Investment Q&A

Q: After reading your answer to a question on TIP and STIP on March 29, I invested in these two inflation-protected bond ETFs, however, their performance to date was extremely poor and I am down about 10%. Can you please explain why these "inflation protected" securities behave so poorly in the current high inflation environment? Aren't they specifically designed for situations like we have these days?

Q: How do you see XFN going forward in this environment, short and medium term?

Thanks for your service?

Q: I hate asking market timing questions as much as you hate answering them but...I have always been a bit light on real estate and am wondering if now is a OK time to add a position in either xre or zre. Second question: You have XRE in the income portfolio, today would you stick with XRE or I was looking at ZRE that has outperformed XRE recently. My concern about timing is with rising interest rates and the jittery markets that I might be better off just parking in the banks or consumer deffensive and worrying about real estate in a few years,

Q: In May,U made the right move in trimming Zre at $25.35 as it is now $21.50. The Fed & Powell are very aggressive to increase rate to reduce inflation to some 2% & possible increase rate to 4.4% by year end from current 3.31%. Majority of my Reits are near or/at 1 year low. Is it time to sell? Txs for u usual great services & views

Q: There are several Financial ETF's which classify BAM.A under "financial" and include it as part of the ETF holdings. With the upcoming spin-off, how would these ETF's adjust for this? If after the spin-off, one of the entities would not qualify as a "financial" sector, is the ETF forced to remove it as part of their holdings?

Q: I own Eric's NNRG etf...full position, as my proxy for the energy sector, all of it in my TFSA. There are also energy contributions held within CDZ, ZWC, RBF646 plus AQN, FTS, TRP.

I am considering adding a smaller position in NRGI (Eric's income etf) for my wife. She insists on having dividends as a make-up of any equity position. I see NRGI pays a roughly 7% dividend (paid monthly), it also utilizes a covered call strategy, and the outlook for oil looks very good (in my opinion) for the next several years. I am not sure if you have had a chance to watch Eric's latest Ninepoint presentation on Sept 21/22.

Q#1 = what are your initial thoughts on this newer ETF by Eric?

Q#2 = could you rank in which account would be best to purchase NRGI => RRSP vs TFSA vs Cash and why?

Q#3 = it is roughly 85% USA. Does that influence the account choice, due to the 15% dividend withholding tax?

Q#4 = could you consider adding NRGI to your data base, as well as NNRG...thanks.


Thanks for your help.... Steve

Q: Please rate these mutual funds and suggest 2 options for each from Fidelity that you would choose instead if a rating is poor to fair.

Q: Hi Peter, do you have any preference for a 1-3 month US T-bill Fund for US Cash ?
Thank you.

Q: Hi - Can you recommend one or two US short term bond etfs please?

Q: Why your Growth portfolio returns are 5.44% since inception vs xiu.to avg 7.48% CAGR since 2002 returns?Am I better off investing in XIU vs your Growth portfolio what am I missing here ?

Q: i would like to buy an etf (vanguard) with safety or stock with a high yield during these unsettled times
What would you advise ?.Can you please give me a few choices
GHB

Q: I hold riocan for income and some growth and I am up at 30% so far. For more income, do you think it is a good idea to sell and buy the hamilton enhanced us covered call ETF ( HYLD.TO ) that has a dividend of 13% at the moment ? Advise me if you have a better suggestion or simply do nothing and keep riocan. BTW it is in a taxable account so I have to pay taxes on the move. Thanks and have a nice day.

Q: 1.For Canadian coverage would you choose xic, vcn or xiu?
2.Would it be worth putting half the total amount in one of the above(xic, vcn, or xiu)and the other half in vdy?
3.For the U,S. allocation should I choose vig or spy which both require payment in u.s. dollars which I don't have, or would it be adequate to simply choose vun.

Thanks in advance. I plan to hold these allotments for many years and I appreciate dividends but do not need them for my living expenses.

Q: With rising interest rates, does this ETF still make sense for fixed income? I had thought this laddered ETF would be less sensitive to rate increases but that has not been the case - I've been taking a red bath on these. Is there an alternative or another option in the bond space that you would recommend? The duration curve is painful

Q: How would you suggest a 70+ participate in this market,if at all?

Q: Further to yesterdays Q and A re HISA, Evolve's US dollar savings account. Not yet a month old and less than $30 mill invested so far, is this a safe place to park my US dollar account cash i.e. equivalent to my Canadian cash parked in PSA?
A few months ago I asked if there were any US dollar savings accounts similar to PSA and you didn't know of any. Are there any other offerings in this space that should be considered?
Thanks. Peter

Q: Hi Peter

I need to park some cash for a condo purchase in about 6 to 18 months. I'd really appreciate your advice on how to do that with a product that is guaranteed and that I can cash out at any time.

A one year cashable GIC currently pays 2.25%.

What about Money Market Mutual funds? TDB2914 pays 2.73% but is it guaranteed?

In one of your answers, you referenced PSA as basically a high interest savings account. Are there risks with this? According to Yahoo it yields .93% and according to the Purpose Management Fund website it yields 3.3%.

Is your advice on this changing with the recent rapid rise in interest rates?

Thanks so much Peter!

Q: is there a ETF that offers me investments into Private Equity holdings, verses Public Equity

Q: If I was to sell Air Canada today for tax loss purposes what would you suggest replacing it with for a 30 day period (or longer)? Or perhaps I should just sit on the cash and buy it back after 30 days?

Q: Hi there, I'm building a portfolio based on the 4% withdrawal rule. I read a study where based on country specific stock market data, the 4% withdrawal rule only worked in Canada, US and maybe 3 other countries. Based on this study and using history as a guide - if one were to build a portfolio with 50/50 Canada and US exposure, would it be best to use VCE and VFV or VCE and XSP? Also, if VCE is not the most appropriate Canadian ETF, what would be the most suitable? I've seen XIU, XIC and VCN often mentioned, but it appears like VCE has a slight outperformance?

Thanks!