Investment Q&A

Q: Can you please suggest 2 or 3 ETFs for long term growth in a small RRSP, about 14K , for a young person. Keith

Q: Can you suggest a few good ETF’s which should form the basis of one’s portfolio.

Also please suggest ETF’s for specific applications like..... high risk/ growth, dividend, US equities, Canadian equities, dividend stocks, tech stocks, emerging markets ..... and your choice of basket of ETF’s which a person could use to build a portfolio ( with % allocations)

Q: In an answer about this fund on March 24 this year you said you thought there were better funds. Could you name a few and explain why please?

Q: I am asking this question on behalf of my son. He does not like to invest on his own, he has no interest and probably never will. I am thinking of setting up some kind of weekly investment program using Wealthsimple (to save on commissions), to acquire a fixed dollar amount of shares/ETFs every week. This will serve as his pension in the long run. He is 31 years old. He is fairly conservative but still young so can easily assume some risk.
1. Do you think using Wealthsimple is a good choice.
2. Do you think that investing a fixed amount every week in the same shares/ETFs is a good strategy OR would you recommend doing so every 2 weeks or on a monthly basis. (If the markets (on average) don't move too much from week to week we can increase the investment window.) Would you recommend a different investment strategy?
3. What would you recommend as a good mixture of ETFs and stocks for somebody of his age and risk appetite (to acquire and build on over time).

Thanks again.

Q: Hi, a sector rotation in the market, in recent months from high growth names to value has been quite visible. Value, I believe, also includes cyclicals like financials, industrials and consumer discretionary sectors. Materials and energy, seem to have already shot up multifold. Portfolio Managers appear to agree for this trend to continue for a while. I am trying to catch some more exposure to the Canadian value companies, in those sectors. We own banks 15% and rails 5%. Looking for your expertise to have a list of your preferred names, which are not overly expensive and have room to grow. Also, if you could recommend an etf for Cdn companies to have exposure to value. Thank you

Q: The Evolve ETF, TECH currently shows price discovery at $10.12 Canadian. The US $ version, TECH.U, also shows the same price. I'm confused.

Q: Recently, I transferred the following mutual fund 'RBC SELECT GROWTH PORTFOLIO FUND' into a self-directed online brokerage in the approximate sum of $40,000.00.
Can you please recommend a similar ETF(s) that are comparable? Thanks
Matt

Q: Do you have a US$ ETH etf you could recommend?
Thanks
Mark

Q: When attempting to diversify the sectors in a portfolio does it make sense to hold individual stocks as well as ETF's in the same sector or is it one strategy or the other?

Thanks

Q: Do you know of a German Small Cap or Micro Cap ETF that is available for purchase.
My reasoning is Alot of Smaller German banks lend money for Business Development, Not just Asset purchases like Real Estate
Thanks Gord

Q: HFR's indicated dividend is .01 per unit but it says it offers a 2.25% yield, what am I missing?

Q: What might you suggest for the following situation?

There is $27,000 held in registered accounts with an expectation to augment those savings at a rate of about $1,100 per month to address two prime objectives. The first is to accumulate sufficient funds for a down payment on a condo within five years. The second is to adequately augment savings for retirement, hopefully, 16 years from now.

A financial advisor is suggesting investing in a low risk, balanced fund with a MER of 1.9%. The management fee seems high and the expected return from the investment not particularly exciting. We have a relatively low threshold for risk, especially for those funds earmarked for retirement, but are willing to try something other than a balanced fund to improve returns. Taking on additional risk is especially palatable for that portion of the savings earmarked for the condo purchase, likely about 50% of the overall savings.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Q: I have a question about the Emerge ARK ETFs vs the ARK ETFs in the US (under Cathy). I was thinking of buying the Cdn version but am a little concerned. My understanding is that the ARK funds (under Cathy) in the US charge a "total" of 0.75% for their services. Their Cdn version, the Emerge ETFs, I thought charged 0.80% for their services but looking closer, they appear to charge a "total" of 1.15% which consists of the mgmt fee and other expenses I assume.

I believe I have to look at the MER to see the total cost and not the mgmt fee?

Is it possible the extra costs are for converting Cdn $s into US $s to acquire US equities?

I assume we are better off buying the ARK etfs in the US under Cathy?

If you could confirm my understanding of the above few questions it would be appreciated. Thanks.

Q: Hello Team,
What is the MER on this ETF?
Thank You,
Barry

Q: Hi Peter
which ETF do you prefer: IWC or IWD and why.
Thanks
Ron

Q: We have about an 11% position in this etf (ZQQ). In the 5 years we have held this etf which was suggested to us by 5i, we have had about a 150% gain - thank you 5i Team. Almost half of these are held in TFSA or RIF accounts, and so not subject to capital gain tax . Due to strength in the Canadian dollar, we are considering switching some or all of the non taxable portion to a similar or identical etf that is not hedged to the Canadian dollar. We understand this would be solely a currency call. We would appreciate your thoughts on this and suggestion of suitable non-hedged Canadian ETFs. We think the MER on ZQQ is a bit high.

Thank you for your continued assistance.
Pat & Cyril

Q: Hi,

I bought this ETF when it came out. I'm down approx 30%. What are your thoughts on this ETF since its debut and would you continue to hold?

Q: Good morning, QIF
I've been looking at increasing the weight of the infrastructure portion of my portfolio and QIF ETF recently came up as a possibility. I would appreciate your thoughts on this particular ETF and whether or not you would recommend it for a long term hold and if so in which type off account (Non Reg/RRSP/TFSA/RESP) would it be preferable to hold this particular ETF in. Thanks

Q: Good morning, i know you are not real keen on income producing funds that sell options to enhance income but if you were buying a few, which ones would you recommend in today's market, thanks?

Q: Despite the pullback in "green" energy stocks they still look expensive to me (AQN a possible exception). BLX and PIF have forward E/P over 50x according to the Globe.
Would you expect a better entry point, and if choosing an ETF do you have a preference between ZCLN and HCLN.