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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: The etfs ZST and HFR are both classified as ultra-short term bond funds. HFR has an active designation and a slightly higher MER (0.47% vs 0.16%) but their long term behaviours are markedly different. Over 10 years, ZST has lost ~15% of its value whereas HFR has remained flat. In the covid-spring of 2020, HFR briefly lost 20% of its value (now regained) but ZST hardly moved. Do you have any idea what accounts for this different behaviour?
Read Answer Asked by richard on March 08, 2021
Q: Hi,

I am retired without pension and reliant on income from my investments. I do not want to exceed 55% of my portfolio in equities and thus am left with a sizable amount to invest in fixed income. I am concerned that bond ETF's are returning too low a yield to justify the risk of losing invested capital as interest rates rise. I have considerable GIC's(laddered terms), some ZCS and too much(20%) of my portfolio in Cash. I have been looking at HFR as an alternative for my cash/GIC's and would like your opinion if you think this represents diversification and yield improvement over the GIC's & cash while reducing the risk of capital losses?

And BTW - thanks for this service. It is great value.
Read Answer Asked by Morgan on March 08, 2021
Q: Hi 5i team,
My nephew turned 18 last year and has now 11K in his TFSA ready to invest.
What would be your suggestion (s). It can be a mix of CDN and USD stocks/ETFs.
Obviously, it would be several years before needing any of the money so some risk can be taken.
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Marco on March 08, 2021
Q: As a follow-up to my question last week on interest rates up/down, please also advise which funds/ETFs perform best when interest rates move in either direction.

Thanks again.
Read Answer Asked by Arthur on March 08, 2021
Q: I was wondering what your opinion of CoinSquare is?
I asked yesterday but can't find where you answered.
Read Answer Asked by Al on March 08, 2021
Q: Are there any bitcoin ETFs eligible for purchase in a Canadian RSP? If so, please provide ticker symbols of applicable ETFs available to a Canadian investor, and which one(s) you might recommend to someone who desires a small bitcoin exposure (1% portfolio weighting). (Both US$ and CA$ RSP accounts are available.)
Ted
Read Answer Asked by Ted on March 08, 2021
Q: Hi 5i,
How does a person puchase actual Bitcoin, not an ETF, (e.g. is there any bank that does this?) and do you know what the typical fees are likely to be? What are the risks apart from volatility of Bitcoin?
Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by John on March 08, 2021
Q: Hi,
Could I please have your opinion about the iShares Core 1-5 Year USD Bond ETF (ISTB). YCHARTS shows a 1 year return of 2.59%, MER of 0.06% and AUM of $4.856B. Shown as well is a 47% allocation to 1-3 year bonds and 43% to 3-5 years with only 6% long-term.. Do you think this is a solid choice for a US bond fund if one is looking for an intermediate term fund?
Thank you, Michael
Read Answer Asked by Michael on March 06, 2021
Q: Hi my question is regarding resp’s and best way to contribute. Time frame is 15-20 years. I understand ETF’s offer diversification, however would you at all consider a few slow and steady (conservative) stocks instead. Your top 5 ETF’s and stocks for this scenario please and thank you!

Nick
Read Answer Asked by Lauren on March 05, 2021
Q: I am not familiar with fixed income investments. I am looking at investing 30k in fixed income . Your portfolios show investments in CVD, CPB, and XHY. Looking for best optimization of rising rate environment and falling bond prices in the future. Just going through your question answer background material , I find VGRO, ICVT, and CSU.DB, very interesting. What would be the best combination in addition to any suggestions you may have. Thank you for your valuable guidance and a great job 5i is doing.
Read Answer Asked by Vinod on March 05, 2021
Q: Your opinion on using FSB ETF to park cash. Looks to have better returns than any high interest savings or GIC with minimal risk.

Any better ideas for returns from cash are appreciated.
Read Answer Asked by Chris on March 05, 2021
Q: Good morning team,
A few years ago I purchased ZAG as my bond portfolio for a long-term hold. It did will rising to $17.15, but as interest rates rose and it declined to my purchase price of $16.40, and given that I am over 70 years old, I sold out to preserve capital. I am looking for an alternative, safer place to put the fixed income portion of my portfolio. GICs and money market funds offer weak returns. I am looking at ZST (and ZUS for $US). Do you think these are a good places to go for safety of capital and rising return assuming interest rates continue to go up?
Read Answer Asked by Ken on March 05, 2021
Q: Hello 5I
Which path will be the best to follow from a growth prospective with the recent success of the mRNA COVID vaccines, the research that is going into cellular and genetic treatments of diseases and chronic conditions and cancers, the baby boomer population that probably hold a fair portion of the wealth and are hoping to stay healthier longer? Any companies and or ETFS that stand out? Or is this the wrong line of thinking?
Thank you for all you do and have done for me.
Read Answer Asked by Jeremy on March 04, 2021
Q: Hello, How come I do not see you recommend ZAG for bond exposure? I saw a recent question where you recommended ZCS for bond exposure. When I look at a 10 year chart, ZAG seems to have outperformed ZCS. Is it because of rising bond yields that you recommend holding ZCS as you predict better performance over ZAG?

Thank you!
Read Answer Asked by Alex on March 04, 2021
Q: Hello,
Would appreciate your suggestions on a couple of good low fee ETF's for commodities
Thanks
Darryl
Read Answer Asked by Darryl on March 04, 2021
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