Investment Q&A

Q: would you agree with the expectation of lower rates for longer and if so, what about selling Pref shares which have been killed and switching to a high yield
bond etf or fund? Does this make sense given the current sell off in credit?
Any recommendations for a purchase ? thanks

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I currently own ZLB (RRSP, max'd out), XIT (RRSP-TFSA, max'd out), ZRE (Cash, 3/4 position, will add to over time), ZWC (Cash, close to max'd out). I also have some legacy positions in RBF1018 (RBC Cdn Equity Income-D...MER of 1.0) and CIG50217 (Sentry Cdn Income...high MER), both of which I have averaged roughly 7-8% return over the last many years, prior to this crisis. On top of the above I own AD, AQN, AW, BCE, CSH, CM, FTS, NTR, NWC, RY, TRP, WSP in various amounts to achieve my overall asset allocation targets (not to mention my fixed income portion of my portfolio.

I normally like to run a concentrated portfolio of around 20 positions, composed of +/- 6 ETF-MF and +/- 14 stocks. I have mapped out the use of my current cash (15%) into monthly repurchases over the next 6 months. My question relates to the combination of ETFs, but focusing on ZWC. I own ZWC for its high CC dividend, but recognize that the upside is potentially limited in a recovery. Also, when mapping out spending my cash, I reach an uncomfortable level of too high an allocation per individual stock. That led me to consider adding another ETF. I looked at several, and filtered them down to CDZ, XEI and XDV. I have chosen CDZ as my candidate to add. Looking under the hood at the ETF holdings, they appear to not overlap too much with my own individual stocks.

Do you like this strategy? Does it result in a significant overlap in stocks, held either individually or within the existing ETFs?

Thanks for your help...Steve

Q: Hi Peter, VCN and XAW are in one portfolio, VXC is in another. Would you add to these or is there a better choice considering the Canadian dollar or Covid? Thanks.

Q: Hi folks, I would like you to reco some good dividend ETFs in the Candian space that you think are potentially a good buy for now. By 'good', I meant the company should have solid fundamentals, and the price should be low so the yield is high. I do not expect the US tech to boom forever, I would rather reap my 7 to 8% percent and hope it last forever. Thanks :) Tony

Q: I have exposure to these etfs in my rrsp. Would you recommend selling zwe and adding zeq? How much overlap is there between xef and zeq?

Q: Is this a good time to buy XQQ and what does the -9% cash/derivative component of this ETF mean?

Q: Hi 5i Team,
I am considering to invest in high yield corporate bond.Would you recommend to invest in corporate bond than equity in this environment? Can you recommend few names?

Thank you,

Q: Hi 5i,
I would like to invest 10K (TFSA) in these two EFTs, any concerns?
thanks

Q: Hi gang, at this point which utilities ETF would you recommend in Canada and in usa. Thanks
Alnoor

Q: Is buying PHYS a low risk proxy to owning physical gold since it actually holds the gold?
Is buying UUP a low risk proxy for buysing US$ or could there be unexpected volatility of the ETF ouside of dollar fluxuations?
Likewise for GBTC for Bitcoin?

It like to get a close to buying US$, Gold, and a bit of Bitcoin but without having to physically obtain - have I chosen approapriate vehicles for this or could I get blindsided?

Q: What is the one stock you would suggest to go all in with this correction?

Q: Are the "dividends" paid by these two Purpose ETF's taxed as eligible dividends? Thanks.

Q: I'm thinking of switching etf's, selling VGG and buying VSP to take advantage of tax loss selling (VGG) and also buying into a CAN dollar hedged fund as the CAN dollar has taken a beating lately and should rebound looking forward, appreciate your professional opinion? Thank you!

Q: I'm thinking of switching etf's, selling VGG and buying VSP to take advantage of tax loss selling (VGG) and also buying into a CAN dollar hedged fund as the CAN dollar has taken a beating lately and should rebound looking forward, appreciate your professional opinion? Thank you!

Q: How would you rank these bond funds. I sold FTB and bought PMIF but it is not performing well. Bond funds have not performed well due to the drop in interest rates. I am retired in my late 70’s.

Q: Many high quality bond ETFs are trading at substantial discounts to their NAV. How can this be as the ETF should be representing the value of the underlying bonds? Are bonds being sold so fast that the market makers just can not keep-up with the pace? If XCB and XRB return to their NAV value this could be a buying opportunity? Thanks Ron

Q: A few questions have been asked about covered call products and I know that the bounce back will not be as high as a Plain Vanilla ETF. The question remains how much are you actually losing out on? Would the fund just not repurchase right away when called out so when things normalize, you may be out 5 to 10 percent as a guess? I am just hoping that the loss is not that bad

Q: Please comment on the uptick of the US investment grade corporate bond ETF XIG today. Do you still feel this is a suitable complement to a core fixed income holding of ZAG? Thank-you.

Q: Should I continue to hold these 3 in both cash and RRSP accounts.
What would be a good replacement
I can use the loss for capital gains in my cash accounts make in January 2020.
Thank you
Sincerely
Mike

Q: Last year, I purchased a number of ETFs to reduce risk. With the recent stock turmoil, they are all in significant loss positions. If possible, I would like to crystallize my losses now for tax purposes. However, I am comfortable longer-term with my portfolio's geographic and sectoral allocations, and do not want to change my set-up.

Am I allowed by the CRA to claim a tax loss in a non-registered account if I sell an index ETF (e.g. VSP - Vanguard S&P 500 index hedged) and immediately purchase an ETF from another company which represents the same index (e.g. ZUE - BMO's equivalent S&P 500 hedged index ETF), or is this considered a superficial tax loss?

Thanks again for all of your excellent advice and insights.