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Investment Q&A

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

Q: The fixed income portion of my portfolio has been suffering for the last few years, what do you think of the above and what recommendations would you have, thanks, Jean
Read Answer Asked by Jean on June 24, 2016
Q: Given yesterday’s UK referendum result, I expect there will be widespread panic and big declines on markets worldwide on Friday. I’m guessing your immediate advice will likely be “don’t panic, do nothing, wait and see how events unfold, etc”. In my specific case however, while I was expecting the “remain” side to win, I was also fearful and preparing for the worst just the same to the point that I am now 50% in cash. That is a lot of dry powder and I plan to start buying first thing Friday morning and into the coming days. What advice would you give someone who has been “doing nothing” for a while and is now looking to put sidelined cash to good use. Where do you think the best opportunities will be (both Foreign and domestic) to pick up specific names (or ETFs) that will get beaten up in the coming days worse than they likely deserve. Please provide a few names or ETFs for someone looking to be opportunistic on this occasion.
Read Answer Asked by Steven on June 24, 2016
Q: Your thoughts on the following tentative plan will be appreciated:

Looking to tweak our equities some over the next year or two to provide for a bit more US exposure and sector diversity and less in mutual funds. We looked at about 10% of our equity holdings in yesterday's review with our IA and tentatively landed on this:

1. Cdn $ - Sell Dynamic Dividend Income Fund and (some of our) RBC Cdn Equity Income Fund tentatively in favour of iShares Core S&P 500 Index ETF CAD-Hedged (XSP).

2. US $ - Sell CI American Value Corporate Class Fun and TD US Mid-Cap Growth Fund tentatively in favour of SPRD S&P 500 ETF.

PS. Our IA seemed to hesitate about us selling any of our RBC equity fund as he feels it well-managed and performing well again this year (11% ytd).

(Context: Retired. No pension. Conservative. 35% GIC, 30% preferred, 5% alternative, 30% equity, preferring blue-chip safe dividends.)

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Bill on June 23, 2016
Q: Hi Ryan and Peter,
My question is of a general nature and concerns a problem many seniors are having with portfolio construction. I'm 70 years old, have a defined benefit pension which, along with my wife's defined plan, covers our monthly commitments. We are underinvested in the fixed income part of our portfolio but because of the lack of returns on bonds and GIC'S, are hesitant to commit a large portion of our savings to this sector.
As with many seniors who have their monthly expenses covered by pensions, we need guidance as to what percentage of our funds should be in fixed income. What percentage do you think is appropriate and could you suggest a few specific investments.
If you believe, as I do, we would be better off investing in Canadian Blue Chip companies that offer relatively safe growing dividends, could you suggest several such companies.

Thank you in advance for your much appreciated guidance.

Read Answer Asked by Les on June 22, 2016
Q: I am looking to invest about $200K (non registered) for a minimum of 5 years into a moderate growth couch potato type portfolio. I am 5 years from retirement. I am considering the following portfolio and would like to know if you would agree with these ETFs and distribution.
XIC or VCN 25%, VUN 25%, XEF 20%, XEC 5%, VAB 15%, CBO 10%
Read Answer Asked by Kimberley on June 20, 2016
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