Investment Q&A

Q: Hello Peter, Would you recommend 2-3 ETF funds CDN and US for
a significant investment?

Larry

Q: Hello 5i team.

I have read that your favourite US dividend ETF is VIG. I own the TSX listed version (VGG) in my RRSP. Although, there is no withholding tax on dividends in an RRSP, there seem to be some erosion from taxes within VGG itself. Can you recommend a US dividend etf that is efficient to hold within an RRSP?

I note that the total return of VIG has been less than VV. Is this compensated for by lower volatility?

Thanks,
Hans

Q: Hi Peter,

I was planning to add ZIC, BMO Mid-term US IG Corporate Bond Index etf, to my portfolio. It has a yield of 3.4% and the weighted average duration is 6.51 years.

What are your thoughts on buying ZIC at this time and your general opinion on bonds at this point in the economic cycle?

Thank You

Q: Hi all. I purchased shares in the above a few months ago and it has been doing nicely. However, I note that you are recommending EPI. Can you please tell me the main differences. Would you Recommending making a switch?
Thanks.

Q: Hi Team,

I'm looking for a single etf or low cost mutual fund to diversify my tfsa portfolio which currently holds only Canadian equities.

A fund that caught my eye was prpfx which is supposedly modeled on the "permanent portfolio". What are your thoughts on this fund.

Are there other products that contain fixed income and international equity which you would suggest I consider? Do you have a favorite?

Thank you very much for all of your helpful answers.

Q: Great job you are doing. Could you please tell me about this ETF, other than low volume could you give me your recommendation for a 2 year or more hold in a RSP. It would be a 3-4% holding with another US ETF, XSP, at about 5%. Do you have any other choices and why. Thanks

Q: Hi Team,

Would you please recommend a couple of US funds ETF'S geared towards income and growth, and one which is strickly income? safety of principal is a priority. I need a US dollar income stream, with a $100,000 to invest.

Thanks for your help

Stephen

Q: Why is its yield of 2.9% lower than each of the Individual Banks which are all higher than 3.5%?

Thanks, Austin

Q: Hi, I bought HOU at $5 and it is now trading at $2.87.
In your opinion, can an ETF on crude oil go bankrupt?
Thanks

Q: I believe that the drop in the Canadian dollar may have reached its maximum. Ideally, I would like to transfer cash in my US$ acct to my CDN$ acct for a few months, but the exorbitant discount broker "back-and-forth" exchange rate fees would wipe out most of any potential gains.

Are you aware of any ETF that tracks the CDN dollar but is denominated in US funds? (e.g. a CDN dollar "bull" ETF). This would allow me to avoid actually having to suffer the exchange rate losses.

Thanks!

Q: Could you recommend a Canadian ETF Hedged that is similar to XLV. This would cover the Health Care component of my portfolio. Thank You.

Q: Hi Peter and team. I am wondering if it is time to pick up some European ETF's. What are your thoughts on IEV AND VGK,which one is better and is this a good time to buy or should I wait.
Thanks

Q: Re the trading of etfs which typically consist of a NUMBER of stocks, what factors dictate a rise/fall in price? Plz compare with the rise/fall of an individual stock.
Thanks

Q: Would you have a recommendation for an ETF (preferably in US$) for China or Asia that would include majors like Alibaba. China appears to become interesting with international accessibility to the Shanghai Exchange in the near future.
Thank you!

Q: hello 5i:
I'd like to have some US bond diversification in our portfolio and research shows some good ETfs from both Dodge and Cox,and Fidelity. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be available thru either BMO Investorline or Scotia iTrade. Please suggest some alternative options for me, as I've found little to nothing available, other than Canadian bond ETFs and mutual funds. I've found Emerging Market and European bond funds and ETFs available in US dollars, but these are not of interest. Can you help with either mutual funds, or, preferably, good ETFs. Or, can you suggest a way to buy the Dodge and Cox or Fidelity ETFs I mentioned earlier.
thanks
Paul L

Q: I Looking at a 5yr chart of CBO & CLF which show they have declined in value by about 6% over that period. Bonds are supposed to go up during periods of declining interest rates. trying to get an intuitive handle on this I was led into the swamp of Duration & rolling down the yield curve, neither of which is intuitive. I concluded that CBO.. managers are exploiting volatility to enhance the yield/Cap gain and paying out a mixture of of coupons & trading gains. This would mean that the decline or growth in NPV of CBO.. is not a metric that can be easily interpreted. Could the NPV rise in a slowly rising interest rate? Can you provide an intuitive way to understand CBO..s varying value

I appreciate your answers every day

Ernie

Q: can i have your opinion on vdu.

Q: I have no US exposure and am thinking of buying VIG US dividend fund, as you recommended to another member. My question (and therefore a concern) is; are the dividends charged as income since the Canadian dividend tax credit is not available?

Q: how would you rate this etf for exposure in an rrsp presently holding only can. stocks no mutal funds nor other etf. it would be 3.9% of a 200k portfolio.or do you have a better suggestion for international exposure.

Q: I have $125,000 to invest, I am looking for a combination of growth and income. Would you invest all in your model portfolio or with you put a portion in US and or emerging markets, I would problably use ETF's for US and emerging market portions.