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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: EDGE was mentioned on BNN the other day. It seems interesting as it offers substantial diversification compared to the mainstream equities I typically invest in. I have some questions for you:
1. What is your overall view about this ETF?
2. AUM is about $46M...is that too small for the fund to have much promise?
3. With $46M, is it too risky to take a large position, or is there protection from how ETFs operate?
4. It is perplexing to me....the average volume shows at about 600 on one trading platform I use and about 1,000 on another, yet there are bids and asks in excess of 2,000; why would there be such large bid / ask when the volume is much lower?
5. The quoted fee is 0.40% but about 1/2 of the holdings are other Evolve ETFs; is the real cost of the fee more than the 0.40% quoted (do they stack)? Would it be less of a fee if one simply bought the other funds?
Sorry if some of these are dumb questions, I don't often invest in ETFs. Many thanks for your excellent service.
Read Answer Asked by Leonard on August 26, 2024
Q: Any opinion on I Shares XUSC (3% weighted) as a hedge against XSP where there is a major portion allotted to large companies?
I believe this is a new ETF and might, in my opinion, cause one to wait awhile however considering the issuer is there any point in holding off an attempt to partially offset XSP?
Any better ideas would be great.
Thanks


Read Answer Asked by DAVID on August 23, 2024
Q: My son is 25 years old and saving to buy a house in the near future. Which is a better TFSA investment strategy for him, investing his savings in a balanced ETF Vanguard Growth ETF portfolio (VGRO.TO) vs. allocating 25% of savings to Vanguard Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF (VAB), 25% to Vanguard FTSE Canada All Cap Index ETF (VCN), and 50% to Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap ex Canada Index ETF(VXC)?
Read Answer Asked by Jacquie on August 23, 2024
Q: Hello,

My RRSP funds are with TD Strategic management balanced portfolio, MER is about 1.8%, it does not look like it is doing good. What are your thoughts about TD Strategic management balanced portfolio, and will self-manage option be better to save 1.8%
Read Answer Asked by Manjit on August 23, 2024
Q: I have been retired for 5 years. With equities outperforming my fixed income significantly over this time period I am now looking at options to increase the fixed income allocation in my portfolio from 20% to 25 or 30%.

I am looking for advice on what to purchase. I have had some laddered GICs but returns are dropping. Should I consider buying actual bonds...ie construct a bond ladder that might see better returns especially if interest rates continue to drop?
Read Answer Asked by Peter on August 22, 2024
Q: Hi,
I'm looking for your sage opinion on how to deploy cash at this point in time. I have enough cash for 5 years of expenses and I'm in my 2nd year of retirement. The rest of my nest egg is in equities, real estate and bullion.

I have been thinking of just putting this cash into a five year GIC ladder and call it a day. But.... rates are already falling on GICs as we speak, likely in anticipation of further Bank of Canada and soon US Fed cuts.

Have you other options for me to consider for how to deploy this cash to 1) ensure a high probability of being able to meet expenses without selling equities in the event of a market downturn, while 2) ensuring a reasonably decent return from this cash over such a long period.

Specifically, does it make sense to accept around 4% as a guaranteed average rate or is there a solid case to make for dividend payers instead of GICs. Open to other and all suggestions.

Thanks for your invaluable service.
Michael
Read Answer Asked by Michael on August 22, 2024
Q: Fidelity has two etf's Fidelity Canadian Growth (FCLC) and Fidelity Global Innovator (FINN) etfs actively managed by their two high profile managers. Can I get your thoughts on the two funds and any comments on the asset managers.

thank you
Read Answer Asked by Frank on August 22, 2024
Q: Always looking for the best of all worlds - but find myself thinking "safety first" right now given global circumstances - and the US election.

So the above ETFs all yielding over 14% right now - too good to be true or a legitimate and safer way to go given their use of options - and 5i has clearly made us aware of the pros and cons of options (Thank you) .... but how about this combination of ETF's

As always Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Donald on August 21, 2024
Q: What are the tax implications of owing the iShares Gold Trust (IAU) in RRSP and non-RRSP accounts? Is IAU treated the same as other US ETFs for Canadians, from a tax perspective?

I recently read that the US taxes gold as a collectible, at a higher tax rate than equities. Does this apply to Canadians who own IAU?

Thank you for this excellent service.
Read Answer Asked by Dale on August 21, 2024
Q: Dear 5i team.

I tried going through recent Q+A to make sense of these two ETFs.

Can you simplify for me?

1) What are the key differences of these two? The yappear to have similar holdings, just diff %.

2) Closing in on one year since inception, any more visibility to performance/cost etc?

3) Can both be held, or do you prefer one over the other?

Many thanks for your help.
Read Answer Asked by Arthur on August 20, 2024