Q: Do you have an opinion on XSI. Would an investment in this ETF fall more into "income investing" or might it be more a bet on the future rise of interest rates. In general, is it better to wait for the ETF to gain an experience before investing in it?
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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: With the CAD dollar moving lower, is it wise to switch out of a current position in VUS (the hedged version) and into the VUN (unhedged). Any other considerations, other than the capital gain that will happen on the sale of VUS. This is held within a taxable investment account. Thx.
Q: Per IShares website, CPD's current trailing and distribution yield is 4.82%, or 5.32% pre MER which looks attractive. However, in scanning the current yield of Scotia Capital's preferred share universe holdings it is hard to envision the universe yield is nearly that high. IShares reflects CPD's monthly distribution simply as a cash amount of about 6.2 cents, no other break-down is provided. While CPD may not exactly represent the Universe it is very diversified and appears relatively representative. Do you have any thoughts? Thanks.
Q: I need your advice on the fixed income portion of my portfolio, currently 17%. The equity portion is a well diversified mix of dividend payers, mostly 5i companies. Current fixed income holdings are:
CBO (2%)
XHY (2%)
CVD (2%)
CPD (2%)
CF.PR.A (1%)
5 year GIC Ladder (3%)
HISA/Cash (5%)
The first rung of the GIC ladder recently matured, but I have been reluctant to purchase another 5 year GIC with rates being so low (~ 2.05%). Would I be better off with a floating rate ETF like HFR or FLOT, or should I just continue with the laddering strategy knowing that eventually it will adjust to rising rates? I am also aware that I lack any government bond exposure. I am considering CLF, but with a YTM of .75% I wonder if I would just be better of with a HISA at 1%. I am 40 years old with a 10-15 year time horizon. Your input is most appreciated.
CBO (2%)
XHY (2%)
CVD (2%)
CPD (2%)
CF.PR.A (1%)
5 year GIC Ladder (3%)
HISA/Cash (5%)
The first rung of the GIC ladder recently matured, but I have been reluctant to purchase another 5 year GIC with rates being so low (~ 2.05%). Would I be better off with a floating rate ETF like HFR or FLOT, or should I just continue with the laddering strategy knowing that eventually it will adjust to rising rates? I am also aware that I lack any government bond exposure. I am considering CLF, but with a YTM of .75% I wonder if I would just be better of with a HISA at 1%. I am 40 years old with a 10-15 year time horizon. Your input is most appreciated.
Q: BMO has a Floating Rate High Yield ETF (ZFH) that somehow combines T-Bills with Credit Default Swaps (whatever they are) to create a product that is midway between T-Bills and High Yield Corporate Bond ETF's in yield, risk, and volatility, which seems like a worthwhile result. The description of what they are doing might as well have been written in Sanskrit for all that I got out of it. ZFH has attracted $400M worth of investment in its year or so of existence. Would it be a reasonable addition to the bond portion of a balanced portfolio?
Q: This is a comment rather than a question. Roger asked about whether ZSP or ZSP.U was preferable given he wanted un-hedged exposure to the US dollar. The hedged version is ZUE. I believe that ZSP and ZSP.U are virtually identical. If you don't have US dollars and don't want to go through the conversion, you can buy ZSP. I asked BMO investorline this question but in respect to another ETF that I hold, ZLU. I asked that if I wanted to sell ZLU as ZLU.U could I do this and obtain US dollars and was told that I could. This would be similar to the conversions that are done using DLR and DLR.U. My only caveat is that in looking the list of BMO ETFs I see that the distribution yields listed are different.
Q: Peter and Team,
Can you please suggest which ETF is better for US corporate bond exposure between CSD and XHY? XHY has a more significant energy exposure (14%) versus CSD which has 7% in energy.
CSD is defined as short duration (which I like) with an average duration of 3.14 years. XHY doesn't seem to define a duration. CSD feels lower risk to me but I'd like your opinion.
Your thoughts?
Marc
Can you please suggest which ETF is better for US corporate bond exposure between CSD and XHY? XHY has a more significant energy exposure (14%) versus CSD which has 7% in energy.
CSD is defined as short duration (which I like) with an average duration of 3.14 years. XHY doesn't seem to define a duration. CSD feels lower risk to me but I'd like your opinion.
Your thoughts?
Marc
Q: With a dividend yield of 2.21 %, and an MER of 0.23%
this appears as a good choice for fixed income. May I have your thoughts. With thanks, Bill
this appears as a good choice for fixed income. May I have your thoughts. With thanks, Bill
Q: Hi,
At some point I would like to get into the Health Care sector (possibly with ZUH) but it seems so expensive right now, and you have stated this as well. But I feel that you are not a fan of waiting for a correction. How would you convince someone to buy into it right now, or would you wait?
