Vanguard Investments Canada plans to transition four of its TSX-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to benchmarks developed by FTSE and the University of Chicago’s Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP).
The funds will be renamed as follows:
- the Vanguard MSCI Canada Index ETF will be called the Vanguard FTSE Canada Index ETF;
- the Vanguard MSCI U.S. Broad Market Index ETF (CAD-hedged) will be renamed the Vanguard CRSP U.S. Total Market Index ETF (CAD-hedged);
- the Vanguard MSCI EAFE Index ETF (CAD-hedged) will change to the Vanguard FTSE Developed ex North America Index ETF (CAD-hedged); and
- the Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF will be renamed the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets Index ETF.
The transition is expected to provide cost savings over time for the ETFs.
“The indexes from FTSE and the CRSP offer comprehensive coverage of their respective markets and meet Vanguard’s best practice standards for market benchmarks,” says Gus Sauter, chief investment officer of The Vanguard Group. “We negotiated licensing agreements for these benchmarks.”
In addition, Sauter says the CRSP’s capitalization-weighted methodology uses the concept of “packeting,” designed to cushion the movement of stocks between adjacent indexes and allow holdings to be shared between two indexes of the same family.
The company plans to transition another 22 U.S.-domiciled index funds/ETFs to the FTSE and CRSP benchmarks.