Investment Q&A

Q: Could I get a couple of suggestions for 1-2 small-to-mid-cap regional US banks with good fundamentals that you like the looks of. What are your thoughts on US financials generally for the next 12-24 months. Thanks.

Q: Is there an etf that has both USA and Canadian Finacials ?

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.

Q: you suggested this etf for my son.thanx.does the price move up and down with people buying the etf itself or the underlying stocks?

Q: I will appreciate your comments on IYJ ETF as a long term hold.
Thanks

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.

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?

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.

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

Q: Good afternoon,

My question pertains to holding US equities in various accounts. Can you please validate or refute the following:

Cash account: US dividends are taxed as interest-50%, and a 15% withholding tax is applied which can be redeemed during tax season.

RRSP: US equities are supposed to be capital gains and divends tax free. However, I have noticed that some equities, such as limited partnerships have their dividend taxed at 38% with an additional 15 % non redeemable withholding tax. Can you confirm this, and are their any other types of US equities that are Exempt from RRSP tax sheltering?

I have also been told that US equity ETFs that are listed in the US are also have their dividends taxed. Is this true? And would this be the same for US equity ETFs that are listed in Canada (ex: those listed on black rock Canada website )?

Thank you for bringing some clarity to the issue. Any other tips you may have would be well appreciated.

Cheers,

KR

Q: Hello 5i,
My wife is concerned that our exposure to bonds is far too high, so I thought I would turn to the experts for advice.
Fixed Income is 31.1% of our total, combined portfolio broken down as follows:
CBO 4.8%
EMB 6.9%
VEE 1.0%
XHY 5.0%
XIG 4.7%
XPF 2.4%
XTR 3.0%
RBF 461A 3.30%
Note: these percentages reflect only the Bond or Fixed Income component of these ETF's, not the equity or other holdings.
We each have modest private pension as well as CPP and (1) OAS.
Our total portfolio income will soon be required to help cover living expenses - and presently looks to be able to do so for the most part.
So, my question is: given the foregoing do you see any areas of concern or any compelling changes that would be required?
I know this might sound a lot like a mini portfolio review, but I have added a lot of detail so that it might assist others who read the Q&A as I know asset allocation is an area of concern and interest for many members.
Please feel free to deduct as many questions as you deem appropriate.
Many thanks,
Cheers,
Mike

Q: I am interested in increasing my exposure to the US through ETF's. I currently hold some IWO and VIG. I am wondering if I should just add to those or are there 1-2 others that would round out my exposure. I am wondering about industrials and banks for example. Thanks

Q: Could you recommend and ETF for the US big banks ? Thanks again.

Q: Could you recommend an ETF that is heavily weighted with:Amazon, Google and Microsoft ? Thanks.

Q: I understand there is an ETF that could provide some protection in case of a down market,I believe these are called inverse ETF. I looked in the ETF section and only found one mention of inverse ETF and not sure I understood how it worked.
Any info would help as I am looking to buy "insurance" protection.
Thanks
Jean

Q: Hi 5i. I saw an interesting interview on BNN's 'Money Talk' (Nov23) with Damian Fernandes of TD Balanced Growth Fund. He was discussing the impact that a Trump reduction of corporate taxes would have on the S&P 500.
Hereis the link : http://www.bnn.ca/money-talk/money-talk-trump-s-impact-on-markets-and-sectors~1001584
If you have a chance to see it I would be very interested in your opinion.
As a result I am looking into investing in a S&P 500 ETF. I have looked at iShare's IVV (US$) which has 506 holdings and a MER of 0.04% - this would require converting CA$ to US$. Two other Canadian ETF's are Vanguard's VFV containing 509 holdings and MER of 0.08%, and iShare's CA$-hedged XSP which contains 1 holding (being IVV) and has a MER of 0.11%.
Two questions:
1. can you explain why XSP (hedged) MER would be almost 3x the IVV Mer that is its sole holding.
2. I assume that Vanguard's VFV is "unhedged". Can you explain how the Hedged product (XSP) differs from the "unhedged" product.
Thanks as always for your great advice.

Q: Back in July, I purchased the Global X Gold Explorers ETF (formerly GLDX, now GOEX). I was reluctant to sell when it started to dip, but since the price of gold keeps falling I'm wondering what to do. My time horizon is long and my allocation is small, so I can live with being in the red for many years. What I’m wondering is if it's safe to hang on to it, in terms of there being any risk to the underlying companies or even the ETF provider itself. Should I have any concerns about Global X? Also, if I can ask a related question, if an ETF under-performs for long periods, is there a risk of it being discontinued? Thanks for your help.

Q: HI Peter and team. AM I better off investing in an ETF such as VDY or the top 10 - 15 holdings? WIth a 0.22 mer and a $100,000 investment it appears I would still be ahead based on 10 or 15 trades per year given $10 cost per trade. I would also realize a higher avg Yield vs the ETF yield. Also where can I find a list of the complete holdings of an ETF vs just the top 10 that most sites list. I very much appreciate your expertise and advice. I'm

Q: I have a question about the effect of demonetization on Indian stocks in the short term and medium term. I currently own ZID ETF (down 10%), ICICI Bank IBN (breaking even) and Dr Reddy's lab RDY (down 8%). Should I continue to hold? Would appreciate your views on these.

Thanks

Q: Could you comment on ZPW, which I am looking at as a small position for income (being too cowardly to buy puts directly myself). Some points in particular:
- is a bull, bear or stagnant market best suited to this strategy
- the BMO site lists this as low to medium risk - do you agree
- can they really earn enough through puts to justify the dividend/fees
- is the US a good market for this strategy

Thank-you