Investment Q&A

Q: Could you recommend a currency hedged broad market index that covers the Japanese market?

Larry

Q: I'd like to know your opinion of this ETF. I like all of their top holdings. But I have heard that many of these stocks are trading at very high multiples. Would it be wise to buy some zlb now?
Thanks, Christianne

Q: The consensus seems that bond funds will tank when rates rise. I own a chunk of PH&N High Yield Bond Fund and an ETF Bond Fund - XHY. It seems to me that the active managers will position themselves for a rate rise so how do you see these two reacting when the inevitable day comes>
Thank you.

Q: Can you explain the difference between zwh anb zwh.u and your opinion on both

Q: 5i team,

Pursuent to my previous question. Could you recommend your favourite ETF for each of the market sectors? I am ambivalent whether these are CAD or US ETFs you choose.

Thanks as always.

Q: I am pretty well driving myself crazy trying to develop a Fixed strategy using etf's for several portfolios I am in charge of ...mine, my wife, sister ......I really am beginning to think I should just start buying bond funds from Mawer or Canso unless you could suggest say 6-8 etf's which might be OK . Otherwise I seem to be buying converts to try to get 4-5% coupled with 1% savings accounts which might actually be a safer bet IF rates keep heading upward over the next few years. Is there a firm you would suggest for bonds specifically??
Thanks.
john

Q: Hello. Right now who is the best beacause dan dollars are down compare to us dollars but i think there is more upside than down side for the cdn dollars. I know you prefer not edge but if the cdn dollars go higher its not better to have edge etf. Yhanks a lot. I am sure you will see i am a begginner in stock market.

Q: Hello. Is it a good place to place some money may be with less risk then just 3 or 4 stoks. Or do you have another choice for me Thank you

Q: Could you please tell me what you think of HEDJ.US for exposure to European stocks? I am ok with the US dollar exposure but do not want the risk of the EURO declining versus the US dollar.

Q: Peter, a few weeks back, there was talk of a liquidity issue with bond ETFs, Vanguard bond funds, etc.
Many of these players have arranged a line of credit with banks to handle large redemptions in a "crisis" bond market. I hold CBO (TSX), TD Short Term Bond fund and TD Mortgage fund. How would my holdings be affected in such a market? Would the CBO bid/ask spread widened? Are the TD funds closing day NAV prices based on the closing Bid (which could collapse in a crisis)? Any insight would be appreciated. BTW...great service!!

Q: Hello,
I am working on increasing my fixed income allocation by trimming some stocks. I have a number of American stocks in my RRSP with a good profit and I have been thinking about trimming here and buying fixed income. I had thought of selling an buying an American fund equivalent to xsb. Do you think this a reasonable stragegy? I can also buy a large dual listed stock such as RBC in U.S. funds and sell it immediatly with the proceeds ih Canadian, thus avoiding the exchange from us to cdn,in order to buy something like XSB. Buying the fund in US dollars would save a couple of extra transactions, but it would not be in my home currency. If you think buying a US bond index is a reasonable idea, do you have a suggestion as to which?
thanks as always, Claire

Q: Hello, Can you give some suggestions and information on buying bonds as part of a diversified and a slightly aggressive overall portfolio. Since there are so many types of bonds I would welcome some guidance. Any suggestions on bond etfs are also welcome. Thanks. Shyam

Q: I recently read an article about this fund just arriving in Canada, May 6 I believe. What interested was: It is an international fund and it is managed by Joel Tillinghast (SP?) who was mentioned in the article as an excellent manager of this fund. What are your thoughts?

Q: Please give your comments on ZST as an ETF to compliment XBB & CBO which I already own. Is this a good ETF to hold while waiting for a BOC increase? Also, can you explain why CBO & ZST share prices slowly erode over time while XBB has slow gains?
Thanks,
Tom

Q: I am well diversified in the Canadian market, but own no US stocks and would like to buy some ETF's. I am looking at ZDJ, ZUE, VUN, AND ZSP, what is your opinion of these? or can you suggest others that will cover the US market and would you recommend that I also have a World ETF? Thank you for the great service and information you provide.

Q: What other indexes would you recommend worth considering for a balanced investor. I currently have

Canada- 1) TSX, 2 ) TSX Small cap

USA- 1) Russel 1000, 2000 & 3000. 2) S & p 500

Europe - FTSE Europe

Asia- Ftse- Emerging Markets

Other - 1) MSCI small cap except north America 2) FTSE all world except USA.

Thank you

Paul

Q: The recent bond sell off is suggesting the much anticipated interest rate increase is around the corner. I have read that bond like stocks such as reits, pipelines, utilities and consumer staples will experience increased volatility in the coming months. I own a 20% weighting in the low volatility BMO etf ZLB. ZLB is loaded with the at risk sectors mentioned and could quickly become a high volatility etf. Would you please suggest several Canadian equity etf's as an alternative to ZLB that have low weightings in the interest sensitive sectors. Thank you.

Q: Hello Peter and team,

My 20 year old nephew just opened a Scotia itrade account this week, how much can he contribute into his TSFA?
Scotia itrade has free ETF trading. For dollar coast averaging, which 4 or 5 ETF's would you recommend for a beginning investor?
http://www.scotiabank.com/itrade/en/0,,4200,00.html

Thank you,

Brent

Q: You frequently recommend CDZ for dividend growth. CDZ certainly contains quality dividend growth stocks but it has a very irregular dividend growth history, unlike it's holdings. The following are the annual dividend growth rates for CDZ vs the Canadian Dividend All Stars (average of 65 stocks):
Year CDZ CDAS65
2008 21.2% 35.1%
2009 6.2% 10.8%
2010 6.0% 24.2%
2011 -25.1% 19.2%
2012 1.7% 14.4%
2013 8.2% 14.4%
2014 -9.1% 13.6%

Q: Would you please give me your thoughts about this US ETF. (It makes up about 3% of my portfolio, and about 20% of my financial services sector.)
Thanks for your great service!!