Investment Q&A

Q: Dear 5i,
Many experts are suggesting that Bonds are very attractive right now because of the high yields.
Can you please suggest some Canadian bond ETF's and Mutual Funds that one might want to do further research on. In your opinion what duration range represents a sweet spot that might offer attractive total return within 3 years.

Q: Good Morning ,

Could we have your opinion on this new listing from Harvest. Also do you see their risk evaluation as accurate (medium-low). Thank you.

Q: If I am strictly interested in income, is there any reason to buy a GIC at 5.75% when I can get 13 to 15% from umax and hmax distributed monthly? Also are these products fairly safe over the long term. Thx, James

Q: I would like to add S & P 500 Vix to my watchlist.
What is the prefix or symbol to use.

Q: Bought zwu at 10.79. Is there a chance of a rebound here or a sell. Have a fairly large position in bir. at average of 8.45. Your thoughts. Have no dfn. your opinion on this stock surviving. thanks

Q: Hello Peter and company,

With XLB hitting a new 52 week low, should I continue to take a long term view that yields will eventually be lower? I took a position in January and not sure weather to add, sell or hold. I have a 4% position with the reminder in the balanced portfolio and cash.

Thanks for the great service,
Angelo

Q: Peter; I’ve read the replies on both- what is the difference between the two - XCB seems to have performed better over the year. Thanks.
Rod

Q: Could you recommend this or any other canadian ETFs that is mostly invested in reset preferred shares of canadian companies.

Q: Is there any difference in tax treatment between VFV and ZSP in a TFSA?

Q: Goood Morning.
I beleieve peferred shares have been sliding into an interesting buying oportunity. I would like to find and etf or mutual fund that is mostly in the rate reset category. I know of CPD.CA but I believe this one is mostly regular preferreds. Any ideas?
Thank you.

Q: Good morning, Is it a good time to invest in US corporate bonds? What would you recommend to get through these turbulent times in the market?

Q: I think there may be some confusion about my previous question re VFV and also a question posed by umedali.
I may have misunderstand, but you seem to imply that VFV would undergo double taxation (withholding) because it is an etf that holds another etf. Is that what you mean by a “second level” of tax?
I am not sure this is correct. The etf being held by VFV would be U.S. domiciled, which would not be subject to tax on the dividends it receives from U.S. companies. However, VFV, being Canadian, would be subject to tax on the flow through of dividends to it from the underlying etf. Then, after this, the dividends should flow through to a Canadian holder without further tax, since it is from a Canadian listed etf. So only one round of taxation. Unfortunately, they call it “level 2” taxation in that link you provided, which is about the most ambiguous label they could have possibly come up with.
As far as I can tell, double taxation would only come into play if the underlying etf held by VFV itself held foreign securities (ex European stocks).
Apologize if I’ve got this all wrong, it’s not very clear on the Vanguard website imo.

Q: A fellow on BNN market call recommended holding actual gold rather then gold minning companies.He suggested PHYS.What are your thoughts??

Q: My son is starting an FHSA account at Wealthsimple. With the goal of contributing monthly and maximizing the limit over 5 to 7 years before needing funds. What combination of ETF's and blue chip stocks would you recommend that combines steady/increasing dividends, capital appreciation and minimal downside risk. Looking for a manageable # and combination of stock/Etf

Thank you

Q: Is there any ETF that are holding stocks that are only outperforming SP500.

Thanks for the great service

Q: Hello Peter,
From an earlier question on VFV in terms of foreign taxes, it looks like there is a double taxation as VFV invests in US ETF not directly in US stocks.. I would think i am better off with xsp excepts the etf hedges. Would i better off just investing in SPY or is there another ETF that is like VFV but invests directly in US stocks.. Thanks very much

Q: Recently retired younger couple. Need to continue to preserve and grow portfolio, but also need to secure near term income stream.

I am looking to shift some equity to fixed income and trying to decide the best approach.

I have registered and non registered accounts. The non registered account is in dividend payers, and will leave this as is. Tax treatment is good, flexibility is good, recession proofish.

I am considering changes to the setup of my registered accounts. Two main options appear to be:

1. Move an registerd account from the current discount broker (Questrade) to somewhere like EQ bank and buy laddered GIC's. Advantage - CDIC protection, maybe very slightly higher rate of return. Disadvantage - Admin pain, loss of flexibility

2. Stay with current discount broker and simply move into CASH.TO

I am strongly leaning to option 2 - am i missing something here?
Why would i go to the trouble of option 1?
Are there other (better) options?
How big of a risk is there with something like CASH not having CDIC protection?

Thanks,


Jim

Q: For etfs like these held in a cash account, is the holder paying a withholding on the yield, in some way?
Is the tax withheld at the level of the etf provider, or would one see the amount withheld in one’s brokerage account.

Q: In your answer to my previous question on HBND you said that a 10% allocation would be good. Did you mean 10% of the whole portfolio or 10% of the bond portfolio (so example 10% of a30% bond allocation would be only 3%).

Q: Just a follow up to a previously answered question regarding which ETFs you would choose. What would be your weighting in a portfolio containing SPY, QQQ, IJH, AGG and VYM?

If you were to remove bonds (AGG) altogether, where would you allocate weighting?