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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: Hello Peter and 5i, Just been looking at the chart for ZMT. When every advisor on the planet is telling everyone to stay away from the base metals materials sector, why has this ticker done so well the past year. Is this an example of the big money buying stuff early so they can sell it to the street in a year or so?
Read Answer Asked by Keith on May 16, 2014
Q: Hello and thank you for your work. There was an interesting guest on BNN talking about his bond fund and long/short strategies. Being quite hopeless with bonds, but thinking about some for a RRIF account. Is the fund ECF.UN a good fit.
Thanks D.V.
Read Answer Asked by Deborah on May 16, 2014
Q: Could you recommend a TSX Inverse and/or Bear ETF please.

Thank You As Always
Craig
Read Answer Asked by Craig on May 16, 2014
Q: Thoughts on xgb at this time? Risk of deflation in Canada?
Read Answer Asked by Jeremy on May 16, 2014
Q: hi what do you think of SPFF(super income preferred ETF).Risk and reward.Thanks and have a good day.EBRAHIM
Read Answer Asked by ebrahim on May 14, 2014
Q: Could I please have your opinion on IWO ETF? Thank You
Read Answer Asked by Joe on May 12, 2014
Q: Hi team:
I bought some CPD (ETF for preferred shares) in my investment account about a year ago, it went down abit, but in the last few months it has rebounded and I am now no longer in the red
It was for income, but with the impending rising rates, would it be at risk of dropping in value ?
I realized that this could be a window of opportunity to get out and get into something like CDZ to get a nice dividend with some growth potential (I can tolerate the risks), thanks team!
Read Answer Asked by Michael on May 12, 2014
Q: I am looking for advice on what type of accounts I should be holding my ETFs in. Presently the four ETFs I have (XBB, XSP, and XIC) are held in my brokerage non-registered account. I am wondering which ones, if any, should be moved to an RRSP or TFSA in order to keep taxes at an optimal level. Do you have any advice on which accounts these should be held in?
Read Answer Asked by David on May 12, 2014
Q: Hi Peter:
there were some M & A frenzy in the health stocks in the US
are there any EFTs that one can buy to participate in this trend ?
My 2nd question is that when M & A activities are increasing, it pushes the P/E ratio of the sector very high, would one see it as the beginning of the end of the bull market?
would one also anticipate some M & A in the Canadian energy sector?
I look forward to your comments, it would be educational to alot of investors like me, I learned alot from being a member for over a year,
Many thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Michael on May 12, 2014
Q: Hi, I'm looking at adding some higher-yielding municipal bonds to my portfolio and the
Short High-Yield Municipal Index ETF (SHYD) caught my eye. I like the relatively shorter duration but please let me know your thoughts.
Read Answer Asked by Robert on May 12, 2014
Q: Hi Peter et al.

I'm a 30 year old mining engineer. I currently work for ABX… ugh, I know.

My planned investment breakdown:

RRSP/LIRA (maxed) (54%) = XIC, RSP, VWO & VEA
TFSA (maxed) (10%) = Canadian growth equities from your model portfolio
Non registered (30%) = CDZ & ZDV
Cash (6%) = CAD & US Cash

Questions:

My goal is to have a balanced global ETF RRSP/LIRA portfolio.

Q1 & 2: What are you thoughts on the combo of XIC, RSP, VWO and VEA to achieve that goal? Am I missing anything fundamental?

Q3: I have a poor sense of what a "reasonable" or "well rounded" split between Canadian, US, developed and emerging markets should look like (i.e. the split between XIC, RSP, VWO & VEA). Could you provide some insight from your years of experience? (I know this is a very subjective question)



PS: I learned of your existence during the reddit ama and since then I've learned a great deal from your site; the Q&A "vault" is fantastic. I'm in awe of your ability to keep cool, calm and collected when you receive choleric comments when your guidance results in a loss. You provide longterm investment advice, with the best information you have at the time, stemming from the experience gained from a career on Bay Street… nowhere have I seen you ever say that you're always right.

Feel free to omit the above comment, or anything else for that matter, prior to posting.

Cheers!

Brian
Read Answer Asked by Brian on May 12, 2014
Q: Why would you have this stock in your income portfolio at .04%yield?
Read Answer Asked by Walter on May 09, 2014
Q: Looking to invest my daughters RESP into a low to medium risk fund.
Can you recommend a couple funds or an ETF.
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Rob on May 09, 2014
Q: I am 10 years from RRIF time. Presently I have 500,000$ in my RRSP and am mostly exposed to Canadian Equities. The breakdown is 80% Canadian, the balance US. Breakdown is about 70/30 equity to Fixed income. I would like to go to a more balanced world portfolio keeping the same ratio, i.e. 70/30, but do it with ETF's and Index Funds, Suggestions?
Read Answer Asked by Jean on May 07, 2014
Q: Good webinar today. Lots of great tips and information. Much appreciated.

One of many points I picked up was the comment on dividend ETFs, which included CDZ, iShares Canadian dividend growers. I've owned it for a few months on 5i's recommendation and it's up 8% in that time not including dividends, which seems fine to me. But I noted the comment today about dividend ETFs needing to own high dividend payers. CDZ was mentioned, specifically it including AGF Management in the fund. When I checked the current top fund holdings, the top 3 are AGF, EIF and BDT.

CDZ's profile states:

"The investment seeks to replicate the performance, net of expenses, of the S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats index. The index consists of common stocks or income trusts listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange which are constituents of the S&P Canada Broad Market index (BMI). The security must have increased ordinary cash dividends every year for at least five consecutive years, and the float-adjusted market capitalization of the security, at the time of the review, must be at least C$ 300 million."

Do AGF, EIF and BDT fit the profile? Or are they in the ETF solely for their high dividends? Thanks.

p.s. Would a webinar on ETFs some time in the future be useful for 5i and CMS members????
Read Answer Asked by Thomas on May 07, 2014
Q: A question about minimum size of a position.

I manage a $5000 LIRA for my daughter (from pension contributions when she changed jobs)

I normally like to invest $5000 in any position. One reason is the trading costs--even at $10 a trade and another is wanting to get some reward for being right--with smaller amounts I find that even if I am right and it goes up smartly, I don't get much of a dollar return for less than $5000 invested.

As a result, I have the LIRA all in fie.a and on a drip.

Would you recommend several positions for something this small--how many?

Bryon in Elmira
Read Answer Asked by Bryon on May 06, 2014
Q: Hi,
I currently only have cash and Canadian stocks in my portfolio, the cash accounts for roughly 40% of my portfolio, but I am looking to invest into some EFT's, mutual funds and US stocks as well. can you please advise me roughly what weightings i should be giving to EFT's, mutual funds and US stocks under the assumption that my Canadian stocks are relatively diversified. And also which EFTs, mutual funds and US stocks would you recommend as of today? I am in my mid 20's and have a relatively long term horizon. Thanks in advance.
Read Answer Asked by Chris on May 06, 2014
Q: As part of my fixed income investments, I am looking at BMO's Floating Rate High Yield etf ZFH. I am trying to beat the one or two-year GIC rates but still retain a high degree of security in my investment. The etf ZFH is new and has very low volume. What would you suggest as a comparable etf? Or should I stay with the GIC approach in a 1-5 year laddered setup?

Many Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Michael on May 06, 2014