Investment Q&A

Q: I own ICLN but have been looking at the description for HCLN and think that they are different enough I could hold both if I really want to catch the clean energy wave. What do you think? And what do you think of HCLN realizing that it is brand new and small? Thanks!

Q: In your last article in the financial post, you explained five ways to hedge your portfolio if you think this market has run too far, too fast.... if I want to buy the etf sh, what would be the suggested percentage to allocate compared to the portfolio in your opinion ? Thanks

Q: I am looking for a Canadian emerging market ETF that does not include China (or has only a small proportion) and considers ESG factors. My thinking is that China has already had a pretty good run but other emerging markets have more room for growth. So far I have found EMXC, XSOE, SUES and SUJS which might be suitable. Can you recommend an ETF? and Can you tell me if my thinking makes sense?
as usual, thanks for your help
(sorry if I posted this twice. my computer shut down as i was sending)

Q: Greetings,

In the SPAC realm this Canadian etf popped up on my radar. What are your thoughts and what is meant by the “arbitrage” that it’s name suggests? Is this specialty etf active or passive? Do you know the managers, if so are they reputable and experienced? Is this more gimmick than opportunity?

Cheers!

Q: Hi,

I'm looking for a long term hold - five years or more. Would you invest in either of these three companies (Tan, Fan, CWW)? Which do you think has the best chance of growth without too much volatility?

Q: Which one of the two would you pick at this time going forward?

Q: Hello,

I am looking into ETFs in Canada to compliment the portfolio I have created with your model portfolios, profiles and question support. I may be out to lunch, but my thought is to purchase some ETFs to diversify my investments. Is that smart? I currently am planning to move funds from a questrade managed portfolio, and either add it to my customized portfolio or to invest in ETFs. I appreciated reading your ETF and Mutual Fund newsletter and am considering some of the broad etfs, however I am against investing in the energy sector. Also interested in expanding my clean energy or ESG sector with another ETF. Do you have suggestions? Curious about ESGY?

Thanks for your guidance!

Please take off 3 questions.

Thanks,
Ellen

Q: Hello, from a peace of mind perspective, what happens to an ETF or mutual fund if the company selling it goes out of business or decides to close the instrument ? Do the underlying stocks get sold and dispersed to the mutual fund holders ?

Thanks.

Q: What ETF would you suggest for a non-registered account for a higher risk tolerance with emphasis on growth and a 10 year minimum timeline ? VGRO/XGRO sound good but the dividend yields seem low to really take advantage of the dividend tax credit.

Q: First a big thank you for the terrific returns we received in 2020 thanks to your stellar guidance (our largest holdings we first discovered through 5i -hello LSPD,XBC and WELL!). We gifted our kids memberships in December and praise your service to everyone. This is truly an invaluable service.
Now to the question, my brother is tired of paying high fees for his CIBC pension holdings. When I looked into this for him last year, some pools had MER in the 2% range! He’s moved the following into cash and is looking for lower fee/higher return alternatives in the following areas of his pension account:
-Imperial Canadian Dividend Income Pool
-Imperial Canadian Equity High Income Pool
-Imperial US Equity Pool
-Imperial International Equity Pool
-Imperial Short Term Bond Pool
-Imperial Long Term Bond Pool
Please charge as many questions as required.

Q: Tangerine has brought out some new etfs
1.would these be similar to scotia’s etf’s ?
2. Since they are new and priced at around. $10 is there any advantage to getting in at this early stage or is it advisable to go with an already established etf such as existing scotia etf’s or vanguard....or any other established etf’s ?
Would you recommend the tangerine etf’s ?
Appreciate your advice

Q: I think I understand (mostly?) how the overall choice of holdings in this ETF are determined .
But how is the weighting of any individual holding in this fund determined? E.g. current holdings in the utilities sector include RNW (with a current 4.32% yield) at the top of the list at 3.08%, INE (2.4% yield) at 2.59%, CPX (5.44% yield) at 2.17%, ACO.X (4.51% yield) at 0.92%. Are Blackrock including some assessment of the other metrics of the companies in question (perhaps explaining the comparatively high 0.66 MER)?
Why would e.g. LNF, which would seem to otherwise qualify (2.58% yield with a 17-year streak of increasing dividends) be excluded?

Q: Portfolio Analytics shows I still need 35% international funds in order to be balanced. I know it is more tax efficient to place ZEM and XEF in a non-registered account; however, I have room to place $15,000+ in my TFSA. My question is: Do you think it is wise to use TFSA for ZEM (given its potential for higher growth than ZCN) even though the foreign withholding fee is non-recoverable? Or, it is optimal that I find more growth stocks and add ZCN to my TFSA now then wait to purchase ZEM in a non-registered account in 3-6 months time?

Q: Just read another "we're all gonna die" forecast from Rosenberg along with a different analyst calling for 6% GNP growth this year. I get whiplash reading this stuff. My question is, can you suggest a consumer discretionary ETF that would catch the wave that might or might not be coming? Many thanks. I do enjoy the cooler heads at 5i.

al

Q: I already hold DXG right now. I want to buy one more ETF - which one would you suggest out of DXN, DXW OR DXZ ETF. So there is no overlap with the current DXG.

Thanks for the great service

Q: Good morning, Why such a big difference between the yields in these two funds, are they that much different, and which fund would be safer, thanks?

Q: What would be your top picks in rare earth metals? Is there an ETF that covers this segment well that could be recommended as well?
Many thanks.

Q: What Canadian bond fund would you suggest if as the fed states they are not even thinking about raising rates for two years? What bond fund would you suggest when rates do start to increase? If I bought XBB , which bond fund would best act like a hedge to it? The idea is to collect a small yield and preserve capital.

Q: What are thoughts on bonds to balance a portfolio? I realize most are not enthusiastic about these right now, but I like to have a bit of them based on what I am used to. Are these a good buy now since they seem to have bottomed, or with interest rates the way they are, should I stay away?

There is also a lot of talk out there of stock market bubble right now so I thought this could protect the portfolio to some degree. I am new and appreciate your thoughts on what you would do here. Thank you

Q: Thanks 5i Team - what an excellent service!! May I have your comments on my TFSA strategy and an ETF recommendation. My TFSA is almost fully funded and divided into 3 notional "buckets". Roughly 1/3 is comprised of growth securities, selected from the 5i Growth Portfolio, with my current positions being KXS, XBC, WELL and LSPD; Roughly 1/3 is comprised of about 10 Canadian "dividend growers", about half of which are among the 5i Balanced Equity or Income Portfolios such as ENB, EIF, PBH, BIP.UN and BEP.UN and the other half well known blue-chips like T, CNR, CNQ and RY; and the final 1/3 is a single, conservative diversified ETF, currently Vanguard Conservative Portfolio VCNS, which I refer to as the "anchor". I prefer to limit the total number of securities to no more than about 20 (I am a few short of that right now) so I can adequately manage things, and I add to VCNS while awaiting opportunities to purchase positions in the other securities I own, or to sell from if cash is needed so I can continue to hold the individual growth and dividend securities. I am looking for reasonable growth in my TFSA over a 5-10 year period, and I can tolerate some risk but prefer to avoid excessive volatility or risk. My questions are: (1) are these 3 roughly 1/3 buckets a sensible approach for reasonable growth over a 5-10 year horizon or would you recommend different weightings or approaches, (2) could you recommend 1 other diversified ETF that I might consider for the "anchor" portion, and (3) could you recommend 2-3 other securities for the growth portion, to add a bit more diversification. Thanks very much.