Investment Q&A

Q: My wife and I, retirees, are considering adding a real estate ETF to our portfolio, to hold in TFSAs. You commented that ZRE has an equal weighting in REITS and is more diversified than XRE (that has a 30% weighting in RioCan and H&R). ZRE has a slightly higher distribution % that appeals. My question is on safety of capital. I perceive Rio Can and H&R to be high quality REITs versus say an Artis or Cominar that have a higher weighting in XRE. Which of the two ETFs would you consider safer, or is it a coin toss between the two? Thank you for your comments

Q: I am planning to move some of my U.S. holdings gradually to an etf style. Below you will see a 60/40 split that i found on an american site. It looks good like a good mixture of growth and safety to me. I was wondering what your thoughts would be. I noticed that a few of the symbols don't work, so i would have to find equivalents. But, this gives an idea of the sector breakdown. Thanks again:
All Century Portfolio
20 percent total U.S stock market (VTI) Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF
5 percent U.S. REITs (VNQ) Vanguard REIT ETF
5 percent U.S. small cap value (VBR) Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF
15 percent Pacific equities (VPACX) Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund
15 percent European equities (VEURX) Vanguard European Stock Index
10 percent U.S. TIPs (AGG) iShares Barclays Aggregate Bond Fund
10 percent U.S. high yield corp bonds (VWEHX) Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Fund
20 percent U.S. total bond market (TIP) iShares TIPS Bond

Q: Hi,
What is your opinion of ZWE for some exposure to European markets in a diversified portfolio?
If you don't like this.. can you recommend a better idea?
Thanks
Phil

Q: For weeks now ETFs have dominated on the TSX new high list. Is this because foreign markets are doing better?

How does the performance of your ETF portfolio compare to the
performance of 5i's Balance portfolio. Are we wasting our time
and do you expect this to last.

This is not the case with the NH list of the NYSE.

Q: What ETF would you recommend for exposure to Europe? My portfolio is mostly from your balanced equity and income portfolios. I currently hold VEE.

Q: Hello 5i
When i look at the yield for both VE and ZDM in both Morningstar and in the ETF Newsletter i`m getting significantly different values . The ETF newsletter says Yield while in Morningstar it always gives the 12 month yield . Shouldn't`t the figures be the same ? Isen`t any stated yield generally refer to a 12 month time period ?
Thanks
Bill C.

Q: Hi 5i;
!`m wanting to diversify my Portfolio and have ETF investments that include Europe and Asia . !`m considering ZDM which has a 35% Asia component but of that 35% its mostly Japan . So if one is expecting Japans economy to do well then this could be good but other wise the Asia component is in itself not very diversified throughout the rest of Asia .
That being said is Japan a good place to invest in over the next couple years or am i best to go with VE or ZWE for Europe exposure and VEE for Asia exposure separately ?
Thanks
Bill C

Q: Hi 5i;
Just a curiosity question . My current Financial planner has me invested in a couple ETF`s with MER`s of about .96% . That MER expense gets paid out of my fund but who gets that amount , my Financial Planner or the company the ETF is purchased from ?
Thanks
Bill

Q: Hi Team,
Could you please rank from "best to worst" which account to hold Robo Global Robotics & Automation ETF (ROBO) - my choices are $US cash, $US RRSP, and $US TFSA. Thank you. Michael

Q: Hi 5I- I would like to deploy most of my 30% cash in your income fund, but feel better if it was more global in nature. This would form the major part of my fixed income. Could you suggest some global or international div. etf's to compliment your 5I income model. The big US bully bothers me. We are early 70's retirees needing more than bond exposure. Thanks kindly.

Q: Could you compare these two ETFs for me. I'm trying to figure out what advantages CBO has over ZCS to justify the differences in fees.

Q: Thanks for your great service. In your response to Raj this morning, you state that "The ETF TXF has been liquidated (closed)." I currently hold this and it trades daily albeit at low volumes. Is there something happening to this ETF that I don't know about?

Q: I am considering this ETF. What would be the principal drivers of performance for this ZCM? My understanding was that the return of corporate bonds more closely parallel equities compared to government bonds, but I see that in 2015, ZCM still managed to eke out a positive return despite the overall decline in Canadian equities. I also note that it has produced a positive return every year since inception. How closely correlated to stock returns do you expect ZCM to be? What is the likelihood of this product generating a negative return in any one calendar year, and what kind of scenario might have to play out in order for that to happen?

Q: Can you suggest an etf similar to XIN with lower fees that trades in Canadian dollars? The objective is to try and get some international exposure.

Thank you

Q: Would IBB be best in a TFSA or non-registered

Q: Which of the above ETFs would you recommend that gives good exposure to tech sector that has growth and reasonable dividends.
THX

Q: Hi there, as a follow up to my earlier question - you had suggested possibly purchasing the ETF VXUS for international diversity - are there any Canadian listed ETFs that would mimic a similar exposure to VXUS? Thanks!

Q: Hi Folks
Is there a Canadian dollar way to play the Biotech industry. Would it be correct to say that IBB would be a US dollar purchase?
Thanks for all you do
GUY R

Q: Peter; In the Globe this weekend there was an article about low volatility foreign etf's . One was the ishares Edge MSCI Min. Volatility Gloal ETF. It looked interesting so I did some research and found the symbol XMY. But if I read the info correct it looks like you couldn't really buy or sell any reasonable size. Can you comment on this etf and why experts recommend such untradeable units. Thanks. Rod

Q: I was up 4% owning it for only 5 months until yesterday.One stock dropped 63% causing cdz to drop 3%.
Is the etf allowed to sell this company now?

Will this affect the other stocks in the ETF.(I own 2 of them.)

Should I sell or stick with this ETF. It was one of your suggestions.