Toronto-based Questrade Wealth Management Inc. is diving into the exchange-traded funds (ETF) market for the first time with the launch of six funds.

The funds, which will be available in early March, mark the first time Questrade has created its own product. The discount brokerage felt the time was right for such a move given Canada’s relatively young ETF market.

“We think the ETF industry in Canada is still in the middle stages of growth and we think we can bring value to Canadian investors,” says John Youn, executive managing director, ETFs and global structured products with Questrade.

The soon-to-launch funds will invest in U.S. securities. Two funds will focus on U.S. mid-cap companies while the remaining four will follow specific sectors, such as consumer discretionary and technology. Questrade created the funds to give Canadian investors access to an improving U.S. economy.

“We think that globally the U.S. is at the right stage of growth relative to European markets or even emerging markets,” says Yuon. “[The U.S. is] in the early growth stage with [rising employment numbers] and the economy getting better.”

The six new funds are:

  • Questrade Russell US Midcap Value Index ETF Hedged to CAD (QMV);
  • Questrade Russell US Midcap Growth Index ETFHedged to CAD (QMG);
  • Questrade Russell 1000 Equal Weight US Technology Index ETFHedged to CAD (QRT);
  • Questrade Russell 1000 Equal Weight US Health Care Index ETF Hedged to CAD (QRH);
  • Questrade Russell 1000 Equal Weight US Consumer Discretionary Index ETFHedged to CAD (QRD); and
  • Questrade Russell 1000 Equal Weight US Industrials Index ETFHedged to CAD (QRI).

All six funds are hedged to the Canadian dollar. Fees for the funds will range between 0.7% and 0.75%.

Questrade also intends to launch other ETFs later this spring.

Questrade Wealth Management Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Questrade Financial Group Inc.