Investment Q&A

Q: Hi, what are the Emerging Market plays that are on the TSX, if any. They have been beaten up as of late. I'm guessing an ETF of some kind..............tia

Q: Which US and foreign ETFs would you recommend for holding outside RRSP accounts? Which ones have better tax advantages? Is it wise to purchase them at this time especially with current exchange rate? Thank you.

Q: Peter - what are your thoughts on FIE - Claymore Financial Monthly Income Fund. I like the 7.3% Yield. I am looking at a 10% weighting in my portfolio. Is the low daily volume trade in this fund a concern? What are the risks? Thank You.

Q: Hi 5i team
Any thoughts on Horizon's SilverYLD - HZY - Last at $5.05 with a 9% yield paid monthly. With the potential rebound in silver over the next couple of years, would you recommend a position?
GUY

Q: Good morning 5i,

Looking to diversified about 5% to 6.5% of my portfolio in the VEF, a Vanguard ETF. Is this a good ETF for international and emerging markets exposure?

Thanks

Q: Hello Peter and Team,
I am struggling a little finding an equity growth or dividend ETF to hold in a RRSP account. One to cover US equities and one to cover CDN financials. I am looking at something like VIG,VYM or VTI but is listed on the TSE. Was looking at VCE to cover the CDN financials. Any comments or alternate suggestions in these categories would be appreciated.
Thanks again,
Paul

Q: I have app. 10% of my portfolio in ZRE. It has taken quite a hit recently. What do you see ahead for this sector? I am thinking of selling some of it and putting it into the US index fund VFV. Right now my asset allocation is 30% CA dividend stocks, 10% REITS, 10% EAFE, 10% High Yield Bonds (CHB) and 30% US (VUS and VFV), 10% CASH.

Q: In your answer to the question from Denis regarding how many stocks are required to own a diversified income portfolio of $125K and what weighting you would give for each stock, your answer was 20-25 stocks with an equal weighting of 5% to 4%. I have three questions:

In general, is this number of stocks also the optimum for a portfolio of $300K assuming the weighting is similar?

At what value would a portfolio be considered too small to hold individual stocks and should hold ETFs instead?

Finally, how should one calculate the optimum weighting of ETFs if they are already in a portfolio that also holds individual stocks?

Thanks so much for your excellent service and I hope that you all had a great Canada Day weekend.

Q: Your thoughts on the etf cbq. Thanks

Q: I was wondering if an index such as XMA ever changes its stock focus? For example would they focus more on agriculture rather than gold. Thank you.

Q: I'm looking at VUS-Vangard Total US Market to get more US exposure. Is this a wise choice or can you suggest something? Thank you.

Q: You have mentioned that you favour US industrials and tech. Which ETFs would you suggest for that?

Q: Re: CPD question posed today. On the TSX web site it says the dividend is 5.75% which is not bad. My question is when is the fund fee taken out of the earnings? Is 5.75% pre-fees or post-fees.

Derek

Q: Good afternoon 5i,

In the summer month usually Consumer staples do fairly well. What are your thoughts on XST an Ishare ETF?

Thank you.

Q: Peter - can you please provide your thoughts on CPD - IShares Cdn Preferred Share Index? I would like to add this to my fixed income portion of my portfolio - 5% position. What are the risks in this name regarding rising interest rates? Thank You!!

Q: I'm happily up about 12% in 3 months on BRK.B. Do you think this would be a good time to sell and switch to IWO?
Thanks

Q: I'm down 8% on ZUT during this latest sell-off. Do you feel this latest sell-off in utilities and interest sensitive stocks was overdone or is there more pain coming?

What sectors would benefit from higher interest rates and inflation?

Q: I purchased BMO equal weight utility index etf zut about 18 months ago. It has dropped steadily. It is about a 15 % allocation of my dividend portfolio and the only utility holding. What should I expect from this over the next few years? Is it worth keeping?

Q: About fixed income. Should I sell my corporate bond CBO, HAB and XCB etf ? They gave me 5-6% for the last 3 years but now are in a serious downtrend in 2013. At this point would GIC, or individual bonds be better ? Also, same question about CPD ?

Q: Hi Peter and 5iresearch team,
I know you are very knowledgeable regarding US exchange traded funds. The Global X Top Guru (GURU-N) was introduced on BNN market call and I would appreciate your thoughts on this ETF. GURU is comprised of Hedge fund top picks. Thank you.