Investment Q&A

Q: Hi I’m 37 years old, considering myself a moderate risk investor. Can you recommend your top 5 ETFs in order? (CND or US) I prefer to buy and forget.

Thank you

Q: Mark Carney made quite the splash with his recent speech. He seemed to be saying the old economic system is broken and will not return. (we can no longer depend on the world's super powers to play by the old rules.) If he is right (I think he is) what 3 Canadian companies could benefit the most from this new reality? Also, this new paradigm being global, what three global ETFs could benefit the most? Thanks as always for your guidance.

Q: Hi, many investors DCA into index funds. If you were to choose five CDN and US quality long term compounders to DCA into that are going to beat the market over the next 5,10,15 years, what would they be? Thank you!

Q: A response to Savalai's question on an ETF for US natural gas producers.

Eric Nuttal's (or Ninepoint Energy's) own ETF seems to fit the bill.

The ticker is NNRG.NE.

Q: 1)Your thoughts on ASGI and would you buy it today?
2)DBC and PICK: Which do you prefer and would you buy them today?
Thank you

Q: Am I subjecting myself to a 15% US witholding tax on the (minuscule) dividend by holding this ETF in my TFSA?

Q: Early last year we invested 25% of our cash into the listed ETF's. We have another 50% of our cash in GIC's and 25% in an assortment of stocks. As you know they pay good dividends and we experienced good capitol gains growth on some of them last year, others were up marginally. We are looking at these as long term holds for income and would just like your thoughts on our choices. Would you recommend a different mix of ETF's.
Thanks Ron

Q: I am looking to diversify outside of North America. The iShares EEM is an option. Would Vanguard or BMO have a good option as well?

Q: Your thoughts on the etf MTRX.

Q: I have just started an RESP for my grandson and will be contributing the max $2500 per year. What would you recommend as my first stock purchases.
Thank you

Q: ? performance of these 2 etfs.
1. how did each one do during the last major downturns financial crisis A. dot.com B. financial crisis and C covid crisis?
and 2. in general, performance of each over the last 5,10, 15 and 20 years

Q: I recently asked if there was a better replacement. You answered with a US traded ETF. I should of said it needs to be a Canadian ETF.

Thank You

Q: RKNG This brand new Defiance ETF holds some high growth names. Could you examine the current holdings and provide your view on the potential here. Ms Jablonski has some vision so could this be a reasonable high risk small piece of one's portfolio in your view.

Q: I hold shares in MSTY along with other Harvest ETFs. I have received the monthly distributions for all of them except MSTY, even though it was payable on Jan 5. My broker, BMO, says it's because they haven't set the reinvestment price for their DRIP. It's now almost two weeks past when the distribution and DRIP shares normally show up. Does any know if this an issue with Harvest or BMO?

Q: SMHX doesn't come up in your data base. What are your thoughts on it VS the SMH for more focused semi design exposure? How do they compare?

thx, M

Q: What after your top growth picks for base metals? Copper? Uranium? Do these have legs and will they follow the rally that silver and gold are on? How would you rank the commodities? Thanks! Only holding AEM and PHYS currently.

Q: Hi, I was made aware of a gap (The "Korea Gap") in my international ETF strategy based on your ETF Update model portfolios that I believe is worth sharing.

The "Korea Gap" occurs when an investor mixes ETF providers that use different index benchmarks (specifically MSCI and FTSE). Because these two providers categorize South Korea differently, an investor can inadvertently end up with 0% exposure to the world's 10th-largest economy.

MSCI (Used by iShares XEF): Classifies South Korea as an Emerging Market. Therefore, it is excluded from XEF (Developed Markets).

FTSE (Used by Vanguard VEE): Classifies South Korea as a Developed Market. Therefore, it is excluded from VEE (Emerging Markets).

The result is if you hold only XEF and VEE, South Korea effectively disappears from your portfolio!

In 2025, this meant missing out on the massive "HBM (High-Bandwidth Memory) Craze" led by Samsung and SK Hynix, which drove the KOSPI to record highs.

Portfolio Combo | Provider | Where is Korea? | Avg. MER
XEF + VEE | Mixed | Missing (0%) | 0.24%
XEF + XEC | MSCI | XEC (Emerging) | 0.25%
VIU + VEE | FTSE | VIU (Developed) | 0.24%

I'll personally be replacing my VEE with XEC to hold the MSCI Blackrock combination.

In the XEF + XEC combo, South Korea makes up about 12-13% of the Emerging Markets (XEC) slice. In the VIU + VEE combo, it makes up about 5-6% of the Developed (VIU) slice. This means the iShares combo actually gives you a "heavier" bet on Korea.

Q: I am wanting to sell most of our equity exposure in spouse's RSP and my RRIF (a lot of equity exposure in TFSAs and cash accts). Looking at various fixed income/less risky options. Have perused your past income questions. For various reasons I like HUTL, ZWU and XEI for CAD, and ZMI.U for USD. Would prefer another one or two USD options. Could I get your assessment of the options I have indicated, and if you folks have other options (particularly for USD) I would welcome those. TIA.

Q: what is your opinion regarding IEUR? Are there better options out there?

thanks,

J

Q: Hello 5i
Please tell me what you can about the Amplify ETF.
Pros and cons , peers, preference.
Thank you
Dave