Investment Q&A

Q: During the next 12 months I think the $us will appreciate against $cad because of the pending US rate hike and oil will be depressed a while longer. Do you agree with this thesis and if so I want to play this using ZLU. I don't have any $us, so to avoid currency conversion fees I chose ZLU. My concern with ZLU is 50% of the etf is in staples and utilities. I think these two sectors may not exhibit low volatility over the next year with the pending rate hike, high p/e's and possible fund flows to other sectors. Are my concerns justified and if so can you suggest an alternative play to capitalize on a weak $cad. Thank you.

Q: The above 5 etfs are core holdings with VXC and XHY at 15% each and the others at 10% each. The balance of my portfolio is made up of a diversified set of individual stocks (Canadian companies). I am considering exchanging XIN with ZWE to still have European exposure but with a better yield or should I keep XIN and just add ZWE to my core holdings? As always, thanks for the advice.

Q: Hi 5i Research team, I have a long term horizon, and more of a growth oriented investor profile. I prefer to well understand the companies I invest in. The technology sector represents a challenge for me in terms of software products, competition, rapidly changing conditions, obsolescence, variety of software portfolio, etc. So I would like to built a sector exposure based on a few companies instead of using an ETF. Based on reading 5i Research, I am thinking a combination of CSU, KXS, GIB.A, OTC, ESL, DSG, TCS, SYZ,SH. Do you agree with this strategy? Would you include some other companies in this list or replace some? In what order would you rank them in terms of total return potential over long term and overall quality? How many of them would be enough? Would you suggest another weighting than equal weight (2% each)? I also need criteria to manage this group since my understanding won't be up to par. How will I know when to sell, or when to over or underweight in some companies? I would not want to react too strongly to short term events (quarterly results). How would you suggest I implement this strategy (buying strategy)? Thank you, Eric

Q: I'm looking for a Canadian ETF similar to TLT in the US, in hopes of shorting it. Anything available to your knowledge?

Q: I would like to have a decent return but preservation of capital is a priority. Please provide your opinion on CIBC Canadian Bond Index Fund – Premium Class CIB585. I am aware that you recommend the ETF CBO so would appreciate your comparison. This would be in a non registered account.
https://www.cibc.com/ca/mutual-funds/no-load-income/can-bond-indx-fund-premium.html

Thank you,

Q: I was wondering how the distribution works, I noticed looking at history that it pays dividends monthly but some months it doesn't pay anything at all.

Q: Good morning,

Can I have your opinion on this etf. I am looking for diversified income.

Thanks
Carl

Q: Would you please comment on the suitability of ZDI
for international exposure and income. Do you have
alternatives for consideration?

Thank you for your reply

Q: I've been struggling to find out what to do with all the cash I was holding in my portfolios so a while back I used VDY as sort of a money market fund,for me that's pretty conservative. I realize that VDY is basically buying the tsx financial sector, I'm up about 4-5% with this right now but do realize that with a correction in the financials it could come down some. I'm looking for something "safer" to park my money in.

Q: your opinion on buying a gold bullion etf, and any suggestions as to which one

Q: Why does FTB have such a large spread between the Actual MER (.50) and the Actual Management Expense ratio (.92)/ My financial planner is actively promoting it. I wonder if he gets some of the MER as an incentive therefore encouraging him to promote it. Its current yield is 3.4% wile CLF has a yield of 2.9% with an MER of .15 and .17. Do you have any comment on XBB, XSB, CLF, and FTB. Should I mirror the FTB portfolio of the five bond fund ETFs (CLF, XBB, PGL, ZEF, and ZHY) or buy FTB? I assume the yields are after the MER is taken.

Thank you.

Q: Is the dividend paid from this ETF Canadian eligible for tax purposes?

Thank you for providing this great service.

Q: Can you please explain "rate reset preferreds" in simple language for us dummies. Having been burned in a preferred share ETF, that I thought was relatively safe, in the past, I'd like to know the risks and advantages.
Thanks, Len

Q: A question about using currency ETFs to play an appreciation or depreciation of the Can. dollar against the U.S. dollar confused me. Would I not do better just holding the currency I thought would be stronger. Doesn't either ETF come with fees I could avoid by just holding the respective currency?

Q: Hi,
Could you recommend the best and simplest way to build a well balanced portfolio for a passive long term investor? Would it be etfs? If so could you recommend the ones you think (possibly 3-5)? They would be held in a TFSA and added to annually to maximize tfsa room and DRIPS would be used whenever possible.

Thanks!

Q: Is there an ETF I can buy if I believe Canadian dollar will weaken against US in near future and vice versa.

Q: I would like to set up a portfolio using the TD e-series funds. My time horizon is 10 years. I plan to purchase on a monthly basis. Can you recommend a portfolio composition using these funds (including percentages).

Q: What sort of fixed income do you recommend for a portfolio? With so many options, I have no idea which to choose. Where do I begin in making these decisions? Thank you.

Q: Peter, as I build up new cash balances to invest, I need to resist the temptation to keep buying new stocks but, rather, to add to existing positions - simply to avoid to point where I'd have 80 or more stocks! I have an account that currently holds modest positions in Exco, K-Bro, and Tourmaline. With a 5-year time frame, which of those three would you expect to produce the best total gain? Or, since the account also holds the Horizons ETF HXT, would you be inclined to prefer that broad basket (although, obviously, diversification is not my concern!). Thank you.

Q: Hi 5i,
I am young and have time to hold stocks long term. I own some Canadian bank (bns) as well as some broad etfs (and other various non-financial stocks).

Is there value or reason to own a company like Sunlife or Manulife (or similar, please recommend if you know of something better). Or would it be better to own a second Canadian bank? Or would it be best to add the extra money to my BNS position?

Thanks