Investment Q&A

Q: I have allocated 20%-25% of my portfolio to Fixed Income. Would XBB and CBO be sufficient to cover the fixed income component? (say 50-50).

Thanks again for the great advice as always!

Q: Good morning all,

To add to the discussion/confusion about CDIC insurance (Pierre's question of Jan 21 and James comment Jan 25) - I have Cash, TFSA and RRSP accounts at TD. I was informed that in order to get CDIC coverage on more than $!00,000 in the Cash account they have several CDN$ options, TDB8150 which is TD Bank, TDB8155 which is TD Mortgage Corp and TDB8159 which is Canada Trust Corp. Was I misinformed?

Q: Hello Peter, you may want to clarify your response to Pierre's CDIC question of Jan 21. He wondered about coverage if he has both a $90,000 GIC and a $90,000 High Interest Saving Account at the same financial institution. While it is true that he would get coverage of $100,000 coverage for each account if they were in two separate categories (e.g., non-registered, RRSP, TFSA, a joint account with another person or a trust account), he would NOT get 'double coverage' for up to $200,000 if both the GIC and the savings account were just in non-registered accounts in his name alone, nor if both were held in his RRSP or another single category. CDIC will aggregate the deposits in each category, even if they are in multiple separate accounts. Thank you.

Q: I'm trying to keep a decent weighting of fixed income, and started buying the TIPS etf a couple years ago for better-than-GIC returns, and its worked out well. Now, I'm thinking of shorter duration TIPS (STIP) in case the fed has to move on rates sooner than anticipated. I'd appreciate your comments.

Q: Good morning, Why such a big difference between the yields in these two funds, are they that much different, and which fund would be safer, thanks?

Q: What are thoughts on bonds to balance a portfolio? I realize most are not enthusiastic about these right now, but I like to have a bit of them based on what I am used to. Are these a good buy now since they seem to have bottomed, or with interest rates the way they are, should I stay away?

There is also a lot of talk out there of stock market bubble right now so I thought this could protect the portfolio to some degree. I am new and appreciate your thoughts on what you would do here. Thank you

Q: What would be the safest alternative to a GIC that would yield at least two percent?

Q: 10 Years Treasury Yield is rising fast laterly. Is that a result of Fed asset purchases slowing down? Where can we find such information (such as monthly or weekly purchase amount)? Thanks.

Q: Re: Dustin's question today on a good place to park some cash - Tangerine Bank (a subsidiary of BNS) is still offering 2.1% for 5 months if you open up a savings and checking account (Max is $1 mln). I am building a house and have and set up accounts in October - very easy to do and transferring cash back and forth (to RBC in may case) is very easy. Only small issue I have encountered is the $50,000 daily max for transferring funds back to RBC.

Q: I have a large sum of money to "hold" for about 3 months with the purpose of buying a property. I'll be paying about 3% interest on it and am wondering if there is a short term place to hold the money and earn a bit of interest to offset that but not have too much risk of losing principle. I could just put it in my banks savings account for the time being (at 0.1%...) but thought I would pose this question in case you had any better suggestions. Thanks very much.

Q: Do bonds rise when interest rates rise? If so, can you recommend a few dividend paying bond funds for a RRIF.

Q: Hello, I am wondering what the estimated rate of return is for XLB? Is this a good choice for a RSP?

Q: Happy new year!
A general question. I'm keeping 15% cash in my TFSA. I'd like to spend them whenever the market drops. However they don't generate interest. I'm wondering if there are anything such as bonds that gives me daily interest, or at least short term interest. If so could you suggest what bonds would be a great buy.
Thanks!

Q: How can one play the US10Y which had risen 24% in one month?

Q: I currently hold both ZHY and XLB for exposure to bonds. I am looking to consolidate into one. Can you suggest which is better for a long term bond position?

Q: Hi 5i team.
Re ZTL, this long term US Treasury Bonds ETF has been declining since May. With the blue sweep in the US, additional benefit spending to come, possible rate increase and inflation in a year or two, would you recommend to sell this ETF now? What needs to happen to see this ETF reverse the fall? Given the current world economic situation, what other bond etfs would be safer bet? (amount of interest income is not important) Thanks.

Q: Hi there,
I see I have quite a backlog of question credits so, I thought I should put some of that to work. I have a general question about rate reset bonds. I have been thinking about reset bonds in etf form if there is such a thing. This would be for using new money to start a small quarter of a position over the coming year. I am closing in on retirement within the next few years and would be interested in hearing your thoughts when compared to preferred shares or laddered bonds. Maybe resets are similar to taking a laddered bond etf - but I am not sure of the merits given the paltry income for bonds. My concern is this market cannot keep up this parabolic growth much longer and the market appears to be pretty frothy right now. As a survivor of the tech wreck, I am worried about what I see as a significant correction (up to 20%) within the next 24 months or so. I am not afraid of risk but I do want to explore a variety of hedging options out there without exiting some of my growth stock positions. Cake and eat it too I expect. I still have about 6 or 7 years in the market. Thanks as always for your thoughts.

Q: Hi Team,

Like many I am trying to figure out what to do with cash on hand with interest rates near zero. I am trying to generate income while managing risk/volatility for this "low risk" part of my portfolio.

After some research I have come up with what may be three "best of breed" places to put some cash to work: REITs (e.g., RIT), preferred shares (e.g., HPR) and real return bonds (e.g., XRB).

What are your overall thoughts please on these securities at this time? Do you see any better alternatives in this market and interest rate cycle? What are the main downside risks you see for each security? Would you consider blue chip, high yield common shares more attractive or is there a diversification benefit here?

(Please deduct as many credits as appropriate for this compound question.)

Thank you so much, Michael

Q: Hi,

Probably a newbie question, however if I don't ask I will never know :)
Can VLB be considered like an hedge against VSB?
My fixed income portion needs to be higher and I currently own vsb.
Or would it be wiser to simply buy something like VAB instead of the other two?

Thanks

Q: In response to Paul's question
Q: I am with TD and they do not list this ETF (PSA) wish they did - is there a TD product that is available that compares.

I think TDB8150 (CND) and TDB8152 (US) would be the equivalent - they are listed under mutual funds (not ETF) on the Waterhouse platform

Cheers
Scott