BMO ETFs Tax Efficient Model – Strategy Report (Q4 2026)
All prices, returns and portfolio weights are as of market close on September 30, 2026, unless otherwise indicated.
Oct 8, 2026- We’ve made some changes to the structure of our Tax Efficient Model Portfolio.
- Instead of the traditional asset allocation approach of three distinct sleeves (fixed income, equities, and alternatives), we’ve elected to construct the sleeves such that they represent two sources of return (capital growth, income) alongside a sleeve for protection against persistent inflation (alternatives).
- From our vantage point, this will optimize the portfolio risk/return profile while also enhancing the tax efficiency. As an example, since income generated on fixed income instruments is less tax efficient than those generated on covered calls, we will shift covered calls into the ‘income’ sleeve to augment our existing exposure to discount bonds.
- Given the above, we are trimming our exposure to ZDB (BMO Discount Bond Index ETF) and ZCDB (BMO Corporate Discount Bond Index ETF) while adding ZPAY (BMO Premium Yield ETF) and ZWHC (BMO Covered Call Health Care ETF).
- In the ‘growth’ sleeve, we are replacing three covered call strategies (ZWT – BMO Covered Call Technology ETF, ZWB – BMO Covered Call Canadian banks ETF, and ZWU – BMO Covered Call Utilities ETF) with ZLSC (BMO Long Short Canadian Equity ETF), ZLSU (BMO Long Short US Equity ETF) and ZOCT (BMO US Equity Buffer – October).
- For the alternatives sleeve, we are increasing our allocation to ZCOM (BMO Broad Commodity ETF) by 3% to pay tribute to inflationary pressures.
- The above changes reflect our fundamental views as expressed in the write-up for this quarter. From a risk-adjusted perspective, the growth and alternatives sleeve still account for most of the risk in the portfolio.
Table 1 – Holdings and Weights for Our Updated Tax Efficient Portfolio (Q4 2026)
| Ticker | Name | Weight | Country |
Income |
|||
8.00% |
Canada |
||
7.00% |
Canada |
||
5.00% | International | ||
5.00% | U.S. | ||
Growth |
|||
22.00% |
U.S. |
||
25.00% |
Canada |
||
5.00% |
International |
||
5.00% |
International |
||
5.00% |
U.S. |
||
Alts/Non-Traditional Hybrids |
|||
8.00% |
U.S. |
||
5.00% |
Canada |
||
Total |
100.00% |
||
Source: BMO Global Asset Management, as of September 30, 2026. The portfolio holdings are subject to change without notice and only represent a percentage of portfolio holdings. They are not recommendations to buy or sell any particular security.
Table 2 – BMO GAM Tax Efficient Portfolio for Q4 2026
| Ticker | ETF Name | Sector Positioning | Management Fee | Weight (%) | 90-Day Vol | Volatility Contribution | |
| Income | |||||||
| ZDB | BMO Discount Bond Index ETF | Fixed Income | Core | 0.09% | 8.00% | 4.64% | 3.09% |
| ZCDB | BMO Corporate Discount Bond ETF | Fixed Income | Core | 0.15% | 7.00% | 3.66% | 2.13% |
| ZPAY | BMO Premium Yield ETF | Equity | Tactical | 0.65% | 5.00% | 8.87% | 3.69% |
| ZWHC | BMO Covered Call Health Care ETF | Equity | Tactical | 0.65% | 5.00% | 19.20% | 7.99% |
| Total Income | 25.00% | 16.91% | |||||
| Growth | |||||||
| ZUQ | BMO MSCI USA High Quality Index ETF | Equity | Core | 0.30% | 22.00% | 12.50% | 22.90% |
| ZCN | BMO S&P/TSX Capped Composite Index ETF | Equity | Core | 0.05% | 25.00% | 11.97% | 24.93% |
| ZLSC | BMO Long Short Canadian Equity ETF | Equity | Tactical | 0.20% | 5.00% | 6.29% | 2.62% |
| ZLSU | BMO Long Short US Equity ETF | Equity | Tactical | 0.25% | 5.00% | 9.84% | 4.10% |
| ZOCT | BMO US Equity Buffer - October | Equity | Tactical | 0.25% | 5.00% | 3.77% | 1.57% |
| Total Growth | 62.00% | 56.12% | |||||
| Non-Traditional Hybrids | |||||||
| ZCOM | BMO Broad Commodity ETF | Hybrid | Tactical | 0.26% | 8.00% | 25.11% | 16.73% |
| ZWGD | BMO Covered Call Spread Gold Bullion ETF | Hybrid | Tactical | 0.65% | 5.00% | 24.57% | 10.23% |
| Total Alternatives | 13.00% | 26.96% | |||||
| Total Cash | 0.00% | 0.00% | |||||
| Portfolio | 0.23% | 100.00% | 12.01% | 100.00% | |||
Source: BMO Global Asset Management, as of September 30, 2026. The portfolio holdings are subject to change without notice and only represent a percentage of portfolio holdings. They are not recommendations to buy or sell any particular security.
Table 3 – Changes to the Tax Efficient Portfolio (from Q3 2026 to Q4 2026)
Sell/Trim |
Ticker |
Old weight |
(%) |
New weight |
Buy/Add |
Ticker |
Old weight |
% |
New weight |
12.50% |
-4.50% |
8.00% |
0.00% |
5.00% |
5.00% |
||||
12.50% |
-5.50% |
7.00% |
0.00% |
5.00% |
5.00% |
||||
25.00% |
-3.00% |
22.00% |
0.00% |
5.00% |
5.00% |
||||
5.00% |
-5.00% |
0.00% |
0.00% |
5.00% |
5.00% |
||||
5.00% |
-5.00% |
0.00% |
0.00% |
5.00% |
5.00% |
||||
5.00% |
-5.00% |
0.00% |
5.00% |
3.00% |
8.00% |
Source: BMO Global Asset Management, as of September 30, 2026. The portfolio holdings are subject to change without notice and only represent a percentage of portfolio holdings. They are not recommendations to buy or sell any particular security.
Notes on tax characteristics:
ZDB, ZCDB
- The BMO Discount Bond ETF suite (ZDB, ZCDB, ZSDB) is designed to minimize interest income by buying bonds with lower coupons that are trading at a discount to par value, such that a portion of future returns will come from price appreciation and will be treated as a capital gain instead of interest income. Please see here for a breakdown of how the suite can help investors reduce taxable interest income relative to traditional bond funds with similar exposures.
- ZUAG/F: Average coupon is far below Yield-To-Maturity, or YTM (2.82% average coupon, which is lower than the yield to maturity of 4.32% as of Dec 29, 2025, indicating pull-to-par opportunity and minimization of interest income versus other bond ETFs).
ZUQ, ZOCT, ZLSU
- Dividends from U.S. companies are subject to U.S. withholding tax. Because of their screens, they have a lower dividend payout rate, and therefore a lower rate of U.S. withholding tax exposure versus U.S. equity exposures that pay out a higher dividend distribution rate.
ZCN, ZLSC
- Baskets of Canadian companies with distributions taxed as Canadian eligible dividends and entitled to the advantageous Canadian dividend gross up and tax credit system.
ZWGD
- These covered call strategies sell call options in order to collect monthly cash flow; this portion of the yield is taxed as capital gains and/or return of capital, which are exposed to tax at a lower rate versus interest income or foreign income.
ZWHC, ZPAY
- Baskets composed of U.S. large cap names, which pay dividends (foreign income exposed to U.S. withholding tax). The ETF’s covered call strategy sells call options in order to collect monthly cash flow; this portion is taxed as capital gains, which are exposed to tax at a lower rate than interest income or foreign income.
Performance of Portfolio

Notes on Tax Characteristics:
ZDB, ZCDB
The BMO Discount Bond ETF suite (ZDB, ZCDB, ZSDB) is designed to minimize interest income by buying bonds with lower coupons that are trading at a discount to par value, such that a portion of future returns will come from price appreciation and will be treated as a capital gain instead of interest income.
ZUQ, ZOCT, ZLSU
- Dividends from U.S. companies are subject to U.S. withholding tax. Because of their screens, they have a lower dividend payout rate, and therefore a lower rate of U.S. withholding tax exposure versus U.S. equity exposures that pay out a higher dividend distribution rate.
ZCN, ZLSC
- Baskets of Canadian companies with distributions taxed as Canadian eligible dividends and entitled to the advantageous Canadian dividend gross up and tax credit system.
ZWGD
- These covered call strategies sell call options in order to collect monthly cash flow; this portion is taxed as capital gains and/or return of capital, which are exposed to tax at a lower rate versus interest income or foreign income.
ZWHC, ZPAY
- Baskets composed of U.S. large cap names, which pay dividends (foreign income exposed to U.S. withholding tax). The ETF’s covered call strategy sells call options in order to collect monthly cash flow; this portion is taxed as capital gains, which are exposed to tax at a lower rate than interest income or foreign income.
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