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BMO Aggregate Bond Index ETF (ZAG)
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Horizons Cdn Select Universe Bond ETF (HBB)
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iShares Core Canadian Universe Bond Index ETF (XBB)
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Vanguard Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF (VAB)
Q: I have 2 unregistered accounts and hold too much money in HISAs. I would like to invest more in Horizon's total return ETFs that pay no distributions. I have been looking at HBB but the chart looks nothing like similar Canadian bond etfs. Today, July 10th, HBB is trading at the same level it did 5 years ago but XBB is 13% lower today, VAB 13% lower and ZAG 15.2% lower. Can you explain this large difference? Should HBB now track in a similar way to XBB? Thanks!
5i Research Answer:
This is likely the difference in total return and price return. For ETFs that make distributions such as XBB, VAB, and ZAG, the distributions are not counted in the price return. The right comparison metric to look at would be total return. For example, over the past five years, the total returns have been:
HBB: 0.09%
XBB: 0.37%
VAB: 0.31%
ZAG: 0.33%