Investment Q&A

Q: I have a friend, retired as I am, who's entire LIF is invested in one mutual fund with RBC. The fund code is RBF461with an MER of 1.84%. From the research that I have done, this fund is rated as low risk with below average returns. When I look at a chart history of this fund, it does not even achieve the category average over the last 5 years at least. I own MAW104 or105 in this category but these would be unavailable to my friend as RBC does not offer Mawer funds for sale. Could you suggest any alternative mutual funds, ETF's or any other low risk strategy you demm appropriate. Thank you for your service.

Q: I am writing in regard to a question posed by John on Jun 25th regarding alternatives to mutual funds that his TD adviser had invested in for he and his wife. We too (my wife and I) WERE invested with a TD adviser up until a year ago. We also had a TD Direct Investing account that we use for investing in stocks. The final straw for remaining with the adviser came in 2017 when TD started charging a yearly fee over and above their MER's when investing in a TFSA. They also stopped allowing us to invest in D series units of mutual funds. We transferred all of our assets to the Direct Investing account and haven't looked back. We are now able to buy any type of mutual fund, ETF, stocks or fixed income product like GIC's that are sold through Direct Investing.
Also, when answering John I believe you may have replied with alternatives to a couple of wrong mutual funds. I believe he was asking about CIF843 (not 842) and FID231 (not2312).

Q: If you had to choose mutual funds for a <1 year old child RESP and were seeking growth with a moderate risk profile. Starting balance will be 5000 with monthly ontributions in 2019. What would be your top ideas?
Also what are your opinion of manulife funds:
MMF4548
MMF4506

Thank you

Q: Hi ? I have done well with RBF1030 (RBC Life Science & Technology).
Do you see a net advantage to replace it with one or two ETFs ? If so, which ones ?
Thank you so much for your clear and concise reply to my recent question on US tech stocks. Most helpfull. Just what I needed.
JD

Q: Recently I moved my investments from manulife funds to mawer. Manulife had a gauarenteed 5% return but the higher management fees were my reason for the switch. The mawer adviser put all of my investments into the balanced fund series a. I took a hit on the move due to the