Investment Q&A

Q: I have held XEF and Vee for years and they never seem to do as well as North American market/companies.

According to portfolio analytics I need more exposure, but these seem to be drags on my portfolio more than anything. There a slight dividend, but there is overall loss on them.

Do you have any other recommendations to get world exposure but with some better growth?

Q: Can you help further clarify your answer to Ian's question on high yield bonds? You mentioned you prefer an active strategy, wouldn't that translate to holding HYI in the Income Portfolio instead of the current passive XHY? Then again passive XHY has outperformed over 1,3, 5 years and since inception.

Q: I am currently conducting research on Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and I am particularly interested in those that include Google (Alphabet Inc.), Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon.

Based on my initial research, I have identified the following ETFs:

1. **Vanguard Mega Cap Growth (MGK)**
2. **iShares Edge MSCI USA Momentum Factor (MTUM)**
3. **BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF**
4. **S&P North American Technology Sector Index Fund (IGM)**, **Technology Select Sector SPDR**, **PowerShares QQQ**, and **iShares Dow Jones US Technology (IYW)**
5. **Evolve FANGMA Index ETF, TECH ETF**

I would appreciate if you could provide me with more detailed information if you prefer these ETFs which one 5i would recommend, or for that matter an alternative suggestion if you have another choice.
Thanks in advance
Rick

Q: I hold a significant amount of those 3 ETF in my non registered account + RRSP.Assuming that ROC represents a large part of the dividend ( true?),I suppose that we could tolerate a "reasonable or slight" réduction of the NAV ,compensated by the much lower income tax + partial compensation of capital gain if eventually sold .Those advantages are not present in the RRSP , maybe should I reduce the % of covered call ETFs in the RRSP if the NAV is not stabilized... Please comment ( or criticize ! )my observations since I am far from being an expert, regards J-Y

Q: Good morning,
I have held Xlk as my US tech portion of my RRIF as well as A few Canadian tech stocks.
I feel this is not a favourite tech representative of yours. What would be your choice considering I also hold VOO and should I switch.
Tom

Q: Hi Peter,
I Would like to expand my question posted earlier. Here is the original, and your reply:

Q: Hi Peter,
I am helping my kids who are in the mid-twenties to invest. The funds will be in RRSP & in TFSA for long term. Would you please recommend a list of ETFs and/or Stocks to invest in for growth. I would like to have the portfolio diversified globally and invested into various sectors.
Thank you,

Asked by Roger on November 08, 2023
5I RESEARCH ANSWER:
We can suggest: CSU, BN, WSP, TFII, ATD, SLF for a conservative mix of stocks from differing sectors. XIC could be a general Canadian ETF, and VFV a US market ETF. We prefer international exposure to be done through an ETF. VIU is an easy solution in our view (it is ex North America).

I have a tax efficiency question. If I am holding VIU in either RRSP or TFSA, would the dividends, even distributed through DRIPs, be subject to an international withholding tax of 15%? If that is the case, do you have another suggestion for investing in an international EFT where dividends are minimized, and the value of the EFT is in growth?

Do you have a suggestion for investing in the emerging market? Again, an EFT with the similar focus on tax efficiency.

Thank you again,

Q: I've got North America covered for my investments through stock purchases. How would you manage the rest or the world if one wanted diversification with a dividend bent. Would you purchase one ETV such as VEA or buy a few ETFs. Also what's a good starting point for a percentage of portfolio outside of North America.
Thanks

Q: Is there an ETF for the USA that is similar to XEI? Listed on a US exchange or TSX.
Thanks!

Q: Hi friends,
I see that you have been recommending total market ETFs of Vanguard US and Vanguard Canada etc., in response to questions of different members.
When I look at the Management fees, Vanguard Canada fees are much higher than that charged by Vanguard US, for similar ETFs..
If one has US$ funds, is there any restriction or problem in going for Vanguard US ETFs, instead of Canadian and save some fees?
What are the pros and cons of buying Vanguard Canada ETFs vs US ETFs?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts / views.
Antony

Q: Hello
I hold these two bond funds which are down. Do you think they will rebound if interest rates start to drop?
I certainly could be putting the cash to better use.
Thanks
Jeff

Q: Hi 5i,
I am trying to find the ex-dividend and payment date for Hmax....Td web broker info only shows a dividend payment date of Nov 07, but have not received anything in my account yet as of Nov 14.....in your experience does that seem unusually long or does this fund require additional time to show up or do i need to take action?
thx

Q: I am looking to simplify the management of my RRSP and my wife’s RRSP by shifting from stocks to ETFs. I’m thinking that it would be easiest to manage if I have 1 ETF for Canadian Equities, 1 for US equities, 1 for International Equities and 1 for bonds/ fixed income.

We have a 10-15 year time horizon so ETFs with a growth orientation would be preferred.

Thanks
Greg



Canadian Equities
US Equities
international Equities
Bonds/ fixed income

Q: ETF's. Is this true? Thank you.

Most funds allocate assets in one of two ways. The first and most straightforward way is equal-weighted, which means the money you invest is equally split between the stocks the fund holds. If a fund has 500 companies and you invest $500, each would get $1.

The other primary method is distributing investments by the companies' market capitalizations (market caps). In this case, companies with a higher market cap receive more of the invested amount. For example, if a fund has 500 companies, a $1,000 investment could mean $5 to the largest company in the fund, while $0.10 goes to the smallest. The exact distributions will vary based on the range of market caps in the fund.

Q: Hi. Which bond ETFs do you currently recommend? US or Canadian. Thank you.

Q: SCHRODERS IS OFFERING .09% BONDS. THUS, HOW SAFE ARE THEY? D0 THEY HAVE GOOD CASH (BALANCE SHEET),CASH FLOW, LOW DEBT?

Q: On Nov 10, "Dave from Montreal" asked if you knew of a Canadian based ETF that focused on Canadian growth companies. You said you couldn't help, but I think you mistook his question as asking for a Canadian small cap ETF. There is the iShares Canadian Growth Index, XCG, which is for Canadian Growth stocks. The MER is a bit high at 0.55%. The 5 year total return is 8.78% annualized. Top holdings include SHOP, CNR, CP, BN, ATD, CSU, WCN, NTR, T, AEM, which seems a bit of a mixed bag, frankly, for growth. The ETF is based on the Dow Jones Canada Select Growth Index.

Q: “Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. said that since no distributions are expected to be paid, the ETF will be more tax-efficient for investors who hold it in non-registered accounts.”

Can you please recommend me a few Canadian and US listed alternatives that I may want to consider?

Q: Hi,

Currently have no exposure to crypto and have been a spectator on the sidelines mainly. I held positions in HUT and HIVE awhile back but sold those. With almost certain approval of a spot bitcoin ETF, the market is gaining optimism and it seems investors are more bullish on crypto. What is your view on the current crypto market? Is this run up going to be followed by another crash or do you see more sustained rally with the new ETF? Is this rally going to be followed by another selloff once the ETF news is approved?

What are some low, med, higher risks positions to gain exposure if one wanted some small exposure. Here are some I'm watching. Can you rank whether they are low, med, or higher risk.

HUT, HIVE, BITF, RIOT, DGHI, MSTR, RIOT, COIN, GLXY

I know you own GLXY in the model portfolio already. Also, what would be your top ETF for exposure?

I'm a very disciplined investor, but on the edge of FOMO ; )

Thanks!

Q: Hi all,
What makes the crypto market move ? Relationship to stock markets, currency, politics ? Where do you see the cryptos in the future, a good bet or rather risky ?
Any interesting study on this ?
Good day, Denise

Q: In light of the current interest rate environment and the possibility of a US recession in the coming months, what is your current opinion on ZHY and generally high Yield US bond funds? Do you remain comfortable owning these funds in a relatively conservative income portfolio?
Many thanks.
John