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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 an interest rate hike in the US seeming more likely in December, is it time to make a move to US financials? I currently have ZUB but would ZBK be the better choice? with an interest rate hike, would this strengthen the US$ and by buying ZBK would it profit from both the move to US financials and a strengthening US$?

What do you think of adding ZBK and keeping ZUB. I'm fairly diversified and this move would increase my weighting in financials overall.

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Rob on November 09, 2015
Q: Other than the dividend of CEW.A being higher than CEW, what is the difference between these two etf's?
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on November 08, 2015
Q: I'm looking to park some cash for 3-6 months. I'm familiar with CLF CBO and XSB and I expect products from other companies will be similar but what are Floating Rate instruments such as notes? What are they and how do they compare is safety to the 1-5 year laddered ETF's? Thanks again Henry
Read Answer Asked by Henry on November 06, 2015
Q: I have heard a number of analysts recommend Europe as a place to invest. Can you recommend some European ETFs and do you think the European market looks interesting?
Read Answer Asked by christianne on November 06, 2015
Q: What are your thoughts of this as an investment? and would you put this in a RRSP or a TFSA?

Thks
Marcel
Read Answer Asked by Marcel on November 06, 2015
Q: Hey 5i team
Is vig eft traded on the tsx is the same as vgg eft traded on the nyse
Tks Sam
Read Answer Asked by Sam on November 06, 2015
Q: Hi, for a 30 year old person with a 50K portfolio in a RRSP. I was wondering on your thoughts of these ETFs. 30% in VCE (vanguard FTSE Canada), 20% in VSB (vanguard short term bond),
30% in VSP (S+P 500 hedged), 10% in ZRE (equal weight reits) and 10% in ZWB (covered call Canadian banks). Any substitutions or thoughts greatly appreciated and asked for! Thanks, Donn
Read Answer Asked by Donn on November 05, 2015
Q: I would like to add some global exposure to my trading account portfolio. I have short listed 3 ETFs, with XFH and ZEA excluding North America and VXC containing a significant exposure to the US market. I already have exposure to US securities but I would appreciate your perspective on which option may perform best.

Also, would you recommend a hedged or unhedged vehicle at this point.

Recommendations on alternative approaches are also appreciated.

Thank you.

Rossana
Read Answer Asked by Rossana on November 05, 2015
Q: I have a question regarding best strategy for my son's portfolio. He is a 30 year old engineer, who has absolutely no knowledge of investments and no interest in learning about them. I finally convinced him that GIC is a bad place to park his money, so here is the question. How would you structure portfolio for a young person who wants to sleep at night, check his investments once every 3 months, and doesn't have much tolerance to loss? He has 120K to invest (incl. 40K in TFSA). I assume ETFs is a route to go here...? What combination of ETFs you'd suggest?
Read Answer Asked by Michael on November 05, 2015
Q: What are your thoughts on this etf in addition to vxc and vxus for international exposure @ 5% each in my overall portfolio?
Read Answer Asked by Shyam on November 05, 2015
Q: Can I have your outlook on CBO for the next year or two.

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Greg on November 04, 2015
Q: I am a retired, mostly conservative dividend-income investor with a pension, CPP and annuities. My asset mix is 65% equities and 35% fixed income. My holdings include AD, ALA, AQN, BNS, BCE, CGX, CPG, PBH, RY, SLF, WCP, WEF, WSP, ZLB, XIT and Sentry Cdn Income, Sentry REIT, TD Health, RBC Cdn Equity Income.

Within my equity portfolio, my tech exposure is 8% with 3/4 of that being XIT. Seasonality is in its favor right now.

Within my equity portfolio, my healthcare exposure is 4%, with 3/4 of that being TD Health. Bad current news environment and bad seasonality, but beaten down.

I am interested in topping up either XIT or TDB976. Which one is more conservative, could use the topping up and has the most upside?

Thanks,
Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on November 04, 2015
Q: I'm interested in the security of income and capital. In XTR there seems to be a lot of diversification among quality companies. What would be the maximum percentage of the portfolio you would be comfortable with? Thanks for the ongoing advice.
Read Answer Asked by Tim on November 04, 2015
Q: Looking for a good ETF that would cover the Japanese market over the coming year. Also interested in emerging market ETF and what your thoughts are for the next 2 years. Thanks and a pleasure to talk to you at the Money Show.
Read Answer Asked by Loretta on November 04, 2015
Q: i would like to increase my US holdings by adding an etf that is concentrated in the technology and consumer discretionary/staples sectors. I currently hold VUN which is my only exposure to the US market. I realize that these sectors are covered in VUN, but have very small weightings. Does this seem like a reasonable strategy? Would you please suggest such an etf, preferably on the tsx.

Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Rose on November 03, 2015
Q: Hello,
I have 40k in a US cash account. I would like to invest the money to generate cash to use for my vacation property in the Florida. At this time, what you recommend for an income investment in the US.
Thanks
Rick
Read Answer Asked by Rick on November 03, 2015
Q: For income purposes, is this a good etf to own? What is the downside risk to the unit price - Fed rate hike? Please advise the pros and cons.

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Michael on November 02, 2015
Q: I have been rebalancing my portfolio which has been heavily skewed towards Cdn Dividend payers as I am retired and use the income to supplement my Pension. My Cdn holdings are now fairly well diversified using your Income and BE portfolios as guides.
I have targeted 15% of my total portfolio for Cdn ETFs which hold US equities. The following are my current holdings and the % weighting: ZDY 9%; ZBK 2%; ZUH 2%. I am looking at adding 2% Tech exposure and am considering either ZQQ or XQQ.
Your recommendations for the Tech exposure and my overall plan for my US exposure would be appreciated.
Read Answer Asked by Bruce on November 02, 2015
Q: Imagine an investor setting up an RRSP with $15k, a 30 year time horizon, a desire to keep it simple (CAD ETFs), an ability to sleep at night when markets are down and a desire for a somewhat aggressive strategy. What CAD ETFs would you suggest as a portfolio? Thanks as always.
Read Answer Asked by Chris on November 02, 2015
Q: Hi Peter and gang.
Nice seeing you all at the Money show. I'm looking to get exposure to the US market and I've yet to dip my toe into the ETF field. However the CLU seems to consistently be reported in Money saver in the top ten. Would you recommend this as a way to get diversification in the US and which of the three do you think would be most appropriate. All of my money is invested in Canadian stocks at this time.
GUY
Read Answer Asked by Guy R. on November 02, 2015