Investment Q&A

Q: Is now a good time to establish positions in a preferred share ETF? Is there a significant difference among the various funds available (ie: CPD, PPS, ZDV or the National Bank Preferred Equity Income Fund - sorry could not find the symbol)? With interest rates likely to increase, how stable are each of these funds and if it is a good investment (1 to 3 years) which would you recommend? Please indicate how you would rank these funds for performance.

Thanks

Q: My wife and I are retired - if one is currently looking to put half of his portfolio into low risk income investments (bonds, bond ETFs, bond mutuals or low beta equities), what would u recommend in your opinion.
Thank you kindly.

Q: I was looking at a book on asset allocation.
They defined several asset classes within 3 categories: stocks, bonds, and "real assets".
There are 4 asset classes in the "real assets" category: TIPS, Commodities, Gold and REITs.
My question is regarding what vehicles I can use in Canada for the "real assets" asset classes.
TIPS: XRB?
Commodities: XMA? I don't like the market cap weighting. POT and AGU weigh in at about 25%
Gold: CGL? (I would probably avoid this asset class)
REITs: XRE? Or just buy 3 REITs and avoid the fee?

Thanks,

Mike

Q: What is the current price to NAV ratio of ZRE? As an alternative, can you recommend a couple of high quality reits that are currently trading below NAV or at least not much of a premium?
Thanks

Q: I am looking for an ETF that tracks a "dividend growers" index in US$ for global exposure. I note it is relatively small at M$77. What do you think of WDIV or would you have an alternative suggestion? It looks as though VIG would fit the bill for purely US exposure?
Thanks

Q: I am a retired, conservative dividend income investor, with a well diversified portfolio of stocks, ETFs and mutual funds (AD, AQN, ALA, BCE, BNS, CGX, CPG, PBH, RY, SLF, WCP, WEF, WSP, XIT, ZLB, RBC Cdn Eqty Inc, Sentry Cdn Inc, Sentry REIT, Insured Annuities, Fisgard Capital), as well as a company pension and CPP.

Question # 1: BCE is 4.0% of my TOTAL portfolio, but 6.1% of just my EQUITY portfolio. When you discuss stock weightings, is it of the total portfolio or only the equity portfolio? What general guidelines do you recommend? I use roughly 2-4% per stock, and 4-10% for either ETFs or Mutual Funds.

Question # 2: My asset mix is 65% equities and 35% fixed income. Within equities only, my mix is 25% finance, 18% utilities, 17% consumer, 4% health, 14% industrial, 9% info tech, 10% energy and 4% materials.

I am looking for a very conservative, blue-chip, dividend-paying stock (> 3% dividend) to add and I'm not sure which sector to top up. Please point me to the right sector (or two) with 3-5 stocks to consider.

Thanks, Steve

Q: ho folks:

in feb 2011 i purchased this at $30.30 (in rrsp)

-- the income rec'd is very close to the drop in capital value

-- ie, i have rec'd about 2k in income and the shares are down about 2k - so i am about breakeven (ish)

question: understanding the oil/alta problems; am i better to sell and buy say a SIA/EXE or ZRE/XRE or ??, OR is D.UN a blue chip that is suffering unduly?

sell, or hold and wait for eventual recovery?

this is my only real estate holding

thanks

Q: To the issue of portfolio structure. Currently I have 20% of my invested funds in indexes. Dow, S&P, Nasdaq, Russell and TSX. Evenly split. What sector would you allocate this to?

Q: My portfolio consists 25% US stocks, including international coverage with EEM, HEWJ, and ZDM(Cnd$). Can you comment on these ETFs. I want to be sure I have appropriate interests in Europe, Japan and Emerging markets.
Thanks, Michael

Q: I feel the alternate/renewable energy space might be a good place to invest in. what would you recommend, the amt. would be $20,000. or so. it would seem perhaps and etf could be an option vs a stock. What do you recommend? Thank you again.

Q: Hello,
I am building US market ETF portfolio and currently hold XLP, XLY, XLI, IGM, and XLV. With performance & MER combo in mind, which US-traded ETFs can you suggest for the remaining 5 sectors: Financials, Energy, Materials, Telecom, and Utilities?
Thanks.

Q: Last night I asked a question as per bellow. I am re-sending it as it may not have reached you. Thanks. Joseph


I have some US$ to invest and am looking at the technology/internet sector in the US: PNQI (Powershares NASDAQ internet), FDN (First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index), IGM (iShares North American Tech ETF). (All of these have a heavy weighting in Amazon, Google and Facebook). I am also considering to invest in the US financials sector through an etf such as XLF or through a few individual bank stocks such as WFC, BAC & JPM. My goal is to invest in the US sectors that are best positioned to grow in the next 12 - 18 mos. First, do you see these 2 sectors of technology/internet and financials as the best sectors to invest for the next 12 - 18 months and if so, please suggest your best choice for each sector and explain why. Second, is there another sector other than tech/internet and financials worth considering at this time and if so can you suggest what I should invest in for a hold of 12 -18 months?

Q: I'm looking to increase my exposure to the U.S. technology sector. Which of these etf's would you recommend for a Canadian investor. What are respective advantages and disadvantages?
As always, thanks for your much appreciated guidance.

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

The last question about CVD was on Feb. 19th, and I see that it's still in the 5i income portfolio. I'm in the process of reviewing my RRIF and note that when taking dividends into consideration, I'm still down almost 4%. Going forward, is this ETF worth hanging on to? My RRIF is well balanced with various 5i picks from all of your model portfolios. Income is fine and dandy, but I'm a bit frustrated with the negative growth characteristics of CVD, but of course am willing to wait if you're still OK with this ETF.

Thanks as always for your valued advice.

Q: Could you please recommend the best Canadian, US and international dividend ETF"S.

Q: In the past, your team has recommended Dividend Appreciation ETFs as safer approach to invest in the current market conditions, is this still the preferred approach than buying the whole market? If yes, what are your recommendations for dividend appreciation ETF for International developed nations(outside of N Am) and for Emerging markets? (for both ETFs trading on US market and on Cdn market)
Also, is there a US$ equivalent for IGM?
Thanks.

Q: Return on bonds tends to suffer when interest rate rises. However, if I hold the bonds to maturity, then I get paid the full maturity value plus interest. How could I mimic this approach with bond EFT?
Your suggestions re Cdn Bond ETFs suitable for the current global economy/interest rate environment is much appreciated.

Q: hi,
XRE VERSUS ZRE. what do you prefer for a long term investment? or neither?
thx chris

Q: I have made a double on this ETF which follows the S&P 500. It is a full position in my portfolio.

Would now be a good time to sell and switch into the Russell 2000?

If so would XSU be better than IWO due to the CAD being lower than average for the last few years.

Or would it be good to a half position into XSU, and buy Alphabet?

Cheers.

Q: Hi Peter and Gang,
My US holdings account for approximately 30% of my portfolio and my gains on US/CDN exchange are approximately 30%. If I were to sell all of my US holdings and convert the proceeds to CDN$ to realize that 30% gains on exchange. Then what can I do with the CDN fund after conversion if I still want to retain a 30% exposure to US markets.
Regards,
HS