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iShares Conservative Core Portfolio Builder Fund - XCR

ETF Overview

The fund seeks to provide a combination of income with the potential for long-term capital growth by investing primarily in iShares ETFs, managed by BlackRock Canada or an affiliate, that provide exposure to fixed income securities, with the balance invested in those that provide exposure to equity securities and to one or more alternative asset classes.

The fund will ordinarily invest in iShares ETFs, but may also use individual securities and/or derivatives to gain exposure to these asset classes.

BlackRock will seek to create an asset allocation for the fund through a proprietary multi-factor selection process that seeks to identify and optimally diversify certain fundamental sources of return.

The fund may also employ currency hedging.

Key ETF Data

Fundamentals
Category (main) Global multi-asset classes - Conservative
Category (other)Fund of funds
Underlying Index No Index
ETF Structure ETF of ETFs (ie fund of funds)
Asset Class Multi-asset classes - Conservative
Region Global
Issuer iShares Canada by Blackrock
ETF Home Page Available here
Fund Facts
Inception Date 13 Nov 2008
Total Holdings 14 (5,354) *1
Distribution Frequency Semi-Annual
Leverage None
Significant Currency Exposure Yes
Currency Hedging Maybe *2

*1 Holds various iShares ETFs

*2 Prospectus states fund MAY employ currency hedging

Fees
Management Fee 0.60%
Management Expense Ratio (MER) 0.63%
Trading Information
Ticker XCR
Exchange TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange)
Currency CAD
Eligibility
Eligibility * RRSP, RRIF, RESP, TFSA, DPSP, RDSP
DRIP available ** Yes
PACC Plan available ** No
SWP available ** No

* Always check eligibility with your plan operator as plans and accounts can differ

** Not all brokers can facilitate these plans. Check with your broker.

Current Price, Fund Performance, Yield, NAV, Charts etc

To view the TSX or Morningstar fund page for this ETF click on the Fund Data menu tab or below:

ETF at TMX ETF at Morningstar

ETF Analysis

Guidance for potential investors and Blackrock regarding this ETF:

  • the fund's Fact Sheet (but not its blackrock.com overview page) states that the fund MAY employ currency hedging at the discretion of the Blackrock fund manager
  • discretionary hedging is not good enough - the potential investor does not know whether it will be employed or not, so they do not know to the extent to which they are exposed to currency risk
  • the Canadian dollar has gained or lost up to 20% in a given year against the US dollar so currency risk is a significant risk no investor should ignore or take lightly

Given this is a fund-of-funds, we also encourage Blackrock to look at ways of reducing the fund's MER ().