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Week of July 22, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of July 15, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of July 8, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of July 1, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of June 24, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of June 17, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of June 10, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of May 27, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of May 20, 2024

Tactical changes:

For all three mandates, Larry has added protection and raised the overall cap and long protection. He had previously reduced the hedge, given the sell-off, and is now resetting it near current levels.


Week of May 13, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of May 6, 2024

Tactical changes:

For all three mandates, Larry’s perspective is that we are in the “neutral mode.” While he dialed back his hedges last month, he added a bit last week.


Week of April 29, 2024

Tactical changes:

For all three mandates, Larry updated his market view to neutral in April and adjusted the hedges to reflect this view.


Week of April 22, 2024

Tactical changes:

All three mandates are in risk-off mode.


Week of April 15, 2024

Tactical changes:

All three mandates are in risk-off mode.


Week of April 8, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of April 1, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of March 18, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of March 11, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of February 26, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of February 12, 2024

Tactical changes:

  • Growth: No trades last week. Portfolio is in risk-off mode. Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Trimmed Global X Uranium ETF (URA), First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR) and Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP); added to VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) and Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE); will extend duration to the maximum again. Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: No trades last week. Looking to trim BMO Covered Call Utilities ETF (ZWU) and add to BMO Covered Call Technology ETF (ZWT), BMO Covered Call Energy Units ETF (ZWEN), BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF (ZWB) and BMO Covered Call Health Care Units ETF (ZWHC). Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of February 5, 2024

Tactical changes:


Week of January 29, 2023

Tactical changes:

All three mandates continue to have a buffer to manage market risk.

  • Growth: Trimmed Invesco S&P 500 Eql Wght ETF (RSP) and First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR) to buy Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) and VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX). Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Trimmed Invesco S&P 500 Eql Wght ETF (RSP), First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR), and Global X Uranium ETF (URA) to buy Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) and VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX). Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: Trimmed BMO Premium Yield ETF (ZPAY) and bought BMO Covered Call Energy Units ETF (ZWEN). Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of January 22, 2023

Tactical changes:

All three mandates continue to have a buffered protection against equity exposure.


Week of January 15, 2023

Tactical changes:


Week of January 8, 2023

Tactical changes:

For all mandates, Larry has a defensive position with the option overlays.


Week of December 18, 2023

Tactical changes:

For all mandates, Larry has rolled the portfolio protection for 2024 with a weighted average cap at 5200, weighted average collar at 4700 and a weighted average floor of 0 on the S&P.

  • Growth: Bought BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETF (ZEA) and sold BMO MSCI EAFE Hedged to CAD Index ETF (ZDM) for the currency. Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Bought BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETF (ZEA) and sold BMO MSCI EAFE Hedged to CAD Index ETF (ZDM) for the currency. Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: Added BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF (ZWB), BMO Covered Call Energy ETF (ZWEN) and BMO Covered Call Health Care ETF (ZWHC); trimmed SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (EDIV); also bought BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call ETF (ZWP) and sold BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call Hedged to CAD ETF (ZWE) for the currency, as both are the covered calls on Europe. Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of December 11, 2023

Tactical changes:


Week of December 4, 2023

Tactical changes:


Week of November 27, 2023

Tactical changes:

  • Growth: Took profits on currency trades: BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETF (ZEA) to BMO MSCI EAFE Hedged to CAD Index ETF (ZDM). Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Continued to trade duration, in this case, cutting duration. Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: Continued to trim SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (EDIV); also took profits on currency trades: BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call ETF (ZWP) to BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call Hedged to CAD ETF (ZWE). Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of November 20, 2023

Tactical changes:

For all three mandates, Larry previously raised the beta from the lows, but still has controls (i.e., hedges) in place.


Week of November 6, 2023

Tactical changes:

On all three mandates, Larry has increased the upside potential by buying back half of the calls. He sold some out of money puts to pay for it. He still has puts in place for a “buffered” or “range” protection.


Week of October 30, 2023

Tactical changes:


Week of October 23, 2023

Tactical changes:

For all three mandates, the portfolios remain defensive with continued use of hedges.

  • Growth: : Trimmed BMO MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF (ZEM) and added to BMO Clean Energy Index ETF (ZCLN). Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Trimmed VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) to add to iShares 20 Plus Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT); also trimmed BMO MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF (ZEM) and added to BMO Clean Energy Index ETF (ZCLN). Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: : Trimmed SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF, and added BMO Covered Call Health Care Units ETF (ZWHC) and BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF (ZWB). Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of October 16, 2023

Tactical changes:

For all three mandates, Larry continues to hedge the portfolios.


Week of October 2, 2023

Tactical changes:

Overall, September was a good month for the portfolios, relative to benchmarks. For all three mandates, Larry maintains a defensive position.

  • Growth: Placed a currency trade in developed markets, selling 50% of the BMO MSCI EAFE Hedged to CAD Index ETF (ZDM) and buying the BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETF (ZEA); also added to the BMO Clean Energy Index ETF (ZCLN) and reduced the Global X Uranium ETF (URA) in rebalancing clean energy. Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Bought, sold, and brought duration into the portfolio last week. Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: Placed a currency trade in covered call Europe, selling 50% of the BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call Hedged to CAD ETF (ZWE) and buying the BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call ETF (ZWP). Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of September 25, 2023

Tactical changes:

For all three mandates, Larry maintains a defensive position.


Week of September 18, 2023

Tactical changes:

For all three mandates, Larry maintains a defensive position with risk protection on the portfolios.

  • Growth: No significant changes to holdings. Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Continued to trade duration in the bond portion of the portfolio; increased duration by 1.26 years. Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: Trimmed exposure to BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call Hedged to CAD ETF (ZWE); currently considering BMO Equal Weight Banks Index ETF (ZEB) and BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF (ZWB). Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of September 4, 2023

Tactical changes:

For all three mandates, Larry maintains a defensive position.


Week of August 28, 2023

Tactical changes:

For all three mandates, Larry maintains a defensive position.

  • Growth: No significant changes to holdings. Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Cut duration in iShares 20 Plus Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT). Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: Trimmed SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF (EDIV) and BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call Hedged to CAD ETF (ZWE); added income exposure to the U.S. and Canada using BMO Premium Yield ETF (ZPAY) and BMO Canadian High Dividend Covered Call ETF (ZWC), respectively. Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of August 21, 2023

Tactical changes:

All three mandates remain in a defensive position.


Week of August 14, 2023

Tactical changes:

All three mandates remain in a defensive position.


Week of August 7, 2023

Tactical changes:

All three mandates remain in a defensive position.

  • Growth: No significant changes to holdings. Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Bought and sold iShares 20 Plus Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) last week as yields generally rose. Larry expects higher yields will play out in the coming quarters, has added duration to the portfolio with TLT and looks to add more yield in the future. Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: No significant changes to holdings. Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of July 31, 2023

Tactical changes:

All three mandates remain in a defense position.


Week of July 24, 2023

Tactical changes:

All three mandates remain in a defense position.


Week of July 10, 2023

Tactical changes:

No significant changes in the equity positions in all three mandates. For the BMO tactical balanced etf fund, Larry has extended duration by selling ZST (ultra short term corporate bonds) and buying TLT (long treasuries).


Week of July 3, 2023

Tactical changes:

In all three mandates, no significant trades last week. In this week’s writeup on each fund, Larry included attribution for the trades he did in Q2.


Week of June 26, 2023

Tactical changes:

All three mandates remain in maximum defense.

  • Growth: No significant changes to holdings. Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: No significant changes to holdings. Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: No significant changes to holdings. Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of June 19, 2023

Tactical changes:

All three mandates remain in maximum defense.


Week of June 12, 2023

Tactical changes:

On all three mandates, Larry positioned the portfolio for more protection by rolling up his puts to 4300 on the S&P 500.

  • Growth: Sold Japan exposure; bought Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF (FLKR) and some of BMO MSCI EAFE Hedged to CAD Index ETF (ZDM); bought Invesco S&P 500® Equal Weight ETF (RSP) and BMO MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF (ZEM). Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Sold Japan exposure; bought Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF (FLKR) and some of BMO MSCI EAFE Hedged to CAD Index ETF (ZDM); bought Invesco S&P 500® Equal Weight ETF (RSP) and BMO MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF (ZEM). Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: Increased income by selling BMO International Dividend Hedged to CAD ETF (ZDH) and buying BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call Hedged to CAD ETF (ZWE) and BMO Covered Call Energy Units ETF (ZWEN). Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of June 5, 2023


Week of May 29, 2023

Overall, the three mandates remain in defense position for protection and participation.

  • Growth: : Rotation in S&P 500 holdings from market cap to equal weight (sold BMO S&P 500 Hedged to CAD Index ETF [ZUE]; bought Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF [RSP]); repositioning to reduce tech exposure. Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Rotation in S&P 500 holdings from market cap to equal weight (sold BMO S&P 500 Hedged to CAD Index ETF [ZUE]; bought Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF [RSP]); repositioning to reduce tech exposure. Also bought iShares 20 Plus Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT). Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: No significant changes to holdings. Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of May 22, 2023

On all three mandates, Larry maintains a maximum defense position with regard to the protection and the participation.


Week of May 15, 2023

On all three mandates, Larry maintains a maximum defense position with regard to the protection and the participation.


Week of May 1, 2023


Week of April 24, 2023


Week of April 17, 2023


Week of April 10, 2023

  • Growth: Taking some profits in the Vanguard European Stock Index Fund ETF (VGK) and adding a defensive layer with the BMO Ultra Short-Term Bond ETF (ZST); also cut the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) position in half. Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Taking some profits in the Vanguard European Stock Index Fund ETF (VGK) and adding a defensive layer with the BMO Ultra Short-Term Bond ETF (ZST) and BMO Equal Weight Utilities Index ETF (ZUT); also cut the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) position in half. Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: No significant changes to holdings. Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of March 27, 2023

  • Growth: No significant changes to holdings. Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Added back some of the duration we sold the previous week (iShares 20 Plus Year Treasury Bond ETF – TLT). Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: Took profits on half of the BMO Premium Yield ETF (ZPAY) exposure and tilted defensively to BMO Covered Call Utilities ETF (ZWU), which has more energy exposure. Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of March 20, 2023


Week of March 13, 2023


Week of March 6, 2023


Week of February 27, 2023

Larry remains defensive, having rolled up the long put range of protection in February on all three mandates.


Week of February 20, 2023


Week of February 13, 2023

On all three mandates, Larry rolled up the hedges to raise his floor; no changes to the underlying holdings for all three mandates.

  • Growth: Sold VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH); bought the Invesco S&P 500• Equal Weight Technology ETF (RYT); reduced exposure to the Global X US Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE) and the BMO Equal Weight Global Base Metals Hedged to CAD Index ETF (ZMT); added a broader based exposure to the Industrial Select Sector SPDR• Fund (XLI) to slightly reduce portfolio risk. Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Sold VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH); bought the Invesco S&P 500• Equal Weight Technology ETF (RYT); reduced exposure to the Global X US Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE) and the BMO Equal Weight Global Base Metals Hedged to CAD Index ETF (ZMT); added a broader based exposure to the Industrial Select Sector SPDR• Fund (XLI) and the BMO Equal Weight Utilities Index ETF (ZUT) to slightly reduce portfolio risk. Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: Sold the BMO Covered Call Technology ETF (ZWT) to reduce technology given the rally. Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of February 6, 2023

On all three mandates, Larry rolled up the hedges to raise his floor.


Week of January 30, 2023


Week of January 23, 2023

Tactical changes:

In terms of Protection and Participation, Larry remains hedged on the three mandates.

  • Growth: Sold half of the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) to buy the First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR) and the Global X FinTech ETF (FINX); also trimmed the iShares MSCI Thailand ETF (THD) and added the iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF (EIDO). Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Cut duration by selling the iShares 20 Plus Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) and reducing the VanEck JP Morgan EM Local Currency Bond ETF (EMLC) in favour of the BMO Ultra Short-Term Bond ETF (ZST). Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: No significant changes to holdings. Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of January 9, 2023

Tactical changes:


Week of December 19, 2022

No changes to the hedges (Protection & Participation).

Early in December, on all three mandates, Larry further increased the Participation & Protection to close to 80% for the Balanced mandate, and close to 70% for the Dividend and Growth mandates. The Protection associated with the S&P ranges between “at the market” (3900/4025) and 3200. Covered Calls are also set at 4400.

Tactical changes:


Week of December 12, 2022

No changes to the hedges (Protection & Participation)

Tactical changes:

  • Growth: Moved from BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETF (ZEA) to BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETF (Hedged Units) (ZDM). Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Moved from BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETF (ZEA) to BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETF (Hedged Units) (ZDM). Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: Moved from BMO International Dividend ETF (ZDI) to BMO International Dividend ETF (Hedged Units) (ZDH), and from BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call ETF (ZWP) to BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call ETF (Hedged Units) (ZWE). Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of December 5, 2022

Last week, on all three mandates, Larry further increased the participation and protection to close to 80% for the Balanced mandate and close to 70% for the Dividend and Growth mandates. The protection associated with the S&P ranges between “at the market” (3900/4025) and 3200. Covered Calls are also set at 4400. See the “PRO-EYES” indicators section in the reports for more details.

Tactical changes:


Week of November 28, 2022

For all three mandates, Larry further increased the participation and protection to close to 80% for the Balanced mandate and close to 70% for the Dividend and Growth mandates. The protection associated with the S&P ranges between “at the market” (3900/4025) and 3200. Covered Calls are also set at 4400.

Tactical changes:


Week of November 21, 2022

As a reminder, last week, on participation vs. protection, Larry increased his hedge to 60% for Balanced and over 50% for the Dividend and Growth mandates: the protection associated with the S&P for a range between 3900 and 3200 and Covered Calls are set at 4400.

Tactical changes:

  • Growth: Sold half of the BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETF (ZEA) for the BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETF (Hedged Units) (ZDM) to hedge up some currency exposure after the recent Canadian dollar weakness. Tactical Global Growth ETF Fund
  • Balanced: Sold half of the BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETF (ZEA) for the BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETF (Hedged Units) (ZDM) to hedge up some currency exposure after the recent Canadian dollar weakness; profited on the iShares 20 Plus Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) above 100.50. Tactical Balanced ETF Fund
  • Dividend: Sold half of the BMO International Dividend ETF (ZDI) for the BMO International Dividend ETF (Hedged Units) (ZDH), and the BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call ETF (ZWP) for the BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call ETF (Hedged Units) (ZWE) to hedge up some currency exposure after the recent Canadian dollar weakness relative to the international crosses. Tactical Dividend ETF Fund


Week of November 14, 2022

For all three mandates, Larry has increased his hedge (to 60% for the Tactical Balanced ETF Fund and over 50% for the Dividend and Growth mandates). The protection associated with the S&P ranges between 3900 and 3200; covered calls are also set at 4400.

Tactical changes:


Week of November 7, 2022

Tactical changes:


* Weekly commentary provided by Portfolio Management BMO Highlights

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