Q: In a response to Bruce this morning regarding HSAV you state: "Note it is not 'guaranteed' in the typical sense." I had thought that holding HSAV was as safe as holding cash. As a holder of HSAV I would appreciate it if you could expand on the risks of holding HSAV. Thank you.
5i Research Answer:
We consider HSAV very safe and would be very comfortable owning it. It invests in high interest deposits at Canadian banks. But note, these are not guaranteed by CDIC, like a personal deposit at a bank would be (up to $100,000). The ETF states this on its fact sheet: No guarantees.
ETFs do not have any guarantees. You may not get back the amount of money you invest.
But we would still be entirely comfortable using the ETF for short term cash holdings.