Investment Q&A

Q: Good morning 5i,
I notice that you give lists of stocks. So, I will ask a similar question but perhaps more difficult. If one were interested in building a socially responsible portfolio, I hear that 15 to 20 stocks would do, what would you choose, given the need for domestic, US and International?
thanks

Q: Looking for some feedback on my International holdings in my RRSP. Currently have zwp; zem; and Zdi.
I am interested in PID to compliment my existing holdings. I would split my current zdi holding to make 4 equal positions.
Pid has had better performance over the last 5 yrs, covers the same geography as zdi however with different country and industry weighting’s. Pid’s MER is higher than Zdi with a lower dividend.
Is it worthwhile to split my zdi position, convert entirely to Pid or leave well enough alone.
I do not have to Rif for another 9 years

Q: I would like to invest in clean energy storage companies but can't find companies listed in the stock market. I did find an etf which is YLCO and I would like to have your thaughts on this. If you know of companies that are worth investing in please let me know.
Thanks for the help

Q: Would you be buying a gold ETF or any particular gold stock at this point?

Q: QQQJ is a recently listed ETF. How does it differ from QQQ. What advantages does it have over QQQ?

Q: Regarding etfs, are there actively managed etfs? Etfs initially tracked a particular index and thus were passive and required no judgment hence their low fees. But are there now etfs with someone at the steering wheel. For example, if you have an etf investing only in tech stocks, is that etf necessarily just tracking the tech sector of a particular index, or is there actual stock selection going on? If it is actively managed, how is that etf different from a mutual fund and if the answer is just lower fees how can the etf sufficiently pay its manager compared to a mutual fund manager?

Q: Is XSP the best ETF to reflect the S&P in a Canadian dollar account? Is XGD the best ETF to reflect Canadian gold mining stock? Ie MER, size, flexibility, your favourites....

Q: May I please have your opinion of CI Frist Asset U.S. Trendleaders index ETF (SID). Thank you.

Q: Through the pandemic I have decided to remove certain names from my Canadian portfolio that I was less confident in. I am now down to 19 positions from 25 originally. Also with this I have built up more cash than I would typically have. I know you guys advocate being mostly invested, but I am having a hard time finding names that I am bullish on through the pandemic that I do not already currently own. The portfolio is roughly a mix between your growth and balanced portfolios. Would you continue to hold approx 10-15% in cash or add in some sort of growth ETF for the short term until we are through the pandemic and things return to normal where I can expand my portfolio again. If so, which Canadian etf would you add for the short term considering the details i have shared?

Q: I do not believe ZSP.U would be exempt from US withholding tax. Could you confirm this? If not what ETF's would be exempt from US withholding tax for a Canadian investor? ZSP is subject to US tax and worth about .24% and on a larger account significant. Thanks for your help.

Q: Thanks to 5i, I've had the best year ever in the stock market. I've recently been trimming some high beta stocks that have become overweight in my portfolio. Not knowing much about bonds, never owning any, I'm looking at ZBD to park the cash. In Feb 2019 you said" . Any mutual fund or ETF technically does not guarantee any capital, so although ZBD is very safe and provides a higher yield than a high-interest savings account, there is always a 'risk' with bond funds." Can you expand on what the risk is, does the current enviroment add to the risk?

Q: Would value your opinion/info on these 2 as always. Thanks! Austin

Q: Hi,
I wanted to increase international equity exposure by adding ETFs. I currently own VWO (about 3%). What is your view on VIGI and VEU? Could you suggest 2-3 other names? Thanks,

Martin

Q: Is vbal a good option to hold entering retirement

Q: Hi, if an ETF with a relatively high distribution, say XEI, pays part of its distribution in ROC does that mean the underlying holdings of the ETF do not generate enough dividends on their own to cover the distribution? Thanks.

Q: Morning Peter and Team,
Let's assume there are 2 ETFs holding identical underlying stocks but one utilizes covered call option and the other one does not. Under what circumstances would each of these 2 ETFs provide a better return than the other.
Thanks for your great work.

Q: Gentelmen:
Is monthly income received from LIFE etf interest income or capital gains from covered call writing & dividend from constituent securities?
Thank you

Q: Hi,
Which of these 2 stocks provides a more reliable income stream with lower risk? Thanks.

Q: A few weeks ago you said that close to 40 % of the dividend paid by ZWU in2019 was actually return of equity. Would you know if this would be more or less true about most years?
Also, you don't seem to have a very high opinion of ZWU. Why then do you include it in your Model ETF Portfolio?
Thank you
jerry

Q: I work in tech and for that reason I had told myself no need to add further exposure to tech by holding tech stocks. Now I kind of regret that strategy. I wonder what percentage of exposure to tech In my portfolio is sensible? Is it too late to enter? Do you think tech stocks are in a bubble? Can you suggest some names (ETFs/stocks) in canada and US that would be good choices if we decided to add some exposure to tech?