ETF Education Report: BANCREEK INTERNATIONAL LARGE CAP ETF (BCIL)

What this ETF is trying to do

The BANCREEK INTERNATIONAL LARGE CAP ETF (BCIL) is an exchange-traded fund that holds a variety of different companies. Based on its top holdings, it includes international companies such as Codan Ltd, Advantest Corp, and Dollarama Inc. This list is a partial look at the fund; it holds a total of 44 different companies. Please remember that what an ETF owns can change over time.

What the numbers show

When looking at how an ETF performs, it is important to look at two different things: price return and total return.

• Price Return: This measures only the change in the share price. For BCIL, the year-to-date (YTD) price return is approximately 4.02%. However, the one-year price return was a slight decline of about -0.25%.

• Total Return: This is a more complete measure because it includes the value of distributions (cash payments) made to investors. The YTD total return is approximately 4.68%, and the one-year total return was approximately 0.46%.

To give you an idea of price movement, the current price is $29.04. The estimated price from roughly one year ago was approximately $29.11.

Income and distribution explanation

Some investors look for "distributions," which are cash payments made by the ETF. BCIL has a distribution yield of approximately 0.72%. This means the cash payments represent about 0.72% of the ETF's price. The fund has made three distributions over the last 12 months, and these payments happen on an irregular or less frequent basis. It is important to remember that a distribution yield is not the same as total return.

NAV erosion explanation

"NAV erosion" refers to a decline in the Net Asset Value, which is the actual value of the assets held by the fund. While a falling share price can sometimes be related to erosion, they are not the same thing. For BCIL, the erosion-risk score is 94, which is labeled as "Stable / sideways." The erosion severity is rated as "good," and there is no severe erosion-risk flag present.

Pros

• The fund shows a positive YTD total return of approximately 4.68%.

• The erosion-risk score suggests the fund's value has been relatively stable or moving sideways rather than dropping sharply.

Cons

• The one-year price return shows a small decline of approximately -0.25%.

• The income rating grade is a "D," suggesting the distribution levels are relatively low.

Beginner takeaway

When studying BCIL, notice the difference between the share price and the total return. While the share price itself went down slightly over the last year, the total return was positive because it accounts for the cash distributions. Always look at both numbers to get a full picture of how an ETF is performing.