XIU ETF Review - One of the BEST

XIU ETF, or Blackrock’s iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF, is one of the most liquid ETFs in Canada providing exposure to top blue chip Canadian companies.

XIU is one of the largest and earliest ETFs in Canada.

The fund was created in 1990 with the intention to replicate the performance of the S&P/TSX 60 Index, net of expenses. Not many indexes are following the TSX60 and it happens to be a good one to follow like the S&P500.

Pros of iShares XIU ETF

It is a low-cost ETF.
iShares XIU is a diversified fund across 60 large-cap companies and all ten industries.
It seeks long-term capital growth.
XIU has more liquidity when compared to other Canadian ETFs.

Cons of iShares XIU ETF

Heavy weightage on the top three industries that make up ~60% of the ETF’s total assets.

iShares XDV ETF Facts

Inception Date: September 28, 1999
Benchmark: S&P/TSX 60 Index
Net Assets: $9,908M
MER: 0.18%
12 Month Trailing Yield: 2.72%
Distribution Yield: 2.68%
Dividend Schedule: Quarterly

iShares XIU MER – Management Expense Ratio

At 0.18%, XIU has an excellent MER but you can have a cheaper MER with the Horizon HXT ETF at 0.03%.

The MER is what Blackrock takes to manage the fund for you. It’s much cheaper than mutual funds and in some cases cheaper than investing on your own.

Mutual funds can charge over 2% and it robs you of your returns. It’s time to ditch your mutual funds and switch to ETF ASAP. Many brokers such as Questrade offer free ETFs.

iShares XIU Performance

iShares XIU has a good performance compared with the TSX index but still falls short of the SP500.

XIU vs TSX vs SP500 — Dividend Adjusted Chart by Stock Rover - **Try it out.**

The annual rate of return for iShares XIU ETF since inception is 7.39%. When you compare with my annual ROR of 14.40%, there is a big difference. Just look at the S&P500 index to get a different perspective.

Take your TFSA account as an example. The rules are the same for everyone and I mean everyone. The growth is ultimately a factor of your investment performance provided you make your TFSA contribution limit every year. The annual performance of an ETF matters as you can see below the growth over 20+ years.

wdt_ID	Year	Yearly Limit	Cumulative	5% Growth	10% Growth	Dividend Earner	Spousal
1	2009	5,000	5,000	5,250	5,500	Not Tracked	Not Started
2	2010	5,000	10,000	10,762	11,550	Not Tracked	Not Started
3	2011	5,000	15,000	16,550	18,205	Not Tracked	Not Started
4	2012	5,000	20,000	22,628	25,525	Not Tracked	Not Started
5	2013	5,500	25,500	29,534	34,128	$41,742	Not Started
6	2014	5,500	31,000	36,786	43,590	$52,820	Not Started
7	2015	10,000	41,000	49,125	58,949	$56,307	Not Started
8	2016	5,500	46,500	57,356	70,984	$70,200	Not Started
9	2017	5,500	52,000	65,999	84,034	$78,900	$13,308
10	2018	5,500	57,500	75,074	98,487	$96,937	$58,818

iShares XDV ETF Top 10 Holdings

Below are the holdings part of the XDV ETF at the time of writing sorted by market capitalization. The ratio of weigth can fluctuate on any months at the discretion of the fund manager in accordance with the fund target.

