Q: I have been retired for 11 years and looking at de-risking a taxable portfolio consisting of HFR and corporate class index funds HXT, HXS, HXQ, HULC, HUC and HEQT. My registered accounts hold mostly corporate strip bonds. What would you suggest in terms of tax efficiency and capital preservation given the challenging investment environment ?
5i Research Answer:
Unless one wants to hold a portfolio of non-dividend stocks, we would see total-return ETFs as a good solution for higher tax brackets, as all taxes from these would shift to capital gains taxes. We are very comfortable with the Horizons set up, as the government has already reviewed these products and changes were made to appease the government several years ago. We can't provide portfolio allocation breakdowns but with bonds held elsewhere we would be fine with higher equity exposure, and would suggest a balanced mix of Canadian and US equities. We would be fine with a mix of HXT and HXS, with a bit of HEQT to add some international exposure (it is about 33% international currently).