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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: I am retired and have gone with a strategy of owing Canadian Dividend Aristocrat stocks in my unregistered account and Canadian ETFs in my TFSA. My RRSP and LIRAs holds US ad International ETFs such as VYM. I would appreciate you opinion on this strategy and can you make a recommendation for the best ETF for my TFSA.
Read Answer Asked by Nancy on July 16, 2019
Q: i am interested in an etf that goes up when the s& p (us market goes down) and same for the tsx. the idea is to buy some protection when the market turns ugly. will there be degradation with these etf?( they lose some value as you hole them. i have been suggested sds-n is that a good one or do you have other idea?
Read Answer Asked by brian on July 15, 2019
Q: I'm looking for a low carbon ETF to hold in my RRSP along side CRBN to increase the Canadian weighting. Is there a Canadain ETF out there that omits the energy sector at a reasonable MER? (And maybe there just isn't one because of how big energy is in the index.)

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Dennis on July 15, 2019
Q: Re RSP tax efficiency. If we buy a foreign content ETF, DIA for example, do we get the same tax exemption on dividends like on individual stocks? What about if we buy the canadian currency version of the ETF?
Also if I believe the Canadian Dollar is going to go back up closer to par, is then better to buy the hedged version of the ETF?
Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by francois on July 15, 2019
Q: these 4 holdings are held in equal weight in a RRSP account and have some US cash and wonder what you think the best ETF would be to complement what is currently owned?
Thanks
Read Answer Asked on July 15, 2019
Q: 2:00 PM 7/14/2019
I expect to be parking a lot of cash in our 4 TDWaterhouse accounts... two RRIFs and two TFSAs
I want to be sure the money is covered by CDIC insurance
.--------------------------------------------
The CDIC site states :
Eligible deposits are insured separately in each of seven categories:
in one name
in more than one name
in a RRSP
in a RRIF
in a TFSA
in trust
for paying taxes on mortgaged properties
.-------------------------------------------
From the CDIC website :
We insure eligible deposits at each member institution up to a maximum of $100,000 (principal and interest combined) per depositor per insured category.
Eligible deposits include:
1. Savings accounts
2. Chequing accounts
3. Term deposits, (such as GICs) with original terms to maturity of five years or less

Uninsured financial products include:
1. mutual funds (including money market funds), stocks and bonds
2. term deposits, such as GICs, with original terms to maturity greater than five years;
3. foreign currency deposits (e.g., U.S. dollars);
-------------------------------------------
The question is just what specific securities are eligible.
Do the :
1. TD "savings" account TDB8150,
2. and the Purpose High Interest Savings ETF PSA.TO
3. and the Horizons Active Floating Rate Bond ETF Common HFR.TO
all qualify or are they considered to be "Mutual Funds"

So it looks as though just <5 yr GICs, and cash sitting uninvested in these accounts actually qualify

Can you please clarify this issue and tell me just what savings vehicles actually do qualify?
Thank you.

Read Answer Asked by Paul on July 15, 2019
Q: hi 5i
my wife and i are 62 and retired both have work pensions that cover our basics.
here is a little back ground.
in my wifes rrsp account we have 120,000.00 in ggf31744 bmo u.s. fund
and 115,000.00 in vfv vanguard s&p 500 index
my rrsp is 210,000.00
i followed your balance fund with adds
rogers 14,000.00
td 15,000.00
ry 18,000.00
bam 22,000.00
in our investment acc we have 83,000.00 split evenly to suncor, enbridge,bce, telus,brookfield property ,brookfield renewable
my tsfa has 98,000.00
nfi 4,4000.00 evertz 7600.00 fortis 20,600.00 aw. 5400.00
verizon 12,000 u.s. procter & gamble 17,600 u.s. vti etf 15,300 u.s.
wifes tfsa has 92,700.00
xebec adsorbtion 4000.00 vermillion 4500.00 parkland fuel 6500.00
algonquin power 19,300 car.un 14,700
u.s. holding are utx 6100.00 ibm 8400.00 pfe 8500.00 pep 9400.00
hope that not too much
im looking for your thoughts on 230,000.00 gic that matures in a month
i would like to put it to work
we will still have 190,000.00 in a another gic
thanks for your thoughts have being using your service from your start and its been
very helpful
sam


Read Answer Asked by Sam on July 15, 2019
Q: Own 500 units of this as well as CPD, XPF and XTR in TFSA. Income is okay but volume is thin. Preferred space is out of favour today, worst bond alternative ever it has been said, I get that.

So what to do? Consider them stranded assets and notionally eliminate from portfolio allocation and hang on until better times arrive? Problem is they take up brain time thinking about alternative use of funds now invested in them. But with interest rates declining and rate-set preferreds having further room to fall is the best one can do is hope and collect the distributions? Taking losses in a TFSA is emotionally hard to do.
Read Answer Asked by William Ross on July 12, 2019
Q: I have some cash set aside for an emergency fund (about 50k) currently sitting in a Tangerine account, earning only about 1%/year. I am considering moving this over to a high interest ETF such as CSAV. What is your opinion on this move? Opinion on CSAV or suggest some alternatives for both USD and CAD accounts. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by David on July 12, 2019
Q: As per Steve's July 10 question on income portfolio cash position, I would like to deploy my 12% cash to increase my dividend flow. I am light on fixed income and US exposure. Please comment on buying DYN1567 or Dynamic global div. Fund for dividends and switching my VUN holding to dynamic power American growth fund. Mid 70s couple on rrifs and lower risk.
Thanks in advance,
Read Answer Asked by Peter on July 11, 2019
Q: Hi, I currently have $11,500 to add to my TFSA with a long term horizon. I currently hold CNR (2.53%), NTR (2.88%), PLC (5.04%) PPL (2.98%), TD (4.21%), V (4.71), WCN (6.15%), XLV (3.31%) MAW 104 (25.11%). I am wondering if I should add to the current companies or might you have any other suggestions?
Read Answer Asked by Penny on July 11, 2019
Q: Greetings 5i team,
I hold these three securities (one mutual fund and two ETFs) in my RSP for global (non-Canadian) equity exposure, total 17% (approx 150k) of overall portfolio and am looking for 5i analysis and possible replacement recommendations. Among the three I have some active management which has been successful, but expensive (EDG), some div income incl 50% US (CYH), some global non-NA exposure (XIN). I primarily invest in international securities for the diversification and growth and not nec income.
I would like to:
- possibly trade off the div income (CYH) for greater international growth
- understand if the active management component is worth the squeeze (cost) for this particular and only MF I own (EDG)
- reconsider the mix of international exposure among the three securities

What combination of ETF(s) would 5i recommend as potential replacement (or sustain as is) for these three securities that meet my goals?
TY for your work

P.S. Good webinar today on Portfolio Analytics.
Read Answer Asked by Steve on July 10, 2019