Mike Philbrick’s Top Picks for August 29, 2025

Mike Philbrick, CEO, ReSolve Asset Management

Focus: Exchange-Traded Funds

Top picks: iShares Silver Bullion ETF, 3iQ Solana Staking ETF, iShares U.S. Small Cap Index ETF

MARKET OUTLOOK:

Markets are shifting from a rates story to a build-and-platform story and that’s bullish for risk assets. The U.S. Federal Reserve has moved from fighting inflation at all costs to balancing risks, a subtle but important pivot that lowers financing stress and supports valuations. At the same time, the economy is improving. Manufacturing surveys are firmer, capex is re-accelerating, and earnings breadth is widening beyond a handful of mega caps.

Policy is helping. A lighter, clearer rulebook, from permitting to financial plumbing, reduces friction and speeds capital formation. AI adoption is also moving from demos to deployment. That pushes demand for chips, software, and services today, and for power, cooling, and grid capacity tomorrow. In parallel, the digital-asset infrastructure is being standardized. Spot ETFs, cleaner custody, and clearer tax treatment are bringing Bitcoin and Ethereum onto mainstream platforms. Access is easier, participation is broader, even if prices stay volatile.

Crucially, AI is getting physical. Data centres, robotics and automation require real inputs such as electricity, copper, steel, advanced equipment. That implies a multi-year investment cycle that reaches well beyond Silicon Valley.

Positioning implication, broaden your exposure. Don’t chase a single AI winner. Tilt toward the builders of the infrastructure, the old picks and shovels analogy, like semiconductors, data-centre and grid infrastructure, industrial automation and cybersecurity alongside energy and base metals that feed the build-out.

For Canadian investors, this plays to national strengths. Oil & gas, uranium, hydro power, copper, nickel, and critical minerals supply chains.

The bottom line is from code to construction. With policy easing, better activity, and clearer rules, AI’s growth now depends on building power, grids, and capacity, a supportive mix for equities and credit across tech, infrastructure, and metals.

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TOP PICKS:

iShares Silver Bullion ETF (SVR TSX)

iShares is a simple, liquid way to own physical silver in an ETF wrapper. It seeks to replicate the price of silver bullion (less fees) and is hedged to the Canadian dollar, so investors get metal exposure without U.S. and Canadian dollar currency noise.

For those who want FX exposure, BlackRock also offers a non-hedged class. Silver can play two roles in a portfolio as it is a hard-asset diversifier and inflation hedge alongside gold, and a cyclical asset with demand tied to industrial uses like electrification and solar.

Silver’s appeal is the directness with no mining equity risk, no derivatives roll, just bullion exposure held in custody. The trade-offs is silver is volatile and can overshoot in both directions; sizing and time horizon matter. As a sleeve next to equities and bonds, silver provides a different return stream and a potential hedge against policy mistakes and currency dilution.

3iQ Solana Staking ETF (SOLQ TSX)

3iQ gives Canadians regulated, TSX-listed access to Solana a high throughput blockchain with staking rewards accruing inside the fund. Importantly, 3iQ launched with a zero per cent management fee for the first 12 months, then 0.15 per cent thereafter, making it one of the lowest-cost crypto ETFs available.

Staking aims to add a yield component on top of Solana’s price moves, offering a more complete way to hold the asset than price-only exposure. Canada’s spot Solana ETFs (with staking) arrived before any U.S. equivalents, underscoring the domestic edge in crypto ETF innovation.

Risks are real. Solana is highly volatile, and staking introduces technical/operational risks alongside regulatory uncertainty position sizing is key. For investors seeking a rules-based, a low-fee way to participate in a growing crypto ecosystem, Solana is a compelling vehicle with transparent economics.

iShares U.S. Small Cap Index ETF (XSU TSX)

iShares delivers broad U.S. small-cap exposure by tracking the Russell 2000 Index while hedging U.S. and Canadian dollars, so returns reflect company fundamentals more than currency swings. Small caps bring different growth drivers with more domestic, cyclical exposure and can benefit if market breadth continues to widen beyond mega-caps. They also diversify factor exposures relative to a large-cap-heavy core.

In practice, iShares is a clean, low-maintenance way to re-introduce small-cap beta to Canadian portfolios that have drifted toward the U.S. mega-cap trade. The flip side however is small caps are more rate and credit sensitive and can lag if growth slows. Hedging removes potential FX tailwinds when U.S. dollars rallies. Net to net, for investors seeking a complementary engine to large-cap U.S. exposure without taking a currency view, iShares is a straightforward building block.

PAST PICKS: OCTOBER 15, 2024

Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (URNM NYSEARCA)

Then: US$48.10

Now: US$50.49

Return: 5%

Total Return: 8%

Global X Canadian Oil & Gas Equity Covered Call ETF (ENCC TSX)

Then: $11.34

Now: $10.74

Return: -5%

Total Return: 6%

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Index ETF (EQL TSX)

Then: $37.78

Now: $39.42

Return: 4%

Total Return: 5%

Total Return Average: 6%