Thank you
At some point I would like to get into the Health Care sector (possibly with ZUH) but it seems so expensive right now, and you have stated this as well. But I feel that you are not a fan of waiting for a correction. How would you convince someone to buy into it right now, or would you wait?
Thank you
Q: What is your opinion on those ETF ?
Q: Peter and team,
I currently hold CBO and HFR at 5% each of the portfolio. Rest of the Portfolio is currently stocks that are pretty close to the 5i model portfolio. Due to high personal exposure, I am thinking of selling TRP stock (5% of the portfolio) and adding XHY in its place.
I think the XHY should add some currency diversity to my portfolio as well as providing nice yield and it looks like the recent decline in value is finding a bottom.
Any thoughts here? By the way, my opinion on interest rates is that they are going to continue to stay lower for longer than anyone thought possible but I am cognicent that they can almost only go up from here and therefore have stuck to floating rate and short durations so far.
Thanks,
marc
I currently hold CBO and HFR at 5% each of the portfolio. Rest of the Portfolio is currently stocks that are pretty close to the 5i model portfolio. Due to high personal exposure, I am thinking of selling TRP stock (5% of the portfolio) and adding XHY in its place.
I think the XHY should add some currency diversity to my portfolio as well as providing nice yield and it looks like the recent decline in value is finding a bottom.
Any thoughts here? By the way, my opinion on interest rates is that they are going to continue to stay lower for longer than anyone thought possible but I am cognicent that they can almost only go up from here and therefore have stuck to floating rate and short durations so far.
Thanks,
marc
Q: Which of these two funds should I select? Given the free-fall of the Canadian dollar, I am inclined to go with the zsp.u (US dollar denominated). Then again, perhaps I should hedge my bets and buy both in equal amounts!!
Your reaction please.
Your reaction please.
Q: Good morning,
What are your thoughts on ZID or some other India ETF or mutual fund for added global exposure in my grand chldren's RESP? The twins are only four years old and other holdings in the RESP are CDZ (33%), MAW 104 (26%)and MAW150 (26%). I've just sold ZRE (13%)and was thinking of replacing this with ZID which I recognize adds more risk to the portfolio, but may well continue go higher given India's long term growth potential. I currently hold ZID in my own personal non reg acct and although it has done well, I was wondering if this ETF was suitable for a RESP or should I opt for a more global ETF or mutual fund. Thank you.
What are your thoughts on ZID or some other India ETF or mutual fund for added global exposure in my grand chldren's RESP? The twins are only four years old and other holdings in the RESP are CDZ (33%), MAW 104 (26%)and MAW150 (26%). I've just sold ZRE (13%)and was thinking of replacing this with ZID which I recognize adds more risk to the portfolio, but may well continue go higher given India's long term growth potential. I currently hold ZID in my own personal non reg acct and although it has done well, I was wondering if this ETF was suitable for a RESP or should I opt for a more global ETF or mutual fund. Thank you.
Q: Hello Peter:
I decided to buy a small quantity (200 shares) of the HOD ETF to hedge a bit against my oil stock holdings (Ithaca, Iona, Surge and Freeport McMoran). It fell hard yesterday with the news of the 8% cut in drilling rigs on the continental US. I am still expecting the oil price to fall further between now and the next OPEC meeting on June 5th.
My strategy is that I will use the gain that I will get in HOD to eventually buy more of my oil stocks when the oil market turns around. If OPEC in June does not cut their production then the oil price will fall much further before it bounces back. The U.S. inventories have gone up in the last two weeks at unbelievable levels - 10.7M two weeks ago and 8.2M last week. The reduction in rigs will not have a quick effect on the U.S. daily production numbers for at least 6 months. I believe yesterday's bump inthe oil price is a bit of an over reaction and will go down again next week when the inventory numbers come out for last week.
When you look at the HOD it states that it is a daily calculation based on the WTI price. How does the ETF actually work because it has increased more than the stated 2 times the drop in oil price? If my hedge is wrong I will still be very happy because my oil stocks will go up instead. I am banking on a increase in the oil price 2 to 3 years from now so I am not concerned about this blip but would like to hedge a little bit right now to make some money on the downside trend. What is your opinion of this strategy?
Thanks,
Brendan
I decided to buy a small quantity (200 shares) of the HOD ETF to hedge a bit against my oil stock holdings (Ithaca, Iona, Surge and Freeport McMoran). It fell hard yesterday with the news of the 8% cut in drilling rigs on the continental US. I am still expecting the oil price to fall further between now and the next OPEC meeting on June 5th.
My strategy is that I will use the gain that I will get in HOD to eventually buy more of my oil stocks when the oil market turns around. If OPEC in June does not cut their production then the oil price will fall much further before it bounces back. The U.S. inventories have gone up in the last two weeks at unbelievable levels - 10.7M two weeks ago and 8.2M last week. The reduction in rigs will not have a quick effect on the U.S. daily production numbers for at least 6 months. I believe yesterday's bump inthe oil price is a bit of an over reaction and will go down again next week when the inventory numbers come out for last week.
When you look at the HOD it states that it is a daily calculation based on the WTI price. How does the ETF actually work because it has increased more than the stated 2 times the drop in oil price? If my hedge is wrong I will still be very happy because my oil stocks will go up instead. I am banking on a increase in the oil price 2 to 3 years from now so I am not concerned about this blip but would like to hedge a little bit right now to make some money on the downside trend. What is your opinion of this strategy?
Thanks,
Brendan
Q: Hello Peter & team, I wish to invest in US Small cap stocks. Which of the 2 following ETFs would you prefer, SLY or IWO (iShares Russell 2000 Growth (IWO)? SLY seems to have a better P/E ratio and a better yield. Both carry about the same fees of 0.20%. Thanks, Gervais
Q: Hi Peter, I am looking for a conservative spot to park some RSP cash that I recently converted from mutual funds to my itrade account. I am currently 80% in stocks. Right now do you prefer XCB or CPD for 18-24 months and why?
Q: Good morning Peter and team, I was interested in your answer to Carla's question regarding her fixed income component. I was faced with the same situation and chose XQB.It has a management fee of 0.12% and contains 60% government and 40% corporate bonds. The yield is on the low side but with reinvested dividends, it's up 9.4% in the last year. Also,it's one of iTrade's "commission-free" etf's which is an added benefit. What is your take on XQB?
Q: I currently hold only GICs in my fixed income portion of my account, however, I'd like to move towards bond ETFs as they are more liquid and have a higher yield. My allocation would be 20% bonds, 80% equities because I'm only in my late thirties.
I'm looking for a bond fund that will 1) preserve my capital (if the stock market tanks I want to know that my 20% is safe. I want something that I can hold for the next twenty years that won't be too affected by interest rates, and 2) I want something that will give me some income.
I've looked at VAB.It seems to be a good mix of government and corporate. But would eventual interest rate hikes cause it to tank? I've also considered CBO, but since it's only corporate, I'd probably need to buy a Government bond ETF too... I think ishares has one similar to CBO.
Do you like either of these options? Or would you suggest something else? Would one ETF be safe or should I have more than one? I'd like to keep my fixed income investing simple.
And finally, on an unrelated note, I've been watching XTC for the last little while. It had great earnings and went up a lot today. Is it to late to get in now? Should I wait for a pullback? How high risk is this stock?
I'm looking for a bond fund that will 1) preserve my capital (if the stock market tanks I want to know that my 20% is safe. I want something that I can hold for the next twenty years that won't be too affected by interest rates, and 2) I want something that will give me some income.
I've looked at VAB.It seems to be a good mix of government and corporate. But would eventual interest rate hikes cause it to tank? I've also considered CBO, but since it's only corporate, I'd probably need to buy a Government bond ETF too... I think ishares has one similar to CBO.
Do you like either of these options? Or would you suggest something else? Would one ETF be safe or should I have more than one? I'd like to keep my fixed income investing simple.
And finally, on an unrelated note, I've been watching XTC for the last little while. It had great earnings and went up a lot today. Is it to late to get in now? Should I wait for a pullback? How high risk is this stock?
Q: Hello,
ZPR is now down over 5% ytd. This seems to be more than interest rates concerns. Has the credit risk increased? Any ideas why the preferred market is being hit so hard?
BTW, I noticed that the credit ratings of CPD holdings has been removed from their website. I called Blackrock about it: they said they would find out and call me back, but they never did.
Thanks, Greg
ZPR is now down over 5% ytd. This seems to be more than interest rates concerns. Has the credit risk increased? Any ideas why the preferred market is being hit so hard?
BTW, I noticed that the credit ratings of CPD holdings has been removed from their website. I called Blackrock about it: they said they would find out and call me back, but they never did.
Thanks, Greg
Q: Are you still OK with EWH? I bought it about 14 months ago and I must be up around 37% straight dollars and I suppose 42% with the currency fluctuations. I read in the paper how the economy is imploding in China and the banking sector is a looming disaster, with the banks over extended, so I am wondering if there is any truth to all the negative news. I have a 3% weighting in EWH and it is my only Asian exposure.
Thanks
Thanks