TickerKey	Ticker	Company	Sector	Industry	Score	Quote	Market Cap	P/E	FPE	EPS	Yield	PayoutRatio	Payments	Dividend	Chowder	GrowthRating	IncomeRating	Tollbooth	Ambassador	Achiever	Aristocrat	King	Country	Graph	Yield
TSE:RY	RY	Royal Bank	Financial Services	Banks - Diversified	0.61	117.31	135.85	14.53	14.53	8.08	0.0368	0.5347	4	4.32	0.1053	6	7	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	3.68
TSE:TD	TD	TD Bank	Financial Services	Banks - Diversified	0.66	84.50	124.60	12.86	12.86	6.57	0.0374	0.4810	4	3.16	0.1297	7	7	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	3.74
TSE:ENB	ENB	Enbridge	Energy	Oil & Gas Midstream	0.60	47.41	77.83	32.12	32.12	1.48	0.0704	2.2568	4	3.34	0.1737	6	8	Tollbooth - Unregulated	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	7.04
TSE:BNS	BNS	Scotia Bank	Financial Services	Banks - Diversified	0.65	78.27	77.15	14.71	14.71	5.32	0.0460	0.6767	4	3.60	0.1028	6	7	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	4.60
TSE:CNR	CNR	Canadian National Railway	Industrials	Railroads	0.65	132.33	75.89	26.76	26.76	4.95	0.0186	0.4970	4	2.46	0.1357	6	5	Tollbooth - Unregulated	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	1.86
TSE:BAM.A	BAM.A	Brookfield Asset Management	Financial Services	Asset Management	0.45	56.03	68.54	0.00	0.00	-0.22	0.0114	1.0000	4	0.52	0.0872	7	4	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	1.14
TSE:CP	CP	Canadian Pacific Railway	Industrials	Railroads	0.52	458.71	61.16	23.51	23.51	19.51	0.0083	0.1948	4	3.80	0.1373	5	4	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	0.83
TSE:BMO	BMO	Bank of Montreal	Financial Services	Banks - Diversified	0.57	116.01	60.81	14.14	14.14	8.20	0.0365	0.5171	4	4.24	0.0789	5	7	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	3.65
TSE:TRP	TRP	TC Energy	Energy	Oil & Gas Midstream	0.69	60.81	48.37	12.83	12.83	4.74	0.0572	0.7342	4	3.48	0.1303	6	9	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	5.72
TSE:CM	CM	CIBC	Financial Services	Banks - Diversified	0.61	127.78	46.24	13.98	13.98	9.14	0.0457	0.6389	4	5.84	0.0921	6	7	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	4.57
TSE:TRI	TRI	Thompson Reuters	Industrials	Consulting Services	0.43	113.99	45.89	40.31	40.31	2.83	0.0175	0.7034	4	1.62	0.0430	3	6	Intermediate	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	1.75
TSE:BCE	BCE	BCE	Communication Services	Telecommunication Services	0.58	58.10	42.70	21.36	21.36	2.72	0.0602	1.2868	4	3.50	0.1110	5	8	Tollbooth - Regulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	6.02
TSE:MFC	MFC	Manulife	Financial Services	Insurance - Life	0.74	26.84	42.41	9.16	9.16	2.93	0.0417	0.3823	4	1.12	0.1215	7	7	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	4.17
TSE:NTR	NTR	Nutrien Ltd	Basic Materials	Agricultural Inputs	0.38	67.85	38.59	68.58	68.58	0.99	0.0333	2.2839	4	1.84	0.0333	4	3	Intermediate	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	3.33
TSE:CSU	CSU	Constellation Software	Technology	Software - Application	0.34	1803.93	38.23	71.41	71.41	25.26	0.0027	0.1946	4	4.00	0.0533	3	3	Intermediate	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	0.27
TSE:ABX	ABX	Barrick Gold	Basic Materials	Gold	0.51	26.19	37.19	16.32	16.32	1.60	0.0169	0.2765	4	0.36	0.0169	2	5	Intermediate	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	1.69
TSE:ATD.B	ATD.B	Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.	Consumer Defensive	Grocery Stores	0.74	41.65	36.66	13.92	13.92	2.99	0.0084	0.1171	4	0.35	0.2812	10	5	Consumable - Necessities	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	0.84
TSE:CNQ	CNQ	Canadian Natural Resources	Energy	Oil & Gas E & P	0.56	37.31	36.02	0.00	0.00	-0.37	0.0504	1.0000	4	1.88	0.1810	6	7	Intermediate	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	5.04
TSE:FNV	FNV	Franco-Nevada Corp	Basic Materials	Gold	0.48	171.23	32.61	81.52	81.52	2.10	0.0075	0.6086	4	1.04	0.0496	6	5	Intermediate	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	0.75
