Bank of Montreal (BMO) has announced the launch of five new Canadian Depository Receipts (CDRs).
The new products invest in French companies, but in Canadian dollars, allowing investors to gain international exposure in their portfolios without added currency risk.
Listed on Cboe Canada on Thursday, BMO’s new CDRs include:
- BNP Paribas SA Ordinary Shares (Cboe: BNP)
- Hermès International SCA Ordinary Shares (Cboe: HERM)
- L’Oréal SA Ordinary Shares (Cboe: LOR)
- LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE Ordinary Shares (Cboe: LV)
- TotalEnergies SE Ordinary Shares (Cboe: TTE)
A new CLO ETF
Separately, BMO Asset Management Inc. announced a new ETF investing in credit-loan obligations (CLOs).
The Canadian units of the fund (Cboe: ZBBZ), hedged units (Cboe: ZBBZ.F) and U.S.-dollar units (Cboe: ZBBZ.U) began trading on Friday.
The fund’s objective is “to provide income while at the same time preserving capital by investing, directly or indirectly, primarily in a diversified portfolio of BBB-rated” CLOs of issuers domiciled outside of Canada, a release said.
The hedged units of the fund will also invest in or use derivative instruments to mitigate currency risk, BMO noted.
Canada Life intros new suite of equity mutual funds
Canada Life Investment Management Ltd. (CLIML) has introduced three new equity mutual funds.
The Canada Life Canadian Enhanced Equity Income Fund, Canada Life U.S. Enhanced Equity Income Fund and Canada Life International Enhanced Equity Income Fund offer diversified exposure to the Canadian, U.S. and international equity markets, respectively.
In an effort to generate enhanced cash flow, the funds may use an actively managed covered call strategy, which would involve holding one or more ETFs and writing call options on a portion of the ETF’s exposure, a release said.
They will also aim to provide investors with long-term capital growth and lower overall portfolio volatility compared to their respective broad-based benchmarks.
The new mutual funds are sub-advised by Irish Life Investment Managers.
“In an environment where market volatility and income needs are top of mind, covered call strategies have emerged as a practical way to help generate cash flow while maintaining some downside mitigation,” said Sam Febbraro, senior vice-president of wealth solutions with Canada Life and president and CEO of CLIML, in the release.
Also, on or about Sept. 26, Canada Life plans to bring three new segregated funds to market.
These seg funds would invest in the new mutual funds, “providing policyholders with access to the same strategies through an insurance-based solution,” the release noted.
CIBC tweaks CDR name
CIBC has changed the name of its CDR investing in General Electric Co.
The product formerly known as the General Electric Canadian Depositary Receipts (CAD Hedged) is now the GE Aerospace Canadian Depositary Receipts (CAD Hedged).
The CDR remains listed on Cboe Canada with the same ticker, GE.