Investment Q&A

Q: Peter: I have cash in my usaccounts and wish to purchase a USA regional bank. Could you provide info on any good choices?
Thanks

Q: WSP is been deleted from the TSX Comp. high yeld dividend index,while WTE is been added,what is the criteria used by TSX in order to justify the swith ?

Thank You to the whole 5I team.

Q: How safe are these bonds in a portfolio? Barry Schwartz on BNN mentioned that " We would avoid bonds like the plague."

Q: As a new member may I ask if you comment on funds such as PHW. I am about to make a purchase. The strategy looks good to me. What do you think? Thanks.

Q: Hi Peter and team, great job as usual. Are you contemplating a US model portfolio? If not , I have 50K US to invest for a 3-5 year period, obviously I would like to keep it in US$, hence US stocks. Risk tolerance, moderate. Could you recommend a diversified portfolio with a 5% weighting. I have absolutely no knowledge of US Stocks.Thanks for all your great advice. Ivan

Q: Hi Team,

I own full positions in EFV, EEM, and VXUS. I am looking to free up some US dollars to invest elsewhere and was wondering what you thought about selling one of these ETFs. Do you think I need all three or would two suffice for international exposure? If two is enough, which two would you keep? Thank you.

Michael

Q: Hello Peter and all; As always appreciate your great service, one news item from Bloomberg that as come Monday, Saudi Arabia lifts a ban on direct investments by foreigners, fund allocators are preparing to shift money out of other countries and put it to work in the Arbab world's largest stock market. I wonder are there any etfs that are related to this market that we have access from here? Thanks.

Lin

Q: I know the question has been asked before but just to be clear,if I wanted to buy 3-4 ETF'S for exposure other than NA, would you recommend the following.VXUS- the world except NA,VWO-emerging markets,VEE or FEZ for Europe and any other suggestions.Interested in India as well.Thanks.Paul

Q: We are travelling in Europe - Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Italy ... and cannot ever recall seeing so much construction activity. Is there any way to verify the accuracy of the observation - as in high current levels of infrastructure projects.

And if the perception is correct, is there an investment opportunity here be it in canadian or US lusted companies?

Thanks

Q: In response to a recent question regarding US financial ETFs you recommended KIE as an insurance ETF. Do you have specific reasons for favouring KIE over IAK? Thanks.

Q: I would like your recommendation on ETFs for the US and Int'l portion of my portfolio. First a little background. My wife and I are both retired and in our late 50's with company pensions and CPP and OAS available when we reach age 60 and 65. Given that these income streams are secure and cover living expenses I have structured my Investment portfolio with 10% Fixed Income (CBO) and 90% equities of primarily dividend paying Canadian companies. I would now like to increase my US to 10%, Int'l exposure to 7% and Emerging Markets to 3% and want to continue to earn a good dividend yield. I would like to keep all my holdings in Cdn $ and am considering the following ETFs. The stock selection methodology of these ETFs should provide less volatility with a good and growing dividend. These would be for a long term hold.
U.S. - ZDY - 3.0%
Int'l - ZDI - 4.0%.
Emerging - RXD - 2.7%
Your thoughts on these choices or alternatives would be appreciated.

Q: Hi 5i:
I'm seeking your advice on my health care /biotech holdings, and I'd like to know if I should shorten the list (I tend to hold too many stocks), make any substitutions, or change relative weightings. I hold five: IBB (full position); CRH (2/3 position), and CXR, GUD and PHM, all 1/3 positions, approximately. They together comprise 11% of the stock holdings in my actively managed portfolio. Also, do you think this is a reasonable total weight for the present market? Thanks for your valuable advice.

Q: Hello.Could you please dive me a couple of etf in biotech, healthcare and pharma. In Canadian stocks with or whitout hedge.And in USA stoks in American money. Is ibb the best in class for bio.

Q: It's extremely difficult to get candid perspectives on Ultrashort ETFs. Structural issues aside, what is your view on the impact of "Seeking Alpha's" report that 30% of TBT's market cap had left as of June 5? Personally, I can't understand why they'd leave now that rates seem to be finally heading up....

Q: There seems to be a consensus that rising interest rates will benefit US banks. Does this favour the big investment banks over other commercial banks? If so, XLF might be the way to go as it is heavily weighted by the big banks. If not, what would be a good alternative US bank ETF?

Q: In a reply to Dave (jun08) re Fixed Income / Bonds, you mentioned CBO as being "preferreds". I understood that CBO was comprised of 1-5yr laddered Corporate bonds. Can you clarify if CBO is made up of preferred shares.
Many thanks to 5i.

Q: In Peter’s last appearance on BNN he made a brief reference to the Chinese stock market being in a bubble. I currently hold some iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI), and with the recent run-up have done very well with them. I greatly value Peter’s opinions, so I of course take notice when he uses the term “bubble” to describe any investment (for me the only term that invokes more fear is “irrational exuberance”). I’m happy with my weighting and allocation to China which are right where I feel they should be. However, the recent run-up and Peter’s comments have me wondering if it would not be wise to sell all of my FXI and wait this one out on the side. At present there just seems to be too much downside risk versus upside potential to be worth it. Any advice?

Q: I'm 37 years old and I have very little exposure to bonds. I would like to start building a position in Cdn Corporate and Government bonds in my RRSP. Do you suggest buying a little every month in a few ETFs, such as CBO, CLF and XHY or should I wait until interest rates rise and then start a position since the price will likely decline further? Is it smart to start a position if general wisdom dictates the price will fall in the future?

Thanks,
Jason

Q: I own JPM and BB&T and have noticed some nice gains in U.S. banks. As a broader-based U.S. financial instrument, would this be a good buy for both decent growth and a juicy yield?
Thanks

Q: Peter, With all the talk of cyber security, I would like to make an investment in that space. I know of no way to do that on a Canadian market, but maybe you do. Is there an ETF which covers this sector? Between the big players like Fire Eye, Palo Alto, Cisco or others, how would you play it? Or would you avoid this area all together due to valuations?