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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: Hello 5i...The preferred share space took a real hit from which it has not recovered. I am thinking of adding one of the above as part of my fixed income allocation but to my non registered account. All of my fixed income and GIC's are in my RSP. I am conservative age 68 and need 4-5% long term. The recent volatility however does concern me. I value your opinion ..thank you Gary
Read Answer Asked by Gary on February 13, 2019
Q: Could I get your opinion on the potential for VIGI. I am looking for safety with modest growth in my RIF. Is it dependent on Brexit or mainly just the European economy? I also hold MAW102 and VIG which have both performed better than VIGI. I have considered selling VIGI and investing the proceeds 50/50 in the other two. Comment and suggestions appreciated
Read Answer Asked by Doug on February 13, 2019
Q: Recently, I have invested, albeit cautiously,in this compounding financial ETF. These types of ETFs don’t seem to be covered, but it would be of interest to have your assessment.
Thank you, Team!
Read Answer Asked by Sigrid on February 13, 2019
Q: Hi.

Currently moving my portfolio from mostly stocks to mostly ETFs. Was reading your latest ETF & Mutual Fund Update newsletter (February 10 2019 I Volume 25 I Issue 2) where I read this under 'Exchange-Traded Funds For Your RRSP':

'When it comes to Canadian-listed funds that hold U.S. equities or hold U.S.-listed ETFs it is best to avoid them because U.S. dividend income is taxed on your behalf.'

I also see XHC (CAN), listed in your Growth ETF Portfolio (Oct/11/2018), has only one holding: IXJ ETF (USA). Based on above, would it then not be better to hold IXJ directly in a USA $ RRSP account), if one is not concerned about CAN/USA $ hedging?

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on February 13, 2019
Q: Trying to get a bit more geographic diversification in a TFSA account that is, at present, all Canadian equities. Would you suggest something like HXS for US diversification with the swap arrangement to limit tax implications? Or would something like VGRO make more sense with greater geographic diversification and a little fixed income?

Thanks for the great service,

Doug
Read Answer Asked by Doug on February 13, 2019
Q: Hi Peter & Ryan,
Would appreciate your opinion on simplifying my mother's portfolio. The portfolio is worth 600K and I currently hold the following ETF's. VCN, VFV, XSP, VBAL, VGRO, VVL, XIN, VEE, XWD. I definately have duplication and believe I can downsize to 3 ETF's VBAL, VGRO and I like XWD for their global allocation and sector weighting.
Thoughts? And would you put 200K in each one?
Thanks,
Steve
Read Answer Asked by Steve on February 12, 2019
Q: I currently have an RESP invested in the Mawer Balanced Fund (MAW104) which I've been pleased with performance (we'll be needing it in about 6-7 years). Considering switching this to either XBAL or VBAL to lower fees and hopefully improve returns accordingly.

I've read some of your answers to Mawer Balanced vs. the XBAL and VBAL ETF's. Would like your opinion on XBAL vs. VBAL for this account. The new XBAL mandate is pretty much the same as VBAL, but it's MER is slightly lower at 0.18% vs. 0.22%. XBAL is much smaller than VBAL currently, but I expect will catch up quickly, and they'll probably match MER's over time.

Do you recommend either of XBAL or VBAL over each other, and suggest even bothering switching from Mawer Balanced Fund in the first place? They all seem like good options!
Read Answer Asked by Alan on February 12, 2019
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