Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Team,

I'm looking for a single etf or low cost mutual fund to diversify my tfsa portfolio which currently holds only Canadian equities.

A fund that caught my eye was prpfx which is supposedly modeled on the "permanent portfolio". What are your thoughts on this fund.

Are there other products that contain fixed income and international equity which you would suggest I consider? Do you have a favorite?

Thank you very much for all of your helpful answers.

Q: Great job you are doing. Could you please tell me about this ETF, other than low volume could you give me your recommendation for a 2 year or more hold in a RSP. It would be a 3-4% holding with another US ETF, XSP, at about 5%. Do you have any other choices and why. Thanks

Q: Hi Team,

Would you please recommend a couple of US funds ETF'S geared towards income and growth, and one which is strickly income? safety of principal is a priority. I need a US dollar income stream, with a $100,000 to invest.

Thanks for your help

Stephen

Q: Why is its yield of 2.9% lower than each of the Individual Banks which are all higher than 3.5%?

Thanks, Austin

Q: Hi, I bought HOU at $5 and it is now trading at $2.87.
In your opinion, can an ETF on crude oil go bankrupt?
Thanks

Q: I believe that the drop in the Canadian dollar may have reached its maximum. Ideally, I would like to transfer cash in my US$ acct to my CDN$ acct for a few months, but the exorbitant discount broker "back-and-forth" exchange rate fees would wipe out most of any potential gains.

Are you aware of any ETF that tracks the CDN dollar but is denominated in US funds? (e.g. a CDN dollar "bull" ETF). This would allow me to avoid actually having to suffer the exchange rate losses.

Thanks!

Q: Could you recommend a Canadian ETF Hedged that is similar to XLV. This would cover the Health Care component of my portfolio. Thank You.

Q: Hi Peter and team. I am wondering if it is time to pick up some European ETF's. What are your thoughts on IEV AND VGK,which one is better and is this a good time to buy or should I wait.
Thanks

Q: Re the trading of etfs which typically consist of a NUMBER of stocks, what factors dictate a rise/fall in price? Plz compare with the rise/fall of an individual stock.
Thanks

Q: Would you have a recommendation for an ETF (preferably in US$) for China or Asia that would include majors like Alibaba. China appears to become interesting with international accessibility to the Shanghai Exchange in the near future.
Thank you!

Q: hello 5i:
I'd like to have some US bond diversification in our portfolio and research shows some good ETfs from both Dodge and Cox,and Fidelity. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be available thru either BMO Investorline or Scotia iTrade. Please suggest some alternative options for me, as I've found little to nothing available, other than Canadian bond ETFs and mutual funds. I've found Emerging Market and European bond funds and ETFs available in US dollars, but these are not of interest. Can you help with either mutual funds, or, preferably, good ETFs. Or, can you suggest a way to buy the Dodge and Cox or Fidelity ETFs I mentioned earlier.
thanks
Paul L

Q: I Looking at a 5yr chart of CBO & CLF which show they have declined in value by about 6% over that period. Bonds are supposed to go up during periods of declining interest rates. trying to get an intuitive handle on this I was led into the swamp of Duration & rolling down the yield curve, neither of which is intuitive. I concluded that CBO.. managers are exploiting volatility to enhance the yield/Cap gain and paying out a mixture of of coupons & trading gains. This would mean that the decline or growth in NPV of CBO.. is not a metric that can be easily interpreted. Could the NPV rise in a slowly rising interest rate? Can you provide an intuitive way to understand CBO..s varying value

I appreciate your answers every day

Ernie

Q: can i have your opinion on vdu.

Q: I have no US exposure and am thinking of buying VIG US dividend fund, as you recommended to another member. My question (and therefore a concern) is; are the dividends charged as income since the Canadian dividend tax credit is not available?

Q: how would you rate this etf for exposure in an rrsp presently holding only can. stocks no mutal funds nor other etf. it would be 3.9% of a 200k portfolio.or do you have a better suggestion for international exposure.

Q: I have $125,000 to invest, I am looking for a combination of growth and income. Would you invest all in your model portfolio or with you put a portion in US and or emerging markets, I would problably use ETF's for US and emerging market portions.

Q: I currently have a full position in ZRE and half positions in FSV and HCG at 44.65 and 38.75 respectively. In order to reduce interest rate sensitivity I am considering selling ZRE and using the proceeds bring FSV and HCG up to full positions. Other financial holdings are TD, SLF, and BNS. The dividend income from ZRE is not required and is currently being re-invested. Sector allocations are: Financials 15%, Utilities 10%, Consumer Discretionary 10%, Consumer Staples 9%, Industrials 15%, Health Care 7%, Telecom 9%, Info Tech 12%, Energy 9%, Materials 4%. Any feedback on this idea would be appreciated.

Q: Hi Peter! I have 50% of my total portfolio in well diversified Canadian stocks, mostly from your equity portfolio. Of the remaining 50%, 5% is cash; 25% is in US stocks; 5% each in Europe (FEZ) and Emerging Markets (EEM). I'm thinking of diversifying further by placing the remaining 10% or so into specific countries such as Japan and/or India.
Can I have your thoughts on this plan and can you recommend any specific ETFs?
Thanks! Michael

Q: Hi 5i Team,

What are your thoughts on FIE (iShares Canadian Financial Monthly Income ETF)?

It looks good on paper - good diversification, good dividends, but on the other hand performance over 5 years pales in comparison to something like BNS.

Is it worth it for the instant diversification in the financial sector, or are you better with 2-4 stocks?

Thanks,

Mike.

Q: Hi, What do you think of RWO, or do you think something like TCN would give a better return? I'm looking to gain from US housing as it rebounds.