Investment Q&A

Q: CBIL holds Canadian treasury bills and TDB2913 is a money market mutual fund. It looks to me CBIL is safer with basically the same yield am I missing anything? Thanks

Q: I’m trying to understand the risk I’m up against with investments in CASH and UCSH.U. Both have significant holdings in Scotiabank and National Bank investments. My portfolio percentage positions in these two is quite significant.

- Do you have options for better diversification of my cash holdings?

- In the event of “something going off the rails”, what impact does this have on an investor of these two investments like me in the event of a bail-in of either Scotiabank or National Bank because of these holdings within the two ETF's?

Q: As a general rule do most bond funds have a set philosophy about duration or do they simply employ funds based on what they think makes sense at that particular time?

Thank you

Q: Hello 5i,
We have CDN and US funds in our RRSP’s and TFSA’s, no pensions, income is CPP and OAS only, + RRSP withdraws.

We are looking at placing funds needed for the next 3 years into less volatile environment with a yield of 4%-5%. We have laddered GIC's and PSA for CDN funds and are looking for something similar in US funds. Our equities (stocks and ETF's) would remain in place though each year we would sell some stocks and purchase short-term ETF’s to retain a 3-year comfort zone. This allows us to retain higher risk equities in a longer time-frame in case of a large drawback.

Some examples we found were IGSB, BIL, VGLT, VCIT, VCSH, AGG, IEF. Do you have any recommendations? What are your thoughts on long-term Treasuries with a Trump win? Dump and run?

Thank you for your service.

D&J

Q: Given the expected economic/market conditions over the next 5+ year horizon, if you were to look into your crystal ball, would XBB be a good solid bond fund to hold for one’s safer investments ?

Q: Looking to move some money into the bond section of my portfolio. On the more risky side looking at XHY and USHY. How would you rate these for safety going forward on the the capital gain/loss side. Also I may sell some stocks like Magna that don't appear to be doing much.

I've been listening to Howard Marks and he thinks now is the time to be leaning towards bonds and Warren Buffet has been raising cash.

Q: Curious what you think about SYLD? Is this something you would recommend? If so how much of a fixed income portfolio should it represent? If not, do you have other suggestions? Looking to increase returns of my fixed income investments as I get closer to retirement.

Q: I’d like to get your thoughts on the new Global X Treasury Ladder ETFs (SLDR, MLDR, and LLDR). My understanding is that their returns are likely to closely follow the current yield, with minimal potential for capital gains or losses. Does this make them a good fit for the secure portion of a conservative portfolio, or are there additional factors to consider?

Q: Hello Peter & Company,

Can you please suggest a US Exchange based fund equivalent to PSU.U.

Thanks for all you do

gm

Q: Thoughts on starting a position? Thank you!

Q: Dear 5i team.

The common theory of interest rates decling was long bonds would benifit most. This does not appear to be the case currently, and I've seen some not so clear responses thus far in the Q+A. Please explain in further detial, why long bonds have not performed to this expectation thus far, and what you see as a catalyst for long bonds to perform as expected with possible future declining interest rates..

Many thanks for your help.

Q: With interest rates going down everywhere is there a reason that PSA can sustain the 4.74%? Thanks, James

Q: Short term cash US cash investment.
Hello 51 team,

I have a portfolio at Nat Bank, using NBC101 to park cash; however, it is a bit inconvenient as it required at least 2 days between selling and buying the mutual funds and another day until it posts in our account while ETF is the same processing rule as equities.
I appreciate having your thoughts on using ETF instead==> ICSH vs JPST
What are the difference between the 2 and which one will be your pick?
I noted that ICSH (lower fee .08%, smaller size) vs JPST (higher fee, much larger size). Thank you!

Q: If you have $500,000 to invest in GIC's - would you recommend 5 different institutions holding $100,000 of GIC's to be sure of CDIC coverage? Seems like a lot of work to me.

Q: Recently I have found the TBIL and ZMMK ETFs to be a safe place to keep my cash and earn a half decent return.
However, the upcoming US elections, the upheaval in the Middle East, Ukraine, and the ongoing threat to global oil prices, is increasing the possibility of a sudden spike in interest rates, and a complete reversal of the current narrative of lower rates.
How would TBIL and ZMMK be affectted by such a turn of events (i.e. a spike in interest rates) and more generally, what investment asset classes would you recommend that would best mitigate such risks.
Thank You
John

Q: Hello, ICSH which is a short term bond fund from Ishares does not seem to be in your database. https://www.ishares.com/us/products/258806/ishares-liquidity-income-etf
Would you consider it a safe-ish storage for US funds while trying to decide where to invest ?

Q: Hello 5i,

Could you recommend 3 ETFS that you would consider for a 70 years old retiree. My portfolio is currently 95% in Equities both in Dividend ETFS (VDY, ZEB, XEI and XDIV and individual shares (ENB, RY, TELUS, and BMO.)

Thank You,

Q: Would you consider Guardian Ult-Shrt US TB USD ETF (US $ denom) to be one of the safest ways to hold USD? Last monthly interest payment was 5% annualized which is quite favourable … seems others may not offer higher rates.

Initially the plan was at sub 4.5% level to put this cash elsewhere but with declining US Bond prices I am now wondering how quickly rates may move lower and am wondering if we may experience a diverging interest rate environment between Cda n US rates. What’s the likelihood we could see such divergence n is there a point where the effect of a weakening Canadian dlr would limit further divergence (we are weak at 72.5 exch now but recall a lo of 68 many years ago).

Q: I’m considering whether I should invest in TLT, HPYT, or a combination of both. I understand that HPYT has a much higher yield, but I’m struggling to fully understand why. TLT, which makes up around 70% of HPYT’s holdings, only has a yield of about 4.3%, which makes me wonder how HPYT can achieve such a significantly higher yield. I understand the basics of covered call ETFs, but what kind of options are they trading to generate this yield? There seems to be something I’m missing here—could you also explain the additional risks that come with HPYT's elevated yield?

Q: In your answer to "A" today regarding a GIC, I was surprised to find 5i telling subscribers that banks use the funds from GICs to fund the mortgages and loans that they originate.
Mike