Investment Q&A

Q: What would be your preference between either CLF or XBB for government bond exposure at this time?

Q: I think it's time that I put some money back into emerging markets. Currently my only holdings (other than ADR's held on International stocks thru New York) is my investment in ZDI. All in, these current investments represent less than 3.5% of my equity portfolio. So my two part question is as follows: 1) what rough percentage would you recommend for international holdings in total (tough question I know), and 2) please give me your opinion on the relative merits/demerits of VEE vs ZEM (on a line chart they track almost identically in terms of performance, so I'm wondering if there's something "under the hood" in either of them that might be important for my decision)? Many thanks.

Q: Hello 5i,

I am a 20 year old university student. Through my CO-OP position I have built up just over 2000 dollars in savings that I am able to invest right now with an additional 500$ a month until September. Due to the fact that it is such a low amount of money I have been strongly considering putting all of it into one or two ETFs in order to avoid hefty fees. I am looking to grow my money as much as possible over a 3 – 5 year time period. I am new at this and therefore was wondering if you guys had any recommendation as to what I should do and which type of ETF I should put my money into.

Thank you so much for your help and have a great day.

Q: Hello 5i

My wife and I will retire in 6 years. We plan to take 15/yr out of our RRSP's at full retirement.

After pulling most of our investments from mutual funds we have the following:
- 250k RRSP to invest into non-CDN (most likely ZWE, VUN, EXC, and a few stocks or XAW)
- 100k RRSP Mutual funds in bonds (transfer to ETF's or stocks over time to reduce fees)
- 100k RRSP for CDN investment (VCN or portfolio stocks?)
- 25k for TFSA now + 20k/yr to add to TFSA

We are not sure if purchasing 100k of VCN is the right choice.
Would you recommend 100k into the balanced and/or income portfolio instead, or a combination of VCN and balanced portfolio?

If RRSP funds are allocated to portfolios, which stocks are best suited for an RRSP? We can purchase the remaining stocks through our TFSA (higher growth stocks).

Please take the appropriate number of credits for the question.

Thank you for your great service.

Jerry & Debbie

Q: Dear 5i
My current financial adviser has me in a large position of a global bond etf. I can`t continue with this etf when i switch toQuestrade as it is not tradeable there .
The question is should i continue to remain in global bonds and if so what would you suggest in terms of an etf or should i just stick with North American bond etf`s?
Thanks
Bill C.

Q: Dear 5i
I am two years away from retiring and currently positioning my portfolio to be 60% fixed income and 40% equity.
Of the $600,000 fixed portion what bond ETF`s would you recommend and what dollar amount would you put into each ? Obviously lower MER`s and higher yields are preferable .
Thanks
Bill

Q: I would like a small positon in gold for my TFSA that pays a dividen for longterm hold. What would be your best choice? thanks.

Q: Hallo I5, is there a tax advantage between dfn, df and zwu, would you please rate or rank them from safety point of view. Perhaps suggesting a couple better ones. I do not have any India holding. Would you consider either of the above safe with reasonable MER, perhaps a suggesting a couple better ones. Many thanks, J.A.P. Burlington

Q: I would like to move to a portfolio with at least 30% exposure to the US. I already own VFV and VUN which comprise 10% of my portfolio. Rather than attempt to buy individual US stocks, it makes sense to me to continue to buy these very low cost ETFs, both of which provide significant diversification into the US. With VFV there is the added diversification bonus that almost 50% of the companies listed have business outside the US. I would appreciate your opinion of this strategy.

Q: If I wanted to hedge my U.S. currency going forward, would buying DLR.TO be a good way to do it?

Q: Hi 5i,

I'm looking for some help picking my next 2 or 3 stocks or ETF to add to the income portfolio listed above.I started building this portfolio 5 month ago hoping not to buy at the top. I'm trying to buy 1 or 2 positions every month to average in to the market.
Planned retirement date December 2018.

Thanks in advance.

Q: I plan on contributing $2500 a year for my daughters RESP. Since these are smaller amounts should I just be adding some ETF's? I currently have some TD and ENB as I feel these are good long term investments, but I don't know how much diversification the RESP should have. Would IWO,be a good add, or should I just add a new position every year, of a high quality dividend payer?

Thanks as always.

Q: Curious why you picked a medium term (5-10 year) US bond etf to recomend to me in the last question i asked. do you think this is preferable to short or long?

you also recommended GOVT. Were you thinking I should put half in each?

Q: In Jan 26 response you mentioned cash like ETFs with a similar yield to High Interest Savings Account for short term savings of cash. Could you name a few?

Q: My only exposure to equities outside of Canada is through the etf VUN. Would it be appropriate now to invest in emerging markets, Europe or world etf's? Could you please make some suggestions to compliment my Canadian and US holdings.
Thanks for your wonderful service.

Q: Hello 5i, I'm thinking of purchasing this for my RRSP account. Please can you inform me if there are any withholding taxes of any dividends paid.
Thank you.

Q: could you please suggest a ETf similar to ZWE FOR :

1. EMERGING markets
2. asia
3. india
thanks
yossi

Q: I am looking for a health care ETF. Right now I am looking at ZHU and XHC. One is global and one is US focused.
ZUH has a MER of 0.39 and a yield of 0.42.
While XHC has a MER of 0.65 but a yield of 1.49.Which I think cancels out the higher MER.

I am not sure which one is right for me or how to choose. Could I use growth potential? Does one have more growth potential than the other? Or what other factors could I use to help me decide?

Q: Greetings 5i,

Looking to further enhance geographical diversification in my overall portfolio. I have fairly balanced exposure to NA, about 8% Europe, but only 1% Asia so I am looking to bring up my exposure in that region. My question is regarding exposure to India specifically. I wish to dollar cost average into this geographical region therefore I have been looking for a mutual fund rather than an ETF due to cost prohibitive transaction fees of $9.99 with my institution. What are your thoughts on Excel India Series D fund (EXL770)? I have it as No load, Mer 1.75, Min $250 and subsequent $50. Im open to suggestions and or direction keeping in mind the dollar cost averaging is preferred to me over a big initial commitment to a geographical region like this.

Cheers!

Q: Peter; Is there a ETF or other option to buy the CAD ? Thanks. Rod