[All values in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted] As we noted in last week’s Insight, U.S. Financials: Why They Remain Attractive (Especially the Mid-Caps), the Q4 2020 pick-up in U.S. bank M&A – a clear sign of management’s conviction that the economic recovery was well underway – has gained momentum in 2021, including several transactions involving Hamilton U.S. Mid/Small-Cap Financials ETF (tickers: HUM, HUM-U) and Hamilton…
In this One Chart, we compare the volatility profile of 1.25x the Solactive Canadian Bank Mean Reversion index (SOLCBMRT) – which the Hamilton Enhanced Canadian Bank ETF (ticker, HCAL) seeks to replicate before fees – to that of the Big-6 Canadian banks. We believe HCAL is a good choice for long-term investors, as its modest leverage offers the potential for higher returns in a steadily growing…
[All values in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted] One year on from the market depths of the pandemic, it is worth a quick review of how far the U.S. financials have come. Notwithstanding the fact Ontario recently entered another province-wide lockdown, things south of the border look far brighter, especially for the holdings in the Hamilton U.S. Mid/Small-Cap Financials ETF (tickers: HUM, HUM-U) and much of…
In our October webcast, “Canadian Banks – Credit Cycle is (Basically) Over”, we correctly predicted that reserve builds for the Canadian banks would peak in Q4-20, and that the recovery would begin in Q1-21. In fact, we launched the Hamilton Enhanced Canadian Bank ETF (HCAL)[1] in October 2020 to give investors a vehicle to capitalize more fully on this recovery while at the same time benefiting…
In today’s insight – part four of our financial innovation series – we discuss open banking, open APIs[1] and how the underlying technology has supported the rise of fintech competitors in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere. With Canada expected to introduce open banking regulations in the near to medium term, the topic is timely. Part I: Can Standalone Digital Banks Disrupt the Incumbents? (January 14, 2021) Part…
In October 2020, we launched the Hamilton Enhanced Canadian Bank ETF (ticker: HCAL), a modestly levered version of our Canadian bank mean reversion strategy ETF (ticker: HCA), in anticipation of a credit-driven recovery for Canadian bank earnings and stocks. In our view, with its 25% leverage, HCAL offers investors an opportunity to benefit as the recovery gains traction (in the near-to-medium term), as well as for…
Watch Rob Wessel, Managing Partner of Hamilton ETFs, give an update on three potential catalysts for the Canadian banks in 2021. Click the video below to watch.
In today’s insight – part of our financial innovation series – we highlight how a string of large, transformational acquisitions by market data and technology companies in the Hamilton Financials Innovation ETF (HFT) over the course of 2019 and 2020 have boosted the ETF’s exposure to secular investment themes brought forward by the pandemic. Crucially, the acquisitions provide investors in HFT exposure to emerging themes with…
In our series on financial innovation, we discuss key issues relating to financial technology and innovation impacting the global financial services sector in general and the Hamilton Financials Innovation ETF (HFT) in particular. Launched on June 1, 2020, HFT invests in a blue-chip portfolio of 30+ established global financial services firms benefiting from powerful, secular trends amplified by the pandemic such as growth of digital payments, digitization…
In the coming weeks, we will publish a series of insights on financial innovation discussing several powerful secular trends relating to financial technology/innovation and its impact on the global financial services sector. We will also review how these trends influence the investment strategy of the Hamilton Financials Innovation ETF (HFT). Part I: Can Standalone Digital Banks Disrupt the Incumbents? Part II: Four Themes Driving Innovation in…
All values in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. As the year draws to a close, the whipsaw nature of 2020 will not soon be forgotten. When the pandemic struck earlier this year and businesses shuttered under direct orders by various governments, how long and how deep the resulting global economic downturn would be was next to impossible to forecast with any sense of accuracy. As businesses…
In late October, with earnings season approaching, we wrote an insight entitled, “Canadian Banks: Will Q4 Be a ‘Clean-up’ Quarter?”. In that note, we predicted the banks would take steps to accelerate their return to normalized earnings by: (i) building reserves against performing loans (by to $2-$3 bln, to ~$25 bln) in order to prepare for defaults coming in 2021, and (ii) pulling forward expenses, possibly…
