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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: COWZ seems to have outperformed broader indexes like SPY and RSP. It seems to have outperformed several other factor or other specialized ETFs like SCHD and JEPI. I say ‘seems’ because neither RBC-DI nor iTRADE charts identify if dividends are included in the stock charts depicted on their respective platforms.

I am puzzled because COWZ trades more than broader ETFs and has higher trading fees ; also its MER is higher at 0.49 (source ETF.com). Am I missing something or is COWZ indeed a good vehicle for a portfolio? Would you top up existing positions in JEP and SCHEDULED or start a modest position in COWZ? I would appreciate if you would add color to your answer.
Read Answer Asked by Adam on February 24, 2023
Q: Hi Peter,
I would like your opinions on Discount Bonds ETFs vs regular bond ETFs. My understanding is that discount bonds etf is earning interest income comparable to regular bond etfs, but when the central banks decide to cut rate down the road, discount bonds etf will generate higher capital gain than regular bond etfs. So at this point of inflation and rate movement, is it better to purchase discount bonds etfs? Which discount bonds etf is your favourite? How’s your favourite as compared to DXDB and ZDB? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Willie on February 23, 2023
Q: Hi, my broker advised to get a BA (bankers accepted note) to park cash. Could you advise on pros and cons compared to a-cash etf. Eg. PSA.It pays 4.6% at maturity. Can you buy these with online brokers.
Read Answer Asked by Brad on February 23, 2023
Q: hi, can you illustrate your investment thesis for both of these ETF's in the income portfolio. please specifically include what you believe to be the catalyst(s) for the share price to increase. CPD has a long track record of deteriorating share value (approximately half of share value at inception 2007 ) CVD less so ( down just under 20% from 2011 ). could you also compare the "yield" of both over the years, so we can see if the interest/payments have offset share price declines in a meaningful way. cheers, chris
Read Answer Asked by chris on February 23, 2023
Q: Hi

Is it time to lighten up on the following and look at growth stock..

In our RRSP we have

LIFE at 5% of the RRSP (still not underwater)
XYLD at 9% of the RRSP
ZWU at 5% of the RRSP

Like the dividend but two holdings are are dropping in valve.

Thank you

Mike
Read Answer Asked by Mike on February 22, 2023
Q: I have HHL & HHL.U in my registered accounts for many years. It has been a good dividend (>8%) generator with its policy of options investment of about 30%. It has a high management fee of 0.85 and MER of 0.99.

LIFE is similar with almost half fee and dividend is equally attractive. Like to get your advise comparable merits of switching HHL to LIFE.
Read Answer Asked by Ritwik on February 22, 2023
Q: Hello 5i team.
As a retired income investor and I have been using ETFs pairings as for example ZDV / ZWC and SCHD/ ZWH.U for core equity exposure. I feel comfortable with a 50/50 ratio in order to maximize the yield. What are your thoughts on using covered call ETFs in a set and forget mode and the ratio that you would consider reasonable- why not 100% covered call. I hold some sector ETFs in a similar manner. Thanks Team.. gary
Read Answer Asked by Gary on February 21, 2023
Q: Hello Peter et al:

I was talking to one of my friends who is a retired Financial industry veteran. We were talking about Energy sector and ETFs. He said the risk for smaller ETFs like HXE is that they can be wound down and it can create a lot of headaches with paper work. Especially in a non registered a/c.

I read in today's Globe and Mail that 29 ETFs have been shuttered in January alone! (Rob Carrick's article)

What ETFs you think are at risk of being wound down? (Based on their AUM?) Specifically is HXE at risk?

Many thanks.
Mano
Read Answer Asked by Savalai on February 21, 2023
Q: Hello Team
I am a retired income investor. I have calculated that my RRIF needs to yield about 4% in order to last until age 93( using my targeted withdrawal rate )I am happy with ZAG which now pays 3.53% and has a yield to maturity of over 4%. Does this gap in yield mean that ZAG unit price is over valued or is that where the the yield is moving towards? Should investors ignore the yield to maturity or just focus on the general trend in rates( I hope to buy more ZAG as rates move further up)thanks Gary
Read Answer Asked by Gary on February 21, 2023