Investment Q&A

Q: What is the difference between these two and which do you like better?

Q: Hello 5i,
We have CDN and US funds in our RRSP’s and TFSA’s, no pensions, income is CPP and OAS only, + RRSP withdraws.

We are looking at placing funds needed for the next 3 years into less volatile environment with a yield of 4%-5%. We have laddered GIC's and PSA for CDN funds and are looking for something similar in US funds. Our equities (stocks and ETF's) would remain in place though each year we would sell some stocks and purchase short-term ETF’s to retain a 3-year comfort zone. This allows us to retain higher risk equities in a longer time-frame in case of a large drawback.

Some examples we found were IGSB, BIL, VGLT, VCIT, VCSH, AGG, IEF. Do you have any recommendations? What are your thoughts on long-term Treasuries with a Trump win? Dump and run?

Thank you for your service.

D&J

Q: As I’m running low on time to spend on investing, I’m thinking of selling all of my equities and buying ETFs instead. I’m considering the following ETFs in a 1:1:1:1 distribution.

XIC
XUU
XEF
ZEM

Could you please give me the pros and cons of these ETFs, and alternatives if you feel there are any that are better.

Thank you very much for your service.

Q: Hi 5i Team,
I am thinking of adding ZPH to a diversified income focused portfolio.

In these volatile markets when would one become over-weight on this holding and what market conditions would make a person reduce their weighting?

Thanks for the Great Service!

Q: In considering these two stocks, which would your prefer to invest a small amount in?
Thanks.

Q: Given the expected economic/market conditions over the next 5+ year horizon, if you were to look into your crystal ball, would XBB be a good solid bond fund to hold for one’s safer investments ?

Q: I consider a full equity position to be 5% in my RRSP and I am pretty strict with trimming to keep the balance. What % would you use for an ETF in a mix of equities and ETF's?

Q: My son moved to the USA a few years ago and has opened a Roth IRA upon which I am advising him. He holds the ETFs listed above. I have two questions upon which I would appreciate your advice. In which order of preference would you add to the existing holdings? And can you suggest two additional ETFs to complement the current holdings?

Q: Hi guys,

I have a balance"ish" type of portfolio (mostly all 5i balance/growth stocks). Since the U.S. elections are over, would 5i recommend participating in the bitcoin sector, or is it still too risky for a balance portfolio? Please provide recommendations (etfs or companies), should you like this idea.
Thanks
Jim

Q: Hello,
Horizons used to have a series of funds, designed for non-reg accounts, that reflected any income as capital gains, as they lowered the cost base with each recognition of 'income.' I believe they changed their name to Global X, but I was hoping you might be able to offer a couple funds for some growth potential. Canadian funds would be preferred, but if U.S. denominated are better, I would appreciate knowing those as well.

Q: I am still toying with RRSP strategies - I have about 50% of my RRSP in US funds and 50% in Canadian funds. I plan on starting to draw my RRSP down in January and need about an 8% annual return, including dividends and growth for the next 10 years. I have slowly been rolling my Canadian side toward your income portfolio, and am about half-way there. On the US side, I hold the above positions. What are your thoughts on the following - mirroring your income portfolio with the Canadian side, and on the US side hold a combination of ETF's/Equities, or just ETF's. I have been actively growing my RRSP (with success thanks!) But hope to be able to spend less time on it once I retire. The above idea means, for the Cdn side, I can continue to follow your moves on the income portfolio. For the US side, I will continue to monitor/rebalance, but I don’t want it to be a daily task - please suggest a tactic, including whether to mix equities/ETF's, or just go to one or a few ETF's, and please suggest holdings in either tactic. Thanks!

Q: Can you suggest CDN and US dollar etfs to own for interest instead of just holding cash in non-registered and registered (TFSA, RSP) accounts? Thank you

Q: With the CAD likely to drop, is it more efficient to invest in hedged or unhedged ETFs?
Thanks

Q: We are seeing the beginnings of a Trump bounce. If you had money on the sidelines would you put it to work ASAP or wait a bit now, having missed this initial move I mean. Secondly, aside from defense, oil and gas and orange make-up manufacturers, what sectors would you target, if any for the near term. Finally how does that translate into specific ETFs that might outperform over the next couple of years. Thankyou.

Q: Hi, I am new (about 1 year) to investing. After being approached from the branch level financial advisor, I figured it might be best at the time. He put all my funds into two items namely:

BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF Fund
and
BMO U.S. Equity ETF Fund. This one had the most funds.

Since that time I have redeemed some funds and opened BMO Investorline account and purchased about 10 different stocks/etf's. The branch level financial advisor never calls or emails any advice period other than to say I am making about 18% and should be happy with that. Really??

2 days ago a lady from BMO investment center calls me and tells me I am paying 1% in management fees and can save ~ 0.66% by purchasing BMO95722 which shows up as BMO U.S. Equity ETF Fund. Yesterday I put in a redemption request for the balance of the BMO U.S. Equity ETF Fund (on my bank account page that name doesn't have any stock symbol) and the funds will be in my bank later this morning.

What I am trying to accomplish right now is to just make enough via investments to pay for living where I am. And hopefully some growth in the value of the investments.

The question I have is, would buying BMO95722 be the right or best choice of investments.

Thank you for any assistance with this.

Q: Looking to move some money into the bond section of my portfolio. On the more risky side looking at XHY and USHY. How would you rate these for safety going forward on the the capital gain/loss side. Also I may sell some stocks like Magna that don't appear to be doing much.

I've been listening to Howard Marks and he thinks now is the time to be leaning towards bonds and Warren Buffet has been raising cash.

Q: These are on my watchlist. Do you see any problems with these?

Q: Curious what you think about SYLD? Is this something you would recommend? If so how much of a fixed income portfolio should it represent? If not, do you have other suggestions? Looking to increase returns of my fixed income investments as I get closer to retirement.

Q: Hello,
I'm looking for a way to park some money for one-year to pay down part of my mortgage after that. What are some low risk options to maintain liquidity if I need to use the funds for some emergency?
Thanks for your help!

Q: I want to start doing an RRSP meltdown. I'm considering moving ZID in-kind to my non-registered account but was wondering about the implications. Since this is a Canadian-based ETF, I don't think it has any effect on having to fill out Form T1135, Foreign Income Verification Statement, does it ?

Acknowledging that 5i staff are not tax experts, do you recognize any other caveats that one should be aware of for having this ETF within a non-registered account? Thanks !