Investment Q&A

Q: What do you think of XSP vs SPY? xsp is Canadian funds. spy is U.S. funds. This is for my TFSA.
Thank you

Q: We are thinking of moving our US holdings to etf's rather than individual companies. Currently we own some VOO but notice that you recommend SPY often because of its volume and liquidity, i think.

The first question is whether there is a lot of differnece between the two and whether it is worth getting SPY as well as VOO?

Secondly, we notice that the top ten holdings for both etf's contain a lot of FANG stocks. So we were wondering if we needed other etf's to balance this weighting?
Do you think a total market etf like this is enough to cover the US market?
thanks again for great advice

Q: XIC/SPI were 2 suggested ETF funds for a beginner. I'd like your opinion on XSP vs SPY because it is traded in Canadian funds vs U.S. funds. It was suggested that as a beginner I should study the market more and not plunge into U.S. dollar funds a this time. Opinion?

Q: Hi Guys: . . Thank you for this great service; I am learning new things frequently. Two questions: I hold VEE and ZDM at about 6-7% each in my registered accounts. The share was higher, but I trimmed it recently in favor of individual stock holdings. Q1: With rising oil and US dollar prices, would you say that VEE is likely to remain stressed for another year or more? As per Vanguard it does have large India, Brazil, and South Africa components, countries I suspect might be more vulnerable to these stress factors than perhaps China & Taiwan, the biggest components. Q2: With Brexit approaching fast would you consider ZDM rather risky at this point with a 17% UK component? Again, what's the outlook in your opinion for the next 1-2 years.

Q: Please correct me where I am wrong, but these two ETF's track the same index (un-hedged US total market), but in spite of XUU having a lower MER, VUN seems to be the more popular choice, as well as seems to have a higher amount of daily trading volume. Any idea why?

Q: Do theses etf's ie HXT & HXS require the 1035 US tax form to be completed?
Thank you for your service

Q: Hi everyone. I need to add some diversification in the precious metals. I am looking for 2 ETF's one covering junior/mid cap. gold miners and one covering mid/large cap gold miners. Any suggestions.

Q: What ETFs would suggest for core holdings in a Rif account to cover the US...hedged with income and some growth prospects.

Q: Hi 5i - I have some new money to put to work and would like to round out my Canadian portfolio with some US and International ETFs. Currently I have some XSP and nothing else outside Canada. Can you provide some suggestions and an example weighting for an investor looking 20 years out with tolerance for risk? Thanks, Neil

Q: It seems every week there are headlines indicating that the Chinese stock market is down on account of trade worries with the US. I am a long term buy and hold investor and have no exposure to China in my portfolio and thought now might be the time. What are your thoughts on this idea? Is the chinese market in fact undervalued now based on the metrics you would use? And last but not least, what ETF would you suggest to get exposure?

Q: Facebook and Google have been moved out of this ETF and moved to the Communications Services ETF as a result of their industry reclassification. I still like the companies in the Tech ETF but Apple apparently makes up 20%. Would you move some cash from this ETF to the Vanguard Communications Services ETF? How do you handle such a change? (Amazon was moved as well). Is this one possible negative factor of ETFs in that a reclassification actually change your portfolio?

Q: Where could I find daily or periodic forward P/E or forward earnings estimate for the whole TSX or for an appropriate ETF?

Q: Hi, i'd like to invest in the chinese yuan(reminbi). What stock or etf would you suggest. thanks.

Q: Is this a reasonable place to park some cash? Do you have another recommendation. Thank you.

Q: ..please correct me if i'm wrong, but Canada seems to be a horrible place to put your money....with safety of principal first in mind, a desired yield of 4%, and an ever increasing risk of a market correction, what would you suggest for the next 6 - 12 months. thanks.

Q: Hello - I am very new to this web site and investing with minimal knowledge. I have investments with TD Waterhouse and set up all my accounts to self invest. It was suggested I start with ETF's. From there I don't know where to go or what to do. Can someone guide me?
Thank you

Q: For the past few years I've successful played a strategy for the big 6 Canadian banks. Each year I hold two banks. About this time each year I sell them and buy the 2 with the lowest P/E. The rationale is that the lower P/E banks revert to the mean. I've come across RBNK that has a similar yet a bit more diverse strategy. They look at higher yield vs my strategy of lower P/E, but they seem fairly well aligned. RBNK holds all 6 as follows: 1/4 weighting for the 2 highest dividends (BNS,CM) right now, 1/6 weighting for the next two highest yielders (RY, NA) and 1/12 weighting for the lowest yielders (TD,BMO) It's an inexpensive MER. What are your thoughts?

Q: Hi 5i Team
What would you recommend for a US industrial ETF?
Thanks!

lil

Q: Do rate reset preferred shares fare well as interest rares rise? Can you recommend any shares or an ETF?

Q: Hi 5i Team,
My question is about how to invest in commodities as a buy and hold retail investor. I read in Tony Robbin's book about Ray Dalio's all weather portfolio that it allocates 7.5% to commodities and 7.5% to precious metals. These two asset classes are supposed to protect a portfolio from accelerated inflation. Is this statement accurate?

Thanks for your great service.
Regards,
Danny