Investing · ETF deep dive
ZCON BMO Conservative ETF
BMO’s 40/60 — the cautious rung with the family’s price and tax advantages intact.
Best for: Conservative investors who want bonds in charge, at the lowest cost in the class
Pros
- 0.15% fee / 0.18% MER at a rung where costs bite yields hardest
- 60% bonds led by the tax-aware ZDB sleeve
- 1.45% quarterly distribution yield
Cons
- Rate sensitivity dominates the risk profile
- Smallest of the family ($101M) — fine for retail, but thin
What's inside ZCON
| Underlying fund | Weight |
|---|---|
| BMO Discount Bond Index ETFZDB | 42.2% |
| BMO US Aggregate Bond Index ETF (Hedged Units)ZUAG.F | 18.1% |
| BMO S&P 500 Index ETFZSP | 18.0% |
| BMO S&P/TSX Capped Composite Index ETFZCN | 10.0% |
| BMO MSCI EAFE Index ETFZEA | 6.5% |
| BMO MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETFZEM | 3.7% |
| BMO S&P US Mid Cap Index ETFZMID | 1.0% |
| BMO S&P US Small Cap Index ETFZSML | 0.5% |
Canada 51.9% · US 36.6% (total-portfolio look-through incl. bonds) (Provider look-through including bonds, June 9, 2026) · holdings as of June 9, 2026
The deep dive
At conservative mixes, fees matter more, not less — when expected returns are modest, 10 basis points is a bigger slice of them. ZCON’s 0.18% MER at a 40/60 mix is the sharpest pricing at the rung, and the ZDB sleeve again rewards non-registered holders.
The standard conservative-fund caveats apply unchanged: this is undated-money caution. Dated money → GICs; spending-soon money → cash tiers; ZCON is the quiet invested layer behind them.
Same family, different dose
The BMO ETFs ladder lets you change risk level without changing philosophy:
- ZEQT — 100% equity (actual) · 0.18% MER · quarterly distributions
- ZGRO — 81/19 actual · 0.18% MER · quarterly distributions
- ZBAL — 62/38 actual · 0.18% MER · quarterly distributions
Frequently asked questions
What does ZCON hold?
ZCON holds 42/58 actual — led by BMO Discount Bond Index ETF (ZDB) at 42.2%, BMO US Aggregate Bond Index ETF (Hedged Units) (ZUAG.F) at 18.1%, BMO S&P 500 Index ETF (ZSP) at 18.0% (as of June 9, 2026). Geographic mix: Canada 51.9% · US 36.6% (total-portfolio look-through incl. bonds) (provider look-through including bonds, june 9, 2026). Weights drift between rebalances — rebalances quarterly to strategic weights — the most explicit schedule.
What does ZCON cost?
Currently 0.15% management fee; 0.18% published MER (fact sheets as of May 31, 2026). For context, the asset-allocation category now runs roughly 0.17%–0.25% all-in at the index families after the 2025 fee war — see the full cost table, and what fee gaps compound into with the MER calculator.
Should I pick ZCON or one of its siblings?
The BMO ETFs ladder runs ZEQT · ZGRO · ZBAL · ZCON — same construction, different equity/bond dose. ZCON sits at 42/58 actual. The risk level is the decision that matters; pick the rung whose worst year you could actually sit through (the asset-allocation calculator helps), then stay put. Comparing across providers instead? Start with the family-by-family guide.
The bottom line
The price pick at 40/60. Same job as VCNS/XCNS; cheapest execution.
This page is for educational purposes only and is not investment advice. Fund facts were verified at BMO ETFs's published fact sheets and product pages on June 10, 2026; holdings and weights are point-in-time and drift between rebalances; published MERs may lag recent fee changes (fact sheets as of May 31, 2026). We deliberately do not compare or project returns. Read the fund facts document before buying. See our methodology.