The ETF Lab

ETF
Spotlight

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ETF
News & Notes

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ETF
Flows Update

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Mackenzie ETF
Top Performers

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ETF spotlight: The quality foundation for global equity portfolios

Why quality matters at the core?

High-quality companies tend to share characteristics that can support long-term growth and provide resilience when market conditions become more challenging:

  • Durable competitive advantages that can help sustain long-term growth
  • Attractive returns on invested capital that support value creation
  • Healthy balance sheets that provide financial flexibility
  • Consistent cash flows that support reinvestment and shareholder return

For investors, a quality tilt can provide exposure to the long-term growth potential of global equities while emphasizing financially resilient businesses.

The quality tilt in global equity - Stronger returns and smoother ride

Source: Morningstar. 20-year period ending in August 31, 2026.

 

Return

Std Dev

Sharpe Ratio

Max Drawdown

MSCI World Index

10.17

14.64

0.46

-54.03

MSCI World Quality Index

11.65

14.34

0.56

-44.87

Source: Morningstar. 20-year period ending in August 31, 2026.

Dividends can be a sign of quality, not just a source of income

Dividend investing is often associated with income, but dividends can also provide insight into the health of a business. Companies that consistently generate excess cash, reinvest for future growth and return capital to shareholders may possess the durable economics investors value in a core holding. Consistent or growing dividends can therefore be an indicator of financial discipline and business quality.

This does not mean simply targeting the highest yields. An unusually high yield can sometimes signal deteriorating fundamentals or expectations of a dividend cut. Instead, a quality-oriented approach focuses on strong businesses capable of growing their underlying value and dividends over time.

MGDV: looking beyond the dividend label

Mackenzie Global Dividend ETF (MGDV) seeks long-term capital growth and current income by investing globally, primarily in dividend-paying businesses. The Mackenzie Global Equity & Income Team looks for industry-leading companies with sustainable competitive advantages, predictable long-term economics and the ability to compound shareholder value.

As a result, MGDV looks different from a traditional high-yield strategy. It can invest across the growth and value spectrum and across sectors including technology, financials, industrials, health care and consumer businesses. Information technology is currently its largest sector exposure, illustrating an opportunity set that extends well beyond traditional income-oriented sectors.

MGDV takes a quality-oriented approach to global equities, combining dividend-paying companies with an emphasis on businesses with sustainable competitive advantages and long-term growth potential.

TICKER

Product Name

Inception Date

Mgmt. Fee

MGDV

Mackenzie Global Dividend ETF

2024-06-06

0.80%

ETF news & notes

Tax-aware ETFs drawing scrutiny from US policymakers

US Treasury and IRS officials have actively escalated their scrutiny of some "tax-alpha" strategies, explicitly labeling several of them as "potentially abusive". While they have stopped short of issuing immediate restrictions, they are heavily reviewing the tax-exempt status of the underlying mechanics for the following strategies:

Strategy

Primary mechanism

Tax advantage exploited

Key regulatory target

Section 351 conversions

In-kind contribution of concentrated stock into an ETF wrapper

Diversification without triggering immediate capital gains

Expected to be labeled as "transactions of interest"

Box-spread ETFs

Offsetting options pairings that mimic risk-free Treasury yields

Converts highly taxed interest income into deferred capital gains

Misuse of Section 852(b)(6) for options strategies

ETF-rotation / Dividends

Rapidly trading out of funds before ex-dividend dates

Eliminates ordinary dividend income tax liability

Lack of economic substance / manufactured tax positioning

ETF flows update

  • YTD ETF inflows reached $142 billion as of September 8, led by equity ETFs ($82.3 billion), followed by asset allocation ETFs ($28.1 billion) and fixed income ETFs ($26.6 billion).
  • The strongest regional momentum remains in international and global regions, where inflows outpaced those of the US and Canada relative to their asset bases. The Ex-North America (combined international and global) are in the lead with $56.3 billion YTD.
  • The total AUM for Canadian ETFs reached $924 billion on net basis and $1,065 billion on gross basis.
  • The number of listed ETFs: 2,069
etf-lab-sep-15-2026-asset-class-region
Source: Bloomberg and TD. As of September 4, 2026.

Mackenzie ETF top performers

Equity ETFs

Fixed Income ETFs

Source: Bloomberg and TD. As of September 4, 2026.

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