Best ETFs for 2024: Best all-in-one ETFs for Canadian investors - MoneySense (2024)

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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.

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

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