Investment Q&A

Q: What is your opinion of buying any or all of the above at this time for some US exposure generally and for these sectors specifically.Please rank them in the order you'd recommend them and I understand the limitation of your opinion regarding US equities. Thanks - Ken

Q: I'm retired and am interested in building an income portfolio. A recent contributor provided a list of 6 utilities Aqn, Bep.un, Bip.un, KWH.un, FTS and VNR for a total of 15%. 5I was OK with the choices. I've been considering ZWU @ 15% for the utility sector. Comments, ideas please.

Q: What is your opinion of ZWU as a long term hold? Do you see any reason to hold this instead of a basket of utilities on their own?

Thank You

Paul

Q: Hi Great Service With ETF's gaining popularity and taking over from mutual fund investments ,how will they react with a 30 to 35% correction to the market? These investments have not been tested in a mass sell off. Question is about ETF's on the US and Canadian Markets

Q: What do you think of SDIV as an income and diversity vehicle?
Thanks
Don

Q: Can you give me your thoughts on CIBR. Thankyou.

Q: Dear 5i,

Please critique the following proposed index ETF portfolios (only equity portion provided, fixed income allocation will be identical in each)

1.
20% VCN
20% ZLB
40% VFV
10% VIU
10% ZLI

2.
20% XIC
20% ZLB
20% XUU
20% ZLU
10% XEF
10% ZLI

3.
40% XMV
40% XMU
15% XMI
5% XMM

With these portfolios, I am attempting to achieve greater sector diversification than if I went with strictly broad-market indices, with a defensive tilt. Which do you think is best (in terms of long-term, risk-adjusted total return potential) for long-term hold/accumulation with annual rebalance to initial weights, and what changes would you suggest (if any)?

Thank you.

Q: You recently answered a question on these... would the distribution be income or dividends? Would any be okay in a tfsa or better in an rrsp or non-registered?

Q: Diversification is my concern, but to have a good picture of my portfolio, where do I put (in which sector) ETFs such as hxx, vee, iwo, smin ?

Thanks for your help,

Jacques

Q: Good morning, 5i great team,

Am thinking of parking 100K in a bond ETF or GIC short term.
Can you provide a laddered bond ETF or GIC for 6 to 12 months?
Welcome your suggestions as well. No equity please.

Many thanks as usual. Rossana.

Q: What is your top choice for a Canadian dividend payor for an ETF?
Thanks
Rick

Q: Hallo Peter, how would variable preferred ETFs would be effected by interest rate increase? Thinking of VRP, PGX (us), can you suggest a couple more of Canadian and US ETFs. Many thanks, J.A.P. Burlington

Q: Do you have a preference between these funds as a income generator and can you rank them from best to worst? Thank you!

Q: I presently have no exposure to Europe in my portfolio and wish to add a 5% position by buying a ETF. Should I buy edge or not edge ETF, seeing the weakness in the currencies? Income is not the primary goal but I want good total return of course. I prefer good quality companies, participating in the recovery as opposed to momentum plays or startups. Could you suggest one or two Canadian ETF.

Q: If memory serves me well, at one time you were recommending the FEZ ETF for European exposure. I bought some two years ago. More recently you have been recommending VE. What I like about FEZ in the current environment is that it has no direct exposure to the UK, a country that seems to have a cloudy economic future these days. VE, in contrast, has 29% of its assets in the UK. FEZ’s MER is a bit higher, but not by much, and its yield (before withholding tax) is also higher. FEZ has 50 holdings while VE has 1262. Are you leaning more toward VE these days because it can be bought directly in Canada while FEZ must be bought in the US market? Or is it the (modest) small cap exposure in VE that you like? Or the much greater number of holdings? Or something else?

Q: Hi 5i Team:
A couple of thanks first before getting to my question.
1. Thanks for the fantastic job you did on my portfolio review and the suggested transactions.
2. Thanks for your opinion and feedback on annuities.
I have some money to add to my fixed income. Are you still liking CLF for government bonds and CBO for investment grade corporate bonds. Time horizon is very long term. Or do you have some other suggestions.
Thanks so much.

Q: I hold the following ETF’s in a Non-Registered account. It is sort of a general purpose portfolio with a bit of emphasis on the health care sector (just because I think it is coming due). My question is with additional cash to add should I look for another ETF or add to the existing ones? I guess I am saying do I need more diversification or is there another particular sector I could emphasize?

Canada
iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index Fund

US
Vanguard US Total Mkt Ind ETF
AdvisorShares Focused Equity

Europe
Vangrd FTSE Dev Europe All Cap

Health Care
BMO EqWt US HthCare Hedged CAD
iShares Global Healthcare ETF

Emerging Markets
BMO India Equity Index ETF
Fairfax India Holdings
Fairfax Africa Holdings

Q: Would you put money into biotech seasonally ? In the past I have done well on Celgene ... However , I have taken quite a hit on Gillead, so I am cautious.
Or should I look at the ETFs for a broader/safer play ?

Q: I have an etf portfolio for my 3 & 5 year old daughters RESP account consisting of the following:
XCS(small cap) 6.5%
VDY (CDN Div) 26%
VEE (EM) 18%
VXC (Global)26%
VSP (American) 21%
Would you mind suggesting an ETF to help diversify the portfolio or would you feel comfortable continuing with these weightings given the long time horizon?
Thanks so much.

Q: I have recently raised cash in my portfolio and am wondering if you could suggest a good place to park it for some kind of return over an undetermined period of time. Are money market funds still my best bet?