ZWB - BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF

In this episode, Sohrab Movahedi, Bipan Rai, and your host, Skye Collyer, delve into Q4 Canadian bank earnings, touching on what’s driving growth and the unifying theme of resilience through diversification. They also share their 2026 outlook for the Big Six.

Diversification Driving Growth: Despite the slowest loan growth in decades, Canadian banks delivered nearly 10% revenue growth, with non-interest income (trading and fee-based) now making up 54% of total revenues.

Mixed Core Performance & Cautious Outlook: Capital markets and wealth management were strong, while traditional lending lagged; banks remain cautious on credit risk, increasing provisions for non-impaired loans.

Valuation & Strategy Implications: Robust capital positions support dividends and buybacks, creating rationale for an equal-weight beta exposure such as ZEB. For those with valuation concerns, we suggest covered call strategies like ZWB to smooth returns and limit volatility.

As Canadian banks report fiscal year-end earnings, investors may consider buying BMO’s Bank ETFs for their upside potential, diversification and steady cash flow.

Canada’s latest budget marks a major pivot toward long-term growth, with C$115B in infrastructure spending alongside substantial allocations for defense and housing. Alongside those investments, the Feds are encouraging private sector participation via regulatory streamlining and tax incentives.

Turn volatility into cash flow with our top 6 picks yielding 6% or more, for investors seeking to reduce volatility relative to broad markets while enhancing the level of yield in their portfolios.

In this special episode, Portfolio Managers Jonathan Lau and Olivia Li, and your host, Skye Collyer, take a deep dive into covered call ETFs — discussing how they work and strategies to utilize them for portfolio positioning in today’s marketplace. Skye Collyer is a Director of ETF Distribution at BMO Global Asset Management. She is joined on the podcast by Jonathan Lau and Olivia Li, Portfolio Managers at BMO Exchange Traded Funds. The episode was recorded live on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.