Investment Q&A

Q: What ETF(s) might you consider best choice(s) for dependable tax efficient income with no concern for capital appreciation whatsoever but capital preservation being very important in both CAD and USD please? Thanks.

Q: Please give me your three top fixed income etf's.
Also, I would like your top Europe and International E T F's.
Thank you again for your help!
Audrey

Q: Do you think it's necessary to hold both US and Canadian utilities in a diversified portfolio? I'd like to add to both my non-Canadian position and utilities, so XLU seems like a good way to kill two birds. I currently don't hold any Canadian utility companies.

Q: In order to avoid individual stock risk, my wife (retired) has asked my opinion on investing 30% of her total portfolio in 10% each of Canada, Europe, and the U.S. (The remaining 70% is composed of 5-year laddered GIC's) I have suggested the following... Canada would be broken down into ZWC and CDZ (on a 40/60 split), Europe would be broadly broken down into ZWE and XIN (40/60 split), and the U.S. would be broken down into ZWH and CUD (40/60 split). What do you think of this strategy? Would you recommend different ETF's to balance the covered calls for the three geographic areas? Thanks!

Q: A comment on ZST. The annual distribution looks good indeed at around 3.7%, but the weighted average yield to maturity is reported as 1.49% and the annualized performance is just 1.63% over the last three years. This asset has lost around 2% on its price every year. And capital losses yield lower tax benefits than taxable other income gains. One can do better on a net basis with a GIC.

Q: Hi - I recently came into some cash - and am looking for a safe place to park it and hopefully earn a little more than a GIC. This ETF was in Rob Carrick's column in Globe&Mail a few weeks back - it has a dividend of approx 3.7%. I am wondering what the downside is.. I know it is interest rate sensitive, also trading is light. What are your thoughts and do you have any other recommendation?

Q: Dear 5i
Can you confirm the following yields and MER`s for the following Bond ETF`s;
CLF yield 3.04% & MER .17%
CBO yield 2.91% & MER .28%
CPD yield 4.54% & MER .51%
XHY yield 5.47% & MER .67%
Thanks
Bill C.

Q: Can you provide some data points around dividend "growers" companies and if not available dividend companies in general. Current P/E forward looking vs. historic average and ranges. Just wanting to get an idea on how much higher than the average these stocks are currently compared to historic levels, how overvalued they "may" be to help assess downside risk. Thanks!

Q: Good afternoon,

I'm thinking of replacing individual stocks that I've held for a long time in my RRSP with either XAW or VXC for the foreign portion of the RRSP portfolio and adding XIC or XIU for the Cdn portion of the portfolio. Is this a good idea and if so which would be your preference and recommendation. Thank you.

Q: Advisable to put RDSP and TFSA in low-cost ETFs ?

Q: A former financial advisor friend of mine tells me to be cautious regarding ETFs in a downturn because they have not been tested yet. He informed me that the sale protocol is different between selling a mutual fund vs an ETF and that the ETF could be more volatile. So far I have found both to be less volatile than simply holding stocks which to me can move up and down much more rapidly. For example: PKI moves significantly from time to time while FAI which holds PKI among other stocks moves up and down marginally due to the variety of stocks held. That being said, if there is a strong correction would a mutual fund be a better hold than an ETF of similar holdings?

Q: 5i recommended VGK ETF about a year ago and it has worked out very well thank you. There seems to be a lot of talk about investing more in Europe and emerging markets. Can you suggest a few ETFs in those markets?

Q: hello what do you think of the etf sphd. is it a good a etf to hold if the usa falls in a bear market. Can you suggest me an etf or mututual fund who can perform if the S&P fall in a bear market or continue to be in a bull market

thank you guys

you do a good job

Q: Your opinion on XSD (etf / semi-conductor).
Thank you.
Pascal

Q: On My 18, you mentioned water industry stocks. Would you know of a Cdn or US ETF for the water industry covering a wide range of technologies?

Thanks

Andre

Q: My portfolio mainly consist of Canadian stocks. I would like to purchase two Canadian ETFs, one with exposure to the US and the other with global exposure. Can you recommend a couple for me at this time? With the Canadian dollar being quite low now, do you think it is better to get hedged ETFs?
Thanks, Paul

Q: It seems like the places to be near and mid term are US and Europe for growth and not Canada for the time being. I have exposure in Canada already with Utility and Financial dividend payers which I will continue to hold, could you recommend your favorite ETFs for some exposure to US, Europe and possible Emerging markets if you like the EM.
Also, could you comment on the "Hedged to CAD" ETFs---It seems to me we trade ETFs like stocks through our brokerage accounts in CAD, so why worry what the ETF managers are doing as far as currency is concerned?

Q: Hi 5i. Trying to improve sector allocations. Currently we have only 3.5% in Industrials.
I am looking at XGI - iShares S&P Global Industrials (CA$ hedged). This ETF has only 1 holding which is EXI - iShares Global Industrials US$ ETF. We are looking at investing CA$ funds and don't wish to convert. Questions :
- Do you think that XGI has sufficient size (current net assets ~$40M) for an investment ?
- Do you know if there is an "un-hedged" version of XGI ?
- Do you think that somewhere between 10 and 15% should be allocated to Industrials ?
- Any other thoughts on a Global Industrials ETF ?

As always, thanks for your help. Much apreciated. T

Q: What is the best way to access and evaluate high yield bonds in Canada and the U.S.? I would like to add some risk to my portfolio, and improve the yields. My online investment platforms (RBC,TD) do not seem to make them available. Is there a better way?

Q: My portfolio has been sitting unchanged for some time (2 yrs), many winners are 5i recommendations, some not so much. With that said, my portfolio is well underperforming the model equity portfolio. Below are my current holdings. If I am to sell off those not included, and change the weight to match those in the model portfolio, how would you go about executing this? Big bang? Are there names you would wait to get into today, or those that you are considering a change in the near future? The value is about 500K, so the trades(from my perspective) will be significant. % are approximate on the add side. Your advise would be really appreciated.

AYA-6.3 (%) - Sell
AVO - 3.7 - Sell
BAD - 3.5 - Increase to 5%
BNS - 6.3 - trim to 5%
BDI - .6 - Sell
CGX - 4.8 - Sell
CSU - 5.6 - No Change
DSG - 4.0 - Sell
DHX - 3.7 - Sell
ENB - 3.5 - Maintain
ENGH - 4.2 - Maintain
XTC - 1.05 - Sell
HCG - 1.1 (ugh) - Sell and burn transaction receipt
MUX - 4.6 - Sell
PKI - 6.4 - Trim to 5%
PLI - 2 - Sell
SSL - 3.8 - Sell
TOY - 6.7 - Trim to 5%
STN - 3.8 - Sell
SJ - 4.1 - Maintain
SLF - 5.2 - Maintain
SYZ - 4.1 - Trim to 3%
TOU - 3.5 - Sell
WCP - .7 - Increase to 3%
Add: AEM 3%, AIF 3%, ATD 4%, CCL 5%, CLS 3%, CXI 3%, GUD 3%, MG 5%, MX 3%, KXS 5%, NFI 3%, PBH 5%, SIS 5%, T 3%, WSP 4%

Also - (I have asked about as many questions of late as I have traded) - for RESP for 4 yr old, roughly 12K in there now, where would you park this given building a portfolio of names is a challenge with the limited funds.

Thanks,

Eric