The Beat The TSX Portfolio has a long history of beating the TSX Composite, but it can be a rocky road. The approach usually brings greater volatility. The strategy is dead simple. BTSX will simply hold the top ten yielding stocks from the TSX 60. It will change the constituents (holdings) on the first trading day of each year, and it will continue to hold those ten stocks throughout the year. The BTSX has underperformed the markets (XIC-T) for a few years running, but the BTSX 2026 is off to an impressive start in 2026. We can thank the energy exposure and the potential energy shock that is being created by the war in Iran.
The following is not advice.
Here’s the post that captures the performance of the Beat The TSX Portfolio over the last several years. From that post, here’s more on the long term record of the Beat The TSX Portfolio. These returns were calculated to 2024. The Dividend Strategy blog is no longer live.
BTSX in 2026
I had suggested that the energy weighting (at 50%) might serve BTSX well in 2026.
The total return performance (including dividends) for the 2026 BTSX. The timeframe for the performance is January 1, 2026 to May 15, 2026.
- BTSX – 14.62%
- TSX – 7.54%
And the 2026 total return performance (including dividends) of the individual assets – –
| Telus | -5.03% |
| Enbridge | 18.95% |
| Pembina | 30.32% |
| BCE | 1.21% |
| Canadian Natural Resources | 43.40% |
| TC Energy | 25.63% |
| Scotiabank | 7.21% |
| Emera | 7.47% |
| SunLife | 16.79% |
| Canadian Tire | 0.26% |
The pipelines and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ-T) are powering this portfolio in 2026. Sunlife is also kicking in. The performance is strong enough to carry the lowly telcos.
Portfolio construction at Retirement Club
My personal take is that we should consider greater diversification when building the Canadian blue chip stock portfolio. That said, the BTSX list might help you find some of those blue chips when they go on sale.
As an example, here’s the 1-year performance of my wife’s Canadian RRSP Blue Chip Stock Portfolio holdings …
It holds the financials and pipelines and the greater utilities sector (classic energy producers and telcos). Given that I favour the Canadian wide moat approach we include the grocers found in the XST-T consumer staples ETF. HUTS-T covers the total utilities space with 25% leverage.
I’ve been a fan of Canadian oil and gas stocks from late 2020. And I favour the big four of CNQ/SU/IMO/TOU.
The portfolio is defensive in nature with an energy-shock (inflation) hedge. The portfolio is certainly built for the times, going up when markets go down, and spiking when the makets fear an energy shock.
In the above, the RRSP Portfolio is in racing green, the TSX Composite is the dotted blue line. Who needs bonds you might ask. 😉 We cover that topic extensively at Retirement Club for Canadians. Not advice, but I’ll use more defensive equities for Canadian and U.S. portfolios so that I can use less bonds.
The Beat The TSX Portfolio will do the inverse – usually creating a greater drawdown in market declines. Once again, you might consider keeping BTSX castoffs from year to year. And in general, owning more of the financials and greater utilities, while you consider oil and gas stocks as well.
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Thanks Dale, we use a blend of the BTSX portfolio and Canadian dividend growth stocks in our non-registered account. A lot of the same names as your wife’s portfolio. The eligible dividends have been a large part of our income even when I was working. I have yet to see comparisons that show or don’t show the benefits of the dividend tax credit toward total return, when the dividends are a part of your income. We don’t find our tax bill onerous and the returns have been decent. It could be a good topic.