The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that BMO Short Corporate Bond Index ETF (ZCS) is a low-cost, low-risk fund that has been generating decent returns in recent years. Globe columnist Gordon Pape writes that ZCS at $14.05 has an annual payout of 54 cents to yield 3.8 per cent. The fund has been designed to replicate the performance of the FTSE Canada Short Term Corporate Bond Index, net of expenses. It tracks a variety of debt securities with a term to maturity between one and five years. Securities held in the index are generally corporate bonds issued domestically in Canada in Canadian dollars, with an investment-grade rating. As of the end of November, the fund was showing a year-to-date total return of 4.81 per cent. The three-year-average annual compound rate of return was 6.18 per cent. The fund was launched in October, 2009. It has $4.3-billion in assets under management and a management expense ratio of 0.11 per cent. There are 577 positions in the portfolio. Only one, a Scotiabank bond maturing in 2027, makes up more than 1 per cent of total assets. Almost 58 per cent of the assets are bonds issued by financial institutions. About 90 per cent of the investments are rated A or BBB.