TSE:SU	SU	Suncor	Energy	Oil & Gas Integrated	0.30	26.29	32.51	0.00	0.00	-2.83	0.0320	1.0000	4	0.84	0.0320	1	4	Consumable - Necessities	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	3.20
TSE:QSR	QSR	Restaurant Brands International Inc.	Consumer Cyclical	Restaurants	0.52	84.41	31.72	41.80	41.80	2.02	0.0309	1.2897	4	2.12	0.4176	7	4	Consumable - Discretionary	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	3.09
TSE:SLF	SLF	Sun Life Financial	Financial Services	Insurance - Diversified	0.55	66.31	31.56	16.17	16.17	4.10	0.0332	0.5366	4	2.20	0.0765	6	6	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	3.32
TSE:WCN	WCN	Waste Connections Inc	Industrials	Waste Management	0.50	146.42	31.23	141.75	141.75	1.03	0.0069	0.9783	4	0.82	0.1567	8	4	Tollbooth - Unregulated	YES	YES	NO	NO	Canada	1	0.69
TSE:NA	NA	National Bank	Financial Services	Banks - Diversified	0.59	89.36	30.15	14.47	14.47	6.17	0.0318	0.4603	4	2.84	0.1002	6	7	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	3.18
TSE:MG	MG	Magna International Inc	Consumer Cyclical	Auto Parts	0.42	116.08	28.24	37.51	37.51	3.09	0.0182	0.6840	4	1.72	0.1452	3	2	Durable	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	1.82
TSE:T	T	Telus	Communication Services	Telecommunication Services	0.69	25.50	26.51	27.00	27.00	0.94	0.0488	1.3243	4	1.25	0.1139	7	7	Tollbooth - Regulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	4.88
TSE:FTS	FTS	Fortis	Utilities	Utilities - Regulated Electric	0.65	54.83	25.71	21.11	21.11	2.60	0.0368	0.7769	4	2.02	0.0933	5	7	Tollbooth - Regulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	3.68
TSE:RCI.B	RCI.B	Rogers	Communication Services	Telecommunication Services	0.39	60.54	24.94	19.23	19.23	3.15	0.0330	0.6349	4	2.00	0.0412	1	4	Tollbooth - Regulated	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	3.30
TSE:L	L	Loblaw	Consumer Defensive	Grocery Stores	0.57	68.25	23.35	22.31	22.31	3.06	0.0196	0.4379	4	1.34	0.0627	5	6	Consumable - Necessities	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	1.96
TSE:BIP.UN	BIP.UN	Brookfield Infrastructure Partners	Utilities	Utilities - Diversified	0.48	66.18	22.44	82.62	82.62	0.80	0.0379	3.1336	4	2.04	0.0748	4	3	Tollbooth - Regulated	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	3.79
TSE:POW	POW	Power Corporation	Financial Services	Insurance - Life	0.50	35.80	22.26	11.63	11.63	3.08	0.0500	0.5812	4	1.79	0.1161	4	5	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	5.00
TSE:IMO	IMO	Imperial Oil	Energy	Oil & Gas Integrated	0.39	35.50	21.16	0.00	0.00	-2.53	0.0248	1.0000	4	0.88	0.0990	5	5	Consumable - Necessities	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	2.48
TSE:PPL	PPL	Pembina Pipeline	Energy	Oil & Gas Midstream	0.60	37.94	20.87	0.00	0.00	-0.87	0.0664	1.0000	12	2.52	0.1155	7	9	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	6.64
TSE:FM	FM	First Quantum Minerals Ltd.	Basic Materials	Copper	0.24	28.33	19.56	684.63	684.63	0.04	0.0004	0.2500	2	0.01	0.0004	2	3	Intermediate	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	0.04
TSE:WPM	WPM	Wheaton Precious Metals Corp	Basic Materials	Gold	0.50	50.99	18.56	36.80	36.80	1.39	0.0125	0.4597	4	0.52	0.0962	5	4	Intermediate	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	1.25
TSE:DOL	DOL	Dollarama Inc	Consumer Defensive	Discount Stores	0.41	57.28	17.77	31.71	31.71	1.81	0.0035	0.1112	4	0.20	0.0662	6	5	Consumable - Discretionary	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	0.35
TSE:BPY.UN	BPY.UN	Brookfield Property Partners	Real Estate	Real Estate Services	0.60	22.10	16.83	11.39	11.39	1.94	0.0740	0.8425	4	1.33	0.1146	5	8	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	7.40
TSE:WN	WN	George Weston Limited	Consumer Defensive	Grocery Stores	0.57	108.53	16.54	18.21	18.21	5.96	0.0203	0.3691	4	2.20	0.0602	5	6	Consumable - Necessities	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	2.03
TSE:SAP	SAP	Saputo	Consumer Defensive	Packaged Foods	0.54	39.06	16.11	26.25	26.25	1.49	0.0179	0.4698	4	0.70	0.0694	6	6	Consumable - Necessities	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	1.79
