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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: Hi 5i,
I would appreciate your thoughts on these two CDN listed ETF's that employ two different methods for creating a US Low Volatility ETF.
ZLU uses individual stock Beta and XMU optimizes for minimum portfolio Variance.
ZLU reconstitutes/rebalances once per year and XMU does it twice per year.
ZLU trading volumes appear higher than XMU but, XMU underlying US ETF is very high and high market value.
ZLU holdings are 103 and ZMU is 215.
MER's are about the same for both at approx. 0.33
I intend to use these in my RRSP and TFSA and trade them based on monthly trends.
ZLU holds the stock directly so there may be some saving in an RRSP. XMU holds the underlying US ETF for exposure.
Which one would you buy for a RRSP/TFSA?
Can you suggest alternatives that might be better for US Low Volatility sold on a CDN exchange?

thanks
Read Answer Asked by Ian on March 27, 2019
Q: Hello 5i,
I am not very bullish on the Canadian economy considering the provincial and federal politics and lack of leadership in regards to the Energy and now Agricultural Industry.
So I am thinking of splitting my portfolio up into 3 categories, Growth Stocks, Dividend Paying Stocks and ETF's for global and sector diversification. ZLU & ZWH for US low volatility and Dividend, CDZ for Canadian Dividend and VGRO & XWD for global diversification and growth. Your thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks,
SF
Read Answer Asked by Steve on March 27, 2019
Q: Good afternoon, could you please suggest ETFs that would cover the fields of artificial intelligence and for cybersecurity? I’m guessing these will be mostly for US companies? Thanks

Al

Read Answer Asked by alex on March 25, 2019
Q: Good mornng,
Thank you for your prompt and very helpful answer to my question re: Mutual funds/ETFs that do not pay any DISTRIBUTIONS and only generate CAPITAL GAINS.
As a follow up to your general HORIZON Total Return ETFs recommendation, what are your thoughts in terms of appropriateness if I were to split the amount to be invested in each of my minor grandchildrens' Non Registered in-trust accounts as follows: 50% in HXS.CA and 50% in HXT.CA? Your comments/thoughts on these specific ETFs would be most appreciated. Feel free to recommend other ETFs as need be . Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Francesco on March 25, 2019
Q: I am looking to take a position in this fund .
Does this fund go up as a rule when the overall market go down
How are the monthly distributions for tax purposes calculated. If I take a position now I would not be taxed at year end for the months that I did not hold the fund or are taxes applied at year end for the full year to all holders regardless of when the fund was purchased.
Thank You
Al Mississauga


Read Answer Asked by Al on March 25, 2019
Q: My question is highly speculative but I would appreciate your opinion. I have $500,000 which I would like to invest in the above securities. My own gut feeling is to invest the funds with 60% in VFV and 40% in XIU over a period of 120 days. Thanks, Bill
Read Answer Asked by William J on March 25, 2019
Q: Good Morning 5I.

I have the following positions in my RRSP ...
BNS 6.5%
TD 5%
BCE 5%
ENB 4%
BEP.UN 4%
SRU.UN 4%
MFT 3?
CDZ 5%
ZWE 4%
ZWH 9.5%
The list above cover the equity side of my portfolio.
The other 50% is in a GIC ladder yielding over 3.0%
I plan to retired within the next couple years.
Could you please comment on any changes needed that stand out to you?
I think I should add more US exposure and possibly another reit, what would you suggest?

Look forward to your reply.
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on March 25, 2019
Q: We have a diversified RIF and are now in our 70s . We have 6 ETFs and have $20,000.00 invested in VE. We have equities invested across all sectors some sectors a higher percentage than others. Do you feel it is necessary to have monies invested in Europe when we could obtain better income investing in possibly Bonds or preferred shares. Safety and Income are important now to us . Any recommendations.
Read Answer Asked by Sharon on March 22, 2019
Q: I manage my wife's RRIF age 69 with the following ETF's: ZEF 5.3%; DXG 8.11; CDZ 6.68; XHY 6.42; ZZD 8.05 and the following stocks : BNS 7.61 ;BPY.un 9.74 ; BEP.un 9.3 COV 2.13; IPL 9.41;PKI 8.58; SIS 5.34 SPB 7.85 and .Cash 7%
I'm trying to transition her to more ETF's reduce some volatility and maintain some growth. What is your suggestion[s] for an additional ETF to complement these holdings?
Read Answer Asked by Henry on March 22, 2019
Q: Good morning,
I am looking for a monthly pay. Do CPD, XHY, or CVD fit the bill ?
Thanks
Rick
Read Answer Asked by Richard on March 22, 2019
Q: Hi.

Almost finished transitioning from (50 Stocks, 5 ETFs) to (11 Stocks, 15 ETFs).
Much easier to manage; performance has improved already over one-month. Sleepin' better... ;-)

About to purchase my last ETF in the mix: VVL, but it makes me a bit nervous:
- Age: Only 3 years
- Market Cap: Only $82M
- Volume: Very low trading
- $0.10 Bid/Ask spread (i.e. an immediate loss of ~ 0.3% on buy & sell = -0.6% right off the bat?)

I would appreciate your thoughts on the observations above. Would you recommend another ETF instead?

Thank you as always from great useful timely advise.

Paul [2019-03-21 - 10:43 AM]
Read Answer Asked by Paul on March 22, 2019
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