skip to content
  1. Home
  2. >
  3. Investment Q&A
You can view 3 more answers this month. Sign up for a free trial for unlimited access.

Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: I have a portfolio consisting of mostly stocks, but also some etf's (ex IWO, ZPR, etc...) and BRK.B. Could you offer some advice on how the ETFs and conglomerate companies fit in to overall sector allocations? For example, in my case I have very little consumer discretionary exposure via stocks, but obviously some through IWO & BRK.B. I'm trying to figure out the best way to measure these for sector allocation purposes.

As always, thanks for the great service.
Read Answer Asked by Brian on December 05, 2016
Q: Considering returning to oil to take a full position. I have full position on utilities,finance,IT,Consumer, Is going to oil a good idea? Which of the above would you or combination would you suggest for an initial input of $50-70K.
Your service is much appreciated,
Read Answer Asked by Pierre on December 05, 2016
Q: My portfolio closely matches you balanced equity portfolio. As it looks like the US will outperform Canada over the next year I am thinking of picking up some US ETF's for about 20% of my portfolio. What do you think of this strategy and if you agree, what ETF's would you suggest?

Ray
Read Answer Asked by Raymond on December 02, 2016
Q: I started out with I question but find I actually may have 2 or more.

I am considering replacing CRQ & CDZ in 1 account,
and replacing cdz with HEW in another account. This would account for all my TSX ETF exposure.

The questions are :
1) would you view this as a viable move
2) I noticed that HEW is a thin trader. Will I be beaten
up badly if i try to buy several hundred shares of HEW
at one time.
3) Is there an approach to buying this type of eTF (thin trader)
4) I noticed when I looked up CDZ there is a CDZ.A
and CRQ has a CRQ.A
Could you please tell me the difference in the A versions
of the ETF's .
That's it for this "question".

Thanks in advance
Read Answer Asked by Leonard on December 01, 2016
Q: I have a question about 1714,Hi,I would like to diversify out of Canada with a etf. If I bought VGG in my cash account,would I have to fill out a U.S. Tax form,or would it be included in my Canadian tax return? I file my own taxes and not interested in filing U.S.taxes as well.
Would Vgg be good for income 3-4% and a little growth or could you recommend something.
Thanks,Brad
Read Answer Asked by Brad on December 01, 2016
Q: Peter and Team, I want to choose some ETFs for my mother in-laws RRIF and LIF. My approach is to be well diversified, looking for some dividend and a little growth to achieve btwn 5 to 10% annually. I plan to select Equal weights using ZLB,ZWB, ZDV FOR Canadian content and ZLH, ZWH, ZHY, and ZGI FOR US Content. Your opinion and any pitfalls or suggestions would be apprecuated.
Thanks, Steve.
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on December 01, 2016
Q: Can I have your thoughts on ZDI or an alternative you suggest. Yield and holdings look good. Also, what do you suggest as a foreign stock holding percentage for a portfolio not including US stocks. Looking to add foreign dividends and exposure with existing incoming Canadian dividends from portfolio. Does ZDI hold the stocks directly or through another ETF, I want to get as close as I can to the ownership of the stocks through the ETF avoiding any unnecessary extra fees.
Read Answer Asked by Nino on November 30, 2016
Q: There are a few Multi-Asset ETF available in USA such as DWIN, PCEF, IYLD, CVY, and GYLD. The Beta of those funds is about 0.50. Do you recommend any of them? Are there any Multi-Asset ETFs that are based in Canada?
Read Answer Asked by George on November 28, 2016
Q: A new investment strategy, based in Paris, has developed TOBAM (Think Out of the Box Active Management), which is a new anti-benchmark strategy of investing with a goal of minimizing volatility swings in the markets. Whereas the TSX has a 35.64% weighting in financials and a 20.58% weighting in Energy, TOBAM's strategy limits financials to 22.1% and energy to 9.1%. Consumer Staples, on the other hand, are weighted at only 4.16% on the TSX, while TOBAM gives that sector a weighing of 14.4%. While the strategy is fairly new, when you back-test data to 2001, it does seem to be working. Mackenzie Financial has a number of ETF's utilizing this strategy. I am interested in three of them... the Mackenzie Maximum Diversification Canada Index (MKC on the TSX), the Mackenzie Maximum Diversification U.S. Index (MUS on the TSX), and the Mackenzie Maximum Diversification Developed World ex North America Index (MXU on the TSX). All three are traded fairly thinly. The first two are currently at their highs, the last is currently at its low. Your insight please.
Read Answer Asked by Paul W on November 28, 2016
Q: Hi great team!
Know you do not cover US stocks specifically but you may be able to assist me.
I have a 4 yr. old grandson leaving in the US. His Mom would like to have me help her start a long term saving investment plan along the lines of the "Lazy Investor", with mthly contributions ( not too large) in preparation for his future education.
Would you have any suggestions as to the stocks she should invest in,those having a DRIP and OCP and with good history of dividends. This would be done in the US so no complications re Canada.
Many thanks for this and all the great work you do for us!

Casey
Read Answer Asked by Harold on November 28, 2016
Looking for more? Sign up for a FREE 14 day trial! No credit card required

We invite you to sign up for a 14 day free trial of 5i Research!
Experience all the benefits and tools we have to offer; stock research, model portfolios, Q&A with our experts, and so much more. Join a community of like-minded investors today!