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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: I would like to increase my exposure (at the understood risk of return chasing) to US industrials and defence companies that seem set to rally under the new regime in the White House. I would like to do this without paying the punitive buy/sell exchange rates offered by my bank. Does the above mentioned ETF look ok to you? Any others that you would recommend? I would be interested in ones with some exposure to steel/base metals/US financials too.
Read Answer Asked by Patrick on November 25, 2016
Q: Soooo many questions regarding bonds ... not surprising when so many of us have enjoyed the "safe" dividends.

My question: given the concerns regarding bonds in general in a rising rate environment, would you recommend this as good time to add XRB or a similar/better product to the fixed income portion of one's portfolio?

Thanks for your guidance here.
Read Answer Asked by Donald on November 25, 2016
Q: I am a retired, conservative, dividend-income investor. I am looking to top up my industrial holdings. I own WSP, which I could add a bit more of. I am looking for another industrial company that pays a dividend > 2.5%...tough to find one.

What are your current thoughts on the etf ZIN-T? What do you think of the holdings and their participation in the current updraft, due to the anticipated spending on infrastructure?

A 2nd option is TFI, but it has had such a jump?

Do you have any other suggestions for a dividend-paying industrial for me to consider?

Thanks, Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on November 24, 2016
Q: I hold xlk in my RRIF as part of technology. However I am unhappy with the larger weighting given to "giants" as is the case with iyw I could accept the minimally higher cost of ryt for it's equal weighting and better performance. liquidity seems good. Do you think this a reasonable switch. I prefer to keep a US dollar ETF. Thanks for your advice
Read Answer Asked by Tom on November 23, 2016
Q: Hi,

I am holding RBC Life Science and Tech mutual fund (RBF1030)which is a nice mix of U.S. technology and health care stocks.
What would be a good ETF to replace it or, alternatively, which stocks combination would replace it advantageously ?

Thanks again for your exceptional service,

Jacques
Read Answer Asked by Jacques on November 23, 2016
Q: Hi Peter and Team,

I'm in the process of doing a sector analysis in all our family accounts to determine overweight and underweight sectors. I see that we are very underweight in US stocks and healthcare. In my wife's RRSP, she owns ZLB which I'm planning to sell, as its return has seemed to stall lately when compared to other Canadian ETFs such as CDZ and VDY, realizing that they're all different 'animals'. A more appropriate sector balance would occur with CLU.C or CLU, with the added caveat that these two ETFs are available commission-free from iTrade. Should I choose CLU.C or CLU to round out our US exposure, and what ETF product do you recommend for healthcare? As always, thanks in advance for your timely advice.
Read Answer Asked by Jerry on November 23, 2016
Q: Hello Peter, I am looking for income, safety and some growth, I will appreciate your suggestion, ranking, perhaps a better choice of yours. Many thanks, J. A. P. Burlington
Read Answer Asked by Joseph on November 23, 2016
Q: Given the speculation about upcoming US rate increases and the impact of the Nov.8 US election, I have lost significant valuation on ETFs and bonds across my portfolio.

Is there an expectation that these values could fall even more precipitously in future?

Is it truly wise to remain ‘in bonds’ at this time, even after losses so far?

Is there any hope these could improve in future or is the long term prospect dismal?
Read Answer Asked by J Carl on November 23, 2016
Q: A comment for Dave who was asking about "playing the vix." HVI is a Canadian un-leveraged inverse VIX ETF that is "safer" than going long the VIX. HVU and HUV are, in my limited experience, good vehicles for losing money. With an inverse VIX product like HVI (or XIV in the US) it tends to benefit, not decay from the contango. Strategy in a nutshell is to buy when the market is tanking (VIX > 20) and hold as the VIX declines, which could be over a period of weeks or months. It's still a risky trading strategy, but less so than long VIX products, especially the leveraged long VIX products like HVU.
Read Answer Asked by David on November 22, 2016
Q: what is the best and most liquid way to play the vix in canada and in canadian funds.dave
Read Answer Asked by david on November 22, 2016
Q: A recent article by Larry Bermann in the Globe suggested that infrastructure spending to " repair potholes and bridges" would produce limited economic benefit because of the short term nature
of this spending.Money would be better spent on educating people
to adapt to the future realities of employment.In the interim
he has suggested allocating funds to ZWU as a an income source.
Another columnist suggests avoiding ZWU and sticking with ZUT
because of better long term growth.
What is your opinion of impending infrastructure spending and should ZWU be considered over ZUT? Thanks, Joe
Read Answer Asked by Joseph on November 22, 2016
Q: I would like about 3 ETF's to cover my fixed income and 4 or 5 to cover your best idea sectors. Thanks Al
Read Answer Asked by Allan on November 21, 2016
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