TSE:CVE	CVE	Cenovus Energy	Energy	Oil & Gas Integrated	0.14	9.57	15.68	0.00	0.00	-1.94	0.0073	1.0000	4	0.07	0.0073	0	2	Intermediate	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	0.73
TSE:AEM	AEM	Agnico Eagle Mines	Basic Materials	Gold	0.63	76.82	15.17	29.72	29.72	2.58	0.0224	0.6668	4	1.40	0.2034	7	5	Intermediate	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	2.24
TSE:SJR.B	SJR.B	Shaw Communications	Communication Services	Telecommunication Services	0.34	35.60	14.38	24.89	24.89	1.43	0.0333	0.8287	12	1.19	0.0347	2	4	Tollbooth - Regulated	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	3.33
TSE:EMA	EMA	Emera	Utilities	Utilities - Diversified	0.71	55.87	14.17	14.77	14.77	3.78	0.0456	0.6746	4	2.55	0.0973	6	8	Tollbooth - Regulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	4.56
TSE:MRU	MRU	Metro	Consumer Defensive	Grocery Stores	0.70	56.32	13.84	17.06	17.06	3.30	0.0178	0.3030	4	1.00	0.1455	8	5	Consumable - Necessities	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	1.78
TSE:OTEX	OTEX	Open Text Corporation	Technology	Software - Application	0.50	57.88	12.85	142.48	142.48	0.41	0.0171	2.4073	4	0.80	0.1534	6	3	Subscription	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	1.71
TSE:CCL.B	CCL.B	CCL Industries Inc.	Consumer Cyclical	Packaging & Containers	0.62	69.77	12.49	23.68	23.68	2.95	0.0120	0.2847	4	0.84	0.1731	8	5	Intermediate	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	1.20
TSE:CTC.A	CTC.A	Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited	Consumer Cyclical	Specialty Retail	0.58	195.92	12.04	15.92	15.92	12.31	0.0240	0.3818	4	4.70	0.1912	7	6	Consumable - Discretionary	YES	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	2.40
TSE:AQN	AQN	Algonquin Power & Utilitties Corp	Utilities	Utilities - Renewable	0.79	19.83	11.84	11.68	11.68	1.70	0.0384	0.4485	4	0.62	0.1286	8	8	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	YES	YES	NO	Canada	1	3.84
TSE:TECK.B	TECK.B	Teck Resources	Basic Materials	Other Industrial Metals & Mining	0.15	26.01	11.29	0.00	0.00	-0.47	0.0077	1.0000	4	0.20	0.0077	0	2	Intermediate	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	0.77
TSE:CAR.UN	CAR.UN	Canadian Apartment Properties REIT	Real Estate	REIT - Residential	0.53	54.64	9.40	10.13	10.13	5.39	0.0253	0.2560	12	1.38	0.0501	1	3	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	NO	YES	NO	Canada	1	2.53
TSE:IPL	IPL	Inter Pipeline Ltd	Energy	Oil & Gas Midstream	0.46	17.92	7.69	21.36	21.36	0.84	0.0268	0.5714	12	0.48	0.0268	2	5	Tollbooth - Unregulated	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	2.68
TSE:GIL	GIL	Gildan Activewear Inc.	Consumer Cyclical	Apparel Manufacturing	0.02	42.66	6.88	0.00	0.00	-1.39	0.0000	0.0000	4	0.00	0.0000	0	0	Consumable - Discretionary	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	0.00
TSE:CCO	CCO	Cameco Corp.	Energy	Uranium	0.14	20.66	6.67	0.00	0.00	-0.13	0.0039	1.0000	1	0.08	0.0039	0	2	Intermediate	NO	NO	NO	NO	Canada	1	0.39

At the time of writing, Shopify is the most significant constituent in the XIU ETF.

The top 10 holdings account for almost 50% of the fund. So this ETF also provides a good way to invest in the Canadian banking sector.

iShares XDV ETF Sector Allocation

iShares XDV is heavily weighted towards the financials which is technically how the TSX is weighted. As a high dividend yield ETF, you should compare it with other dividend ETFs.

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Why hold iShares XIU ETF

XIU beats all other Canadian Dividend ETF which makes it the best and you also get a decent yield.

In fact, if you look at the non-dividend reinvested chart, this is your TSX performance.

XDV vs VDY vs XIU Dividends 2021 — Without Dividend Re-Invested

XDV vs VDY vs XIU 2021 — With Dividend Re-Invested

If you want the dividends, it’s not clear you will get dividend growth the same way the best banks and the best utility stocks will do for you.