Guided ETF Portfolio Strategy Q1 2026
Jan. 15, 2026From shifting policy signals to growing interest in commodities, the investing playbook is evolving. In this episode, ETF and Alternatives Strategist Bipan Rai and host Michelle Allen discuss what these developments could mean for portfolio strategies and fixed income positioning this quarter.
Michelle Allen is Senior Associate, Online Distribution at BMO Exchange Traded Funds and Bipan Rai is Head of ETF Strategy, Exchange Traded Funds at BMO GAM. The episode was recorded live on Wednesday, January 14, 2026.
ETFs mentioned:
BMO MSCI USA High Quality Index ETF (Ticker: ZUQ)
BMO S&P/TSX Capped Composite Index ETF (Ticker: ZCN)
BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETF (Ticker: ZEA)
BMO MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF (Ticker: ZEM)
BMO Canadian Bank Income Index ETF (Ticker: ZBI)
BMO Covered Call Spread Gold Bullion ETF (Ticker: ZWGD)
Source: ETF Flows, according to the National Bank Report, December 2025
Commentary: How to keep dancing when the party is slowing down
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Prohibition on Use of Reputation Risk by Regulators (October 2025)
Correlation: A statistical measure of how two securities move in relation to one another. Positive correlation indicates similar movements, up or down together, while negative correlation indicates opposite movements (when one rises, the other falls).
Duration: A measure of the sensitivity of the price of a fixed income investment to a change in interest rates. Duration is expressed as number of years. The price of a bond with a longer duration would be expected to rise (fall) more than the price of a bond with lower duration when interest rates fall (rise).
EAFE: Stands for developed markets in Europe, Australasia, and the Far East. EM refers to ‘emerging markets’, and includes major economies and many smaller countries such as China, India, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan, and South Africa.
FX: Foreign Exchange
Liquidity: The degree to which an asset or security can be quickly bought or sold in the market without affecting the asset’s price. Cash is considered to be the most liquid asset, while things like fine art or rare books would be relatively illiquid.
LRCN: Limited Recourse Capital Notes
NPR: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Term premium: The extra return (a risk premium) investors demand for holding a longer-term bond instead of repeatedly reinvesting in shorter-term bonds over the same period, compensating for risks like uncertain inflation and interest rate changes.
The Fed: the U.S. Federal Reserve Board
USMCA: United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
Volatility: Measures how much the price of a security, derivative, or index fluctuates. The most commonly used measure of volatility when it comes to investment funds is standard deviation.
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