Investment Q&A

Q: It's been almost a year since I asked about this one (QTIP - Mackenzie US TIPS Index ETF (CAD-Hedged)). I've held it for over 3 years and it has certainly dropped (I'm down about 11%) and over the last 12 months it just seems to be flatlined between $ 83 and $87. Why should I want to keep this one vs. just selling it and moving $$ to something paying a higher dividend (maybe BCE or ENB) ? Or will dropping interest rate finally be the catalyst to breathe some life into this one ?

Q: I often have a variable amount of cash in my USA trading account, while I am looking for trades. Which safe money market fund with a good dividend would you recommend that I can use for short term holds? For example for my Canadian funds I use CMNY, I can trade it like a stock using my TD account. I got that recommendation on BNN market call. It has been very useful. I would like a similar one for the USA. Thanks for all your great advice and service.

Q: Bank of Canada cut rate, would this impact CASH's yield? Thank you.

Q: Bloomberg article today summarized:

Forget the stock market or private credit. Fixed income will outstrip other asset classes after “a generational reset higher in bond yields,” according to Pacific Investment Management. “Active fixed income is positioned to perform well if there are no recessions over our secular horizon and to perform even better if there are,” Pimco’s Richard Clarida, Andrew Balls and Daniel Ivascyn wrote in an outlook released Tuesday. As prices climb and inflation recedes, they expect bonds will be even more attractive than cash.

Can you offer some guidance/thoughts on this? I’m a growth investor primarily in stocks, and not familiar with bonds.

Can we benefit from some torque? What would be your top ETF plays in this?

Q: Not having the ability to look into a crystal ball and see the future: How would you invest 500,000 CAD with a 6-month time frame in mind and the realization that there are capital gains and other factors to consider. Investment appetite is mildly-conservative.
Thanks for your ideas. Lesley

Q: Im looking for a place to park some cash for my sons university costs and make a little bit of interest while it sits. Is CASH.TO a safe bet or do you have other recommendations.

Q: Good morning,

I was looking for somewhere to put my money for a short period of time and I heard about money market fund etfs and high intrest savings account etfs. I have a vague understanding of the two but would it be possible to get the pros and cons of each and when they preform differently and the worst case scenario (ie what a maximum loss would look like) for these two types of etfs?

Thank you very much,

Aidan

Q: Thoughts on this etf with regards to American interest rates which determine yield payments. Thanx.

Q: Bond ETF's like XLB have performed poorly in the face of peak interest rates and pending Fed rate cuts. Could you offer some insight as to why there has been recent weak demand for US treasuries, whether you see that trend continuing in the near term and at what point bonds may become a rewarding investment?

Q: I own ECN Senior Unsecured 6% Debentures maturing on Dec. 31, 2025. They are currently trading at 84 cents on the dollar, corresponding to an annualized Yield-to-Maturity of about 18%. I am concerned that this extremely high yield indicates serious doubts as to their ability to repay this debt (in cash). What is your opinion as to the viability of ECN?

Q: For earning short term interest, in the past I have bought BA's and CP issued by Canadian Banks. I am now considering PSA and CASH.......which show better yields with lower buy/sell commissions. So - it seems like a no-brainer to put short term cash investments into PSA which shows an indicative yield of 5.5% - versus BA's CP or CASH. Am I missing anything here - does an investment in BA's or CP have advantages over buying PSA?? Does CASH have advantages over PSA despite the lower yield??
Thanks

Q: GIC's that need to be cashed before their due date are penalized whereas individual bonds can be sold before their due date at market price. For Tax Purposes - Which fixed income investment is better for an holder person with limited time horizon?
Thank you for all you do!

Q: Is this bond good value for my bond portfolio .Thanks Phil
altagas can serv 3.84 jan15 25

Q: I hold XLB in my RRSP. What do you think of swapping the XLB for BEP.UN?

Can you address the answer in various interest rate directions please?

( Between BIP.UN in the RRSP and the BN and BAM outside, I already have 10% exposure to the group. Doing the trade would have me bumping 15%. )

Thank You

Q: Hi, Is there a site giving the actual yield of all the HISA ETF’s? The distributions are already decreasing. I guess they are pretty similar, but they change monthly. PS: I do not think the dividend/yield on 5iResearch MarketData are up-to-date. Thanks.

Q: Could you please provide your thoughts on this relatively new ETF and comment on it's ability to maintain the relatively high monthly distributions without eroding the net asset value. Do they have a solid strategy?

Q: TD launched a series of Target Maturity Bond ETFs that terminate in Nov of each given year (e.g. TBCF winds up in Nov 2026)
Normally, for Fixed Income, an investor could:
- own individual bonds with exact payment/maturity certainty but very laborious
- own traditional bond ETFs: very easy, but perpetually renewing maturities and mysterious trading prices---often downward, it seems
However these new ETFs seem to offer the best of both worlds.
MER is 0.20 vs XBB 0.10 which isn’t bad.
By TD’s offering chart (May 2), TBCF shows a Yield to Maturity (net of fees) of 4.87%.
Seems like a lot to like here for the individual investor, in Fixed Income.
As a Portfolio Analytics subscriber, the Asset Allocator is unhappy with my dearth of Fixed Income holdings!

Q: Feels like the right time to step into long term bonds. Do you agree and what would be your maximum allocation in an income portfolio? Thanks as always.

Q: Hi 5i
I am asking for advice on purchasing T-Bills from any of the big bank self-investing firms.
1) for a client with lots of investments with a bank, what kind of a spread can a retail investor expect to pay upfront on a 3 month, 6 month and 10 year US T-Bill?
2) how much will this spread change over time? Is there a market condition which advantages the retail investor?
3) is there one of the big banks that does a better job over the others in terms of managing the grey bond/t-bill market? i.e. offering clients a fair bond offering (both in terms of what is available and the percent the bank takes off the top)?
4) perhaps quest trade or interactive brokers show a better offering when it comes to fixed assets?
TIA

Q: Would you consider this ETF as an alternative to bond ETFs? The yield is attractive but I’m not familiar with this type of private credit investment and what the risks are or how sustainable the yield is.
Thanks.