10%.

In the table below, you’ll find the best fixed-income ETFs in Canada, as judged by our panel. Slide the columns right or left using your fingers or mouse to reveal more data. You can download the data to your device in Excel, CSV and PDF formats.

Best one-decision ETFs in Canada

wdt_ID	Fund name	Ticker	Management fee	MER	Holdings	Description
1	iShares Core Equity ETF Portfolio	XEQT	0.18%	0.20%	4 (8,985 under)	Global equity fund with low Canadian home country bias
2	TD Growth ETF Portfolio	TGRO	0.15%	0.23%	5	Recently overhauled to focus on passive index ETFs, 90/10 equity/bond mix
3	iShares Core Growth ETF Portfolio	XGRO	0.18%	0.20%	8 (21,078 u/l)	80/20 stock/bond mix
	Fund name	Ticker	Management fee	MER	Holdings	Description

Watch: Asset-Allocation ETFs

Table of Contents: Best ETFs for Canadian Investors

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About Michael McCullough

Michael is a financial writer and editor in Duncan, B.C. He’s a former managing editor of Canadian Business and editorial director of Canada Wide Media. He also writes for The Globe and Mail and BCBusiness.

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