Investment Q&A

Q: Your thought please on IShares IDV and IXP ETFs for international dividend income? They appear reasonably well diversified.

Q: Hi - with the ETF - CDZ at 20% energy content, how do you view the risks to this ETF regarding these companies not being able to grow dividends in a prolonged and depressed energy environment. Does this change your outlook on CDZ as conservative, diversified dividend-grower ETF in Canada? Or, does this just mean CDZ cleans out the non-growers and looks elsewhere rebalancing to it's "aristocrat" rules as it moves on? Outlook and views on CDZ appreciated. cheers and thanks...

Q: Hi 5i,

We hold the following ETF's with their portfolio weightings and MER's. All are held within RRSP's. My question is: Since these 5 ETF's all have MER's in excess of the 0.50% mentioned in a response to a previous post, should I switch to a lower-cost alternative and, if so, what would you recommend? All are Canadian Hedged and all are iShares offerings. The goal was to achieve geographic diversification across both bonds and equities.

CUD U.S. Dividend Growers Index ETF MER 0.65% Port. weighting 4.76%
CWO Emerging Markets fundamental Index Common MER 0.70% 4.78%
CYH Global Monthly Dividend Index MER 0.66% 4.91%
XEB JP Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond Index MER 0.73% 4.79%
XHY U.S. High Yield Bond Index MER 0.62% 4.89%

Thanks!!
Cheers,
Mike

Q: I own some stocks and ETF's in U.S. dollars. Are there any reasonable methods the retail investor can use to insure himself from a possible decline in the value of the U.S. dollar. This may involve options, hedging or possibly an ETF that tracks the U.S. dollar or other suggestions ?

Many Thanks

Paul

Q: Good afternoon I was think of creating a portfolio of etfs, say 6-8 of them firstly is this a good idea and second what is an acceptable amount of fees to be paying I believe MER is the amount paid per etf so what's too much when they are all added up thanks

Q: I've been holding this for about 3 years and basically spinning my wheels thanks only to the CDN $ dropping. What are your thoughts on this investment? I also hold the Vanguard Growth as well in my US side of my RIF which has done well. Should I switch to more of the Vanguard or maybe convert back to Cdn$ and invest here. Thanks

Q: You have mentioned in previous answers that stock allocation in an RESP should be independent from other account holdings due to the defined time frame when the money will be used. I have an RESP for my 8 year-old that consists of $10,000 BNS and 10,000 SLF and $6500 cash. I plan to deploy the cash in March. Do you have any recommendations on a single additional stock OR might I be better off to sell BNS and SLF and buy a few ETF's to sufficiently diversify? I still have 9 years until she heads to post-secondary.
Thanks.

Q: I have an otherwise well diversified portfolio, but am currently underweight in healthcare with only CPH held with about a 5% position. Could you recommend an ETF that would give me good exposure to this sector? And what percentage of portfolio would you suggest should be in healthcare?

Q: I have no gold in my portfolio and am planning to buy some XGD. A friend suggested buying several small gold bars as an alternative. What are the pros and cons of each?

Q: I have reviewed some answers to questions that deal with the issue of hedging US exposure but am not certain as to your position on this matter. I realize the difficulty of trying to forecast currency movements but at present, with the Canadian dollar already off more than 20% within the last year, does it make sense to still favor the unhedged US ETF'S? Today seems to offer a prime example of the potential pitfalls of non hedged funds - while 1 day does not define a trend, we have a rising US market with the hedged US ETF'S also rising and the unhedged ones falling due to strength in the Canadian dollar - so what would be the best strategy going forward, over a 3-5 year term, for a non registered trading account in Canadian funds - hedged or unhedged US ETF'S?

Q: Could you give me a short list of your preferred US ETFs that contain stocks like Apple, Google Intel Qualcomm Oracle and the likes.
Thanks

Q: Thinking of adding to my TFIA [TFSA]. Your opinion on this particular ETF please?

Thanks.

Ross

Q: could you please recommend 3 or 4 emerging market etf

Q: You recently mentioned that for international exposure consider FEZ, and VXUS. Both these trade in the US but I have a difficult time getting my mind around buy US $ at this time. For Cda $ hedge ETF, would you consider the following as substitutes - ZEQ-t for FEZ-n and ZDM-t for VXUS-Q.....or are they other more suitable replaces?..........thanks......Tom

Q: Hi 5i team,
XLU (SPDR-Utilities) has fallen by 9.6% since it peaked on Jan 29, 2015. Please comment...is this the canary? Thanks

Q: It seems to be that this fund is certainly worth a look for sector exposure versus individual stock picking. I can see that its expensive to own but the returns seem to support the cost. That said, do you see this fund a worthwhile investment for sector investors in healthcare? TDB976 is the fund code. Thank you.

Q: Hello 5i:

Our total portfolio holdings consist of 66% CDN and 26% US. No international holdings.

I am thinking of selling all or part of our CDN ETFs, XIU and XIC to increase our US allocation. We hold 82% of our CDN portfolio in 24 individual stocks, mostly covered by 5i. XIU and XIC are 7%; and the balance is held in bond and preferred ETFs.

I would like to increase our allocation in XSP and ZSP, by selling part or all of XIU and XIC. ($60K)

Not sure if our short time horizon is a factor in this change, but I am 66 and my husband will be 71 this year. He is still working but would like to retire in a year.

Your opinion would be greatly appreciated.

Looking forward to meeting you next Saturday.

Q: Assuming the same risk profile as your model portfolio and a 100% equity weighting, what allocation would you recommend for the model portfolio and other broad market categories such as US equities and emerging markets to complete the portfolio. Can you suggests some ETF's to round out the portfolio as well?

Q: Which vehicle do you prefer, CPD or ZPR, and why? Thanks!

Q: Hello Peter
I'd like to invest in Horizons Betapro S&P 500 Bull plus ETF which is trading on TSX .My question to you is: is this ETF hinged or unhinged and what is advantage and disadvantage on hinged and unhinged ETFs and because the fund is exposed to U.S equity indices will it fall under the US $100,000 reporting rules (Form 1135).

Regards Andrew B.