Investment Q&A

Q: Looking to add some tax efficient income to an otherwise well diversified portfolio. What do you think of the above mentioned ETFs? Could you suggest a couple of more?
Thank you!

Q: Hi,
I am wondering why ZLB is underperforming XIC since Mid Feb 2020. Relative to recent market high (in February) XIC is down by about 11% and ZLB is down by about 13%. Shouldn't ZLB perform better (by limiting the drawdown) in a market downside ? Thanks

Q: Hi 5i
Hope you can help me. I've managed my and my wife's registered and unregistered accounts for a number of years and I'm satisfied with the results. Those accounts primarily hold equities and I spend quite a bit of time overseeing them and tweaking as I think necessary.
I've now been put in the position of acting as trustee of funds for two minors. The time frames the two trusts will run are 7 and 9 years respectively and the principal amount of each is approx 75K. I want to invest the funds but I don't want to put them in individual equities and manage them as actively as I do our personal accounts. I would prefer to put them into ETF's that I can keep an eye on monthly or quarterly and not worry too much about tweaking.
Being optimistic by nature I'm hoping to arrange to get it all for these two trusts - capital appreciation, income, sensible degree of risk, Canadian, US and international exposure, favourable tax treatment, etc.
There are an awful lot of ETF's out there and I really don't know how best to evaluate them to shake out a reasonable number to look into further - especially considering how difficult it can be to identify individual holdings to effectively avoid overlap and provide diversification.
With all that in mind, could I ask you to list 5 (or so) equity based ETF's for each of CDA, the US and internationally that you think might accomplish the goals I've listed, so that I can then look into those ones further and make some decisions about where to put these funds I'm charged with managing.
Also, if you do have any general or specific advice that you think might be useful to me in the situation I've described, I would certainly appreciate your including it in your answer.
Thanks very much and please deduct credits as you feel appropriate.
Peter

Q: Hi 5iTeam,
Both of the above 2 ETFs are pretty well100% focused on health care with very similar make up (65% US, 35% non-US), why then there is such a big difference in dividend yield, Life pays 7.1% while XHC pays 1.05% in dividend.
Cheers,

Q: Van Eck Vectors Biotech E.T.F. BBH (Nasdaq)
1. I rarely buy ETFs. When I do, I favor ones with less than 50 holdings. I am under the impression that an ETF with a large number of holdings is so diluted that you tend not to get as much upside/downside. Is this this approach favoring higher beta better or worse than one that ignores the number of holdings?
2. BBH has a relatively concentrated portfolio of 26 biotech businesses.
3. Your insight into BBH please? Substance only please; have already reviewed material including ETF.com, ETF Channel.
4. If you think others are better , please do suggest names. I have not researched IBB or XBB.

Q: Hello, can you make a comparison between these 2 etfs? I already have XBB, so my goal is to maintain a minimum 2% revenue stream in my RRSP and shorten the duration as well. Maybe you have another suggestion? Thanks.

Q: Looking for some guidance on my International equity holdings. All of my Int’l holdings are in the above ETFs and are in my RRSP accounts. The Int’l portion represents 10% of my total investment portfolio. Generally I look for a balance between income and growth with dividends used to supplement my pension income. I have 9 years before I have to RIF.
I have only recently added ZEM for its emerging markets exposure and tax friendly structure. While the other holdings have provided good yield I have not been happy with the lack of growth even before the latest correction. I am generally comparing the lack of growth to the US market which may not be a fair comparison.
Could I have your opinion on my holdings and any suggestions for improvements and why. I am looking for good diversification across the world, ex North America, with a view to a balance between income and growth. Would like to keep my holdings in CAD.

Q: Can I get your thoughts on this ETF as a way to have some gold exposure along with regular income?

Q: Need to have your opinion on the seasonal rotation ETF. It comes with a relatively high fees with MER of 2.66. But it has performed well relative to the index TSX. So do you think this fee is justified and do you like the stratergy?

Q: Hello 5i,
Just wondering your solid opinion on EDOG as opposed to some of the other DoD’s out there like IDOG and SDOG?
Cheers,
Rick

Q: Hello 5i team. I am starting an investment accounts for my daughter who has started working. She & I are interested in, for her TFSA, co's such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and other tech consumer names. Is there a Cdn dollar ETF with distributions, that invests in this space. I am additionally considering ZWH & CDZ to round off as a starting base.

Q: Looking for some guidance on my US equity holdings. All of my US holdings are in the above ETFs in my RRSP accounts. The US portion represents 21% of my total investment portfolio. Generally I look for a balance between income and growth with dividends used to supplement my pension income. I have 9 years before I have to RIF.
I had held VGG and VUN until recently when, based on one of your answers to another persons question, I switched to ZSP as it has a slightly better return, lower MER and higher Tech weighting. Also more friendly tax structure. I also picked up ZUP at that time for more yield but might be ready to sacrifice that holding for one with more growth or simply add it to the other holdings to keep it simple.
Could I have your opinion on my holdings and any suggestions for improvements and why. I am looking for good overall diversification across the US market with a view to a balance between income and growth. Would like to keep my holdings in CAD.

Q: Hi

In my RRSP would it be wise to replace VGG, ZDY, and ZWH with ITOT.

Looking for lower fees and growth.

Thank you

Mike

Q: Hi again, so is there no ETF that would track the TSX? If VCN is up 4% over 5 years and the TSX is up 23%, that's not a great proxy. Thanks.

Q: Hello 5i Team. I'm thinking of starting a small position (1-2%) in LIFE.B (unhedged) in global healthcare for both capital appreciation and yield. Fund would be held in my taxable account for long term hold. Given that holdings are geographically; 55% US and remainder European what will taxation look like? I assume that the 15% withholding tax would be apply to the dividend even with geographic distribution of holdings? Any other tax implications that I need to be aware of? Your recent comments on the fund on May 228/28, 2020 were also very helpful. Thx Steve.

Q: You mentioned VCN as an 'all Canada' approach, but I can't help but comment that it hasn't done very well since 2013 or am I missing something?

Q: Regarding VFV and SPY, yesterday there was a large disparity between these two around 1%. Today VFV is -0.31% and SPY is +0.30%. I know there is currency involved, but this seems like quite a difference on a higher volume ETF. Any thoughts?

Also, VUN seems to outperform VFV over the longer term. It is not much more in MER - would you choose VUN over VFV for a 10 year hold?

Q: For Canada, US and international exposure, is there just one, or do I need a few?

Q: Hey 5i,

As a follow up. What are your top picks US/CDN REIT ETF's
You'd recommend for a longterm hold.

Thank you for all the great advice!

Q: Hi there,
I'm looking for complete coverage in Canada from small cap to large. No fixed income please. Any ideas?