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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: The Chart on this Company is down from $ 14.00 to $ 5.11 this year. They have 85 Container Ships on the high seas. Is this an indication of China Slowing, or Overcapacity of Container Ships or Reduced Fees. I know of your Concern about amount of Debt the Company has. What is your view on China's economy at present ? Bob
Read Answer Asked by bob on May 31, 2017
Q: Would you kindly rank the following bank ADRs: LYG, SAN, IBN, for a the next year or two, and your rationale. They are potential buys within a TFSA. I realize the currency conversion and dividend tax are major drawbacks. But the single digit prices of these ADRs and apparent change in sentiment for the financial sector in Europe, as well as the sentiment in emerging markets, as well as India in particular is currently compelling to me. What are your thoughts. I'm leery of etf's these days, for example XID. Too many piling into etf's may not end well in my opinion. Finally I'm also curious whether your opinion of Fairfax India has become more favourable at all since the last question on it was answered. To me Fairfax India avoids currency conversion and potentially benefits from watsas knowledge and resources. What are your thoughts
Read Answer Asked by Vicki L on May 29, 2017
Q: I typed these 3 companies into the companies addressed box and none showed up - they are from the US on deck watch list - Take Two (TTWO), SORL AUTOPARTS, GPRK GEO PARK. So I went about it this way to ask about them. Could you give me your opinion about them and is it too late to get into them now? Thanks, Dennis
Read Answer Asked by Dennis on May 26, 2017
Q: It seems like the places to be near and mid term are US and Europe for growth and not Canada for the time being. I have exposure in Canada already with Utility and Financial dividend payers which I will continue to hold, could you recommend your favorite ETFs for some exposure to US, Europe and possible Emerging markets if you like the EM.
Also, could you comment on the "Hedged to CAD" ETFs---It seems to me we trade ETFs like stocks through our brokerage accounts in CAD, so why worry what the ETF managers are doing as far as currency is concerned?
Read Answer Asked by Randy on May 26, 2017
Q: My portfolio is based almost entirely on your balanced equity but I have two international ETFs, ZDM and ZUE. (only about 7% of the portfolio, total). I have two Canadian ETFs, ZLB (has done reasonably well, +32% in two years) and HAC (up but not really spectacular). It strikes me that I am missing an opportunity to diversify further internationally by moving the two Canadian ETFs. If you agree, can you recommend any to consider? I
Read Answer Asked by Fred on May 24, 2017
Q: May I have your comments on SGI? I don't own the stock and am not planning on buying any but I would like your opinion the company none-the-less. Taking on eBay seems like folly. I have attached a link to a Guardian article which makes an interesting read.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/03/stamp-collecting-firm-stanley-gibbons-annual-pre-tax-loss

Jim
Read Answer Asked by James on May 24, 2017
Q: I would like to ask a question about mutual funds that take a global approach. (Sorry I am a ETF Newsletter subscriber and I do not know where to post a question there so I did it here). According to the high-profile consulting firm, McKinsey & Co., the expected return on NA and western EU will be far worse than 30 years ago. See the link for detail.
(https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-05-12/millennials-don-t-worry-you-ll-be-able-to-retire).
If it is for the long term, I personally agree with the global approach combined with active management, what do you guys think?
I would like to also ask you for a list of global-approach funds. I remembered you mentioned "Trimark Global Endeavour Fund" in the newsletter. Can you give some more names here or please do it on the next issue? Thanks, Tony.

Read Answer Asked by Tao on May 23, 2017
Q: my question is one I have been puzzling with and that is I hold your balanced acct in its entirety and have had great success - better than ever in my investing career. Having said that with the exposure outside of canada of many of the companies in the portfolio is there a compelling reason for a retiree to hold exposure to other countries. If so to what percentage of a total portfolio would you undertake and would that be with etfs such as xeh or vt or possibly some other mechanism. Thank you for your expertise and great service...
Read Answer Asked by gene on May 23, 2017
Q: Hi,

I'm currently only holding XEF(1.5%) and VEE(1%) for international and EM exposure. I'm looking to increase it a bit more maybe to 5%, as the rest of my portfolio is in US or CAD equities. I know you have talked about VXUS as a good international ETF to hold and the expense ratio of 0.11% is hard to beat. When I look at the regional allocation for VXUS, 19.3% is EM, so if we just hold that, would we even need to hold VEE? What do you think would be best to hold to have international and EM exposure? How about VI and VIU (exposure excl. North America)?

Was looking at one or two good quality ETF's to hold. Your thoughts on how they compare?

Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Keith on May 23, 2017
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