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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: USHY iShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (not in your data base).

Is this a good time to buy a bond fund like USHY? It seems to do the same thing as HYG , has much lower MER and a higher distribution (above learned after using the comparison tool at ETF.com). Does USHY have a higher risk than HYG? Is this a reasonably good time to buy such a fund?

Read Answer Asked by Adam on August 04, 2023
Q: This is a question about composition of a rrif. I am 77: as I age I can no longer rationally think of long term holdings ie 10 years. In your opinion would it be wiser to shift to ETFs . I probably have enough saved to last my twilight years. I prefer the clarity of stocks but I would also prefer to be ten years younger.
Thanks for your wisdom
Read Answer Asked by Tom on August 02, 2023
Q: Hi there,

Can you please suggest Canadian-listed ETFs for the bond portion of a long-term portfolio? I'm interested in diversification.

Thanks,

Chris
Read Answer Asked by Chris on August 01, 2023
Q: At the moment I have 19% of my portfolio in csu debentures
Cost 105, up about 32% from cost
As we see inflation numbers come down I expect the interest rate on the debs to shrink from the present 13%
On par to zero .
If the RATE of inflation change is from Jan 23. 6% to dec. 23 to 3% . The rate of change is 50%.
Thus the formula for next year would be 50-6.5 not to be lower then zero
Thus 0%
Am I correct
Thanks

From csu this year
This new interest rate is equal to the annual average percentage change in the “All-items Consumer Price Index” published by Statistics Canada during the 12 month period ending on December 31, 2022 plus 6.5% and will be reflected in the June 30, 2023 interest payment on the Debentures.
Read Answer Asked by Leon on July 27, 2023
Q: I am trying to decide whether I buy a 1 year GIC at 5.48% and/or a 2 year GIC at 5.44% vs a bond such as bns 1.95 01/10/2025 95.265 yielding 5.36617%.
Is there any compelling reason why I would chose a bond over a GIC if the latter has a higher interest rate?
Thx
Judy
Read Answer Asked by Alan on July 25, 2023
Q: Hello 5i
First, thank you for your excellent service and guidance! I am retired, looking for income and growth. Following are my questions.

1) What do you think of VCNS? Could you suggest an alternative. I presently have a half position in VCNS.
2) At this time would you still recommend a 4.5% position in ATZ?
3)I am down about 30% with MMM. Is there a better place for these funds?
4) I am down 11% with CLF. What has to happen( with interest etc.) to recoup this loss?

Thank you, Bill
Read Answer Asked by William on July 21, 2023
Q: Scotiabank Canadian Low Volatility Index (2 year) Minimum Guaranteed Return 4%, Maximum Full Term Return 11%. A friend has it, she can't explain how it works.

Could you please explain to a person like myself who cannot understand how someone would get 11%, would it still take 2 years to get the 11%?

What is the minimum amount to be able to purchase this?

Are these things something knowledgeable financial individuals like yourself might buy?

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Ross on July 20, 2023
Q: Good morning,

With bond rates moving higher can you suggest your top 3 bond etf's to gain exposure at a low cost. Would holding these in a registered or cash account be best? As always thank you for your time
Read Answer Asked by Kolbi on July 17, 2023
Q: I am down significantly on these ETF's, down 17% with distribution included on ZPR with it representing 3.6% of my portfolio and down 7% on ZLI or 0.8% with distribution with ZLI representing 3.1% of the portfolio. These were added prior to the rising interest rate environment with the desire for income. Given the unit price have declined so significantly on ZPR (24%), would it be a good move to average down on this ETF in this interest rate sensitive environment? At least the ZPR is mainly held outside registered accounts so the significant capital loss could be used to offset other gains if I was to sell? What would you do with these funds at this point? Hold, Sell, Average down or...?
Read Answer Asked by Andrew on July 15, 2023
Q: I have 2 unregistered accounts and hold too much money in HISAs. I would like to invest more in Horizon's total return ETFs that pay no distributions. I have been looking at HBB but the chart looks nothing like similar Canadian bond etfs. Today, July 10th, HBB is trading at the same level it did 5 years ago but XBB is 13% lower today, VAB 13% lower and ZAG 15.2% lower. Can you explain this large difference? Should HBB now track in a similar way to XBB? Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Grant on July 13, 2023
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