By Robert Ross
A few years back, I was in Brussels, Belgium, enjoying a beer with a friend. The same beer they served at his primary school.
I thought he was kidding. Then he explained that Belgian teens were enjoying beer in primary schools as recently as 1991.
You can trace this quirky custom back to the Middle Ages, when monks figured out that drinking beer was way safer than drinking the water. The distillation process killed off the disease-carrying bacteria that was commonly found in the drinking water.
Schools picked up the idea, and Belgian kids were soon drinking low-alcohol beer called
Why Patience and Discipline Are Key for This Brazilian ETF February 16, 2021
Patience and discipline are important virtues for investors in the capital markets. They’re almost required in emerging markets. ETFs like the
The fund seeks to replicate as closely as possible the price and yield performance of the MVIS® Brazil Small-Cap Index, which includes securities of Brazilian small-capitalization companies. A company is generally considered to be a Brazilian company if it is incorporated in Brazil or is incorporated outside of Brazil but has at least 50% of its revenues/related assets in Brazil.
BRF, with its expense ratio of 0.63%, has been showing recent strength as of late with Brazil’s economy contracting less than initially expected in a rough 2020. In the last few months, the fund is up about 12%.
The Globe and Mail Contributed to The Globe and Mail Published February 16, 2021 Bookmark Please log in to listen to this story. Also available in French and Mandarin. Log In Create Free Account
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The Canadian ETF industry reached $260 billion in assets under management at the end of January. The Canadian ETF product line-up continues to expand. New solutions consist mostly of thematic ETFs to cater to changing investor needs.
In the ESG space, Harvest ETF and BMO both launched a clean energy ETF. The Harvest Clean Energy ETF (
Compelling Catalysts for SPPP
Last week, platinum-related exchange traded funds surged as the precious metal rose to a 6-year high on economic recovery hopes that bolstered bets of industrial autocatalyst demand, along with expectations for additional stimulus and a weaker dollar that support demand for hard assets.
On the demand side, analysts have pointed to last month’s 30% year-on-year surge in auto sales in China, the world’s biggest auto market. The rising demand for automobiles also supported demand for platinum in automobile catalytic converters that are designed to limit greenhouse gases from exhaust fumes.
“A shortfall is expected for palladium and rhodium this year as well, the third consecutive annual deficit for rhodium and the tenth for palladium, Johnson Matthey researcher Rupen Raithatha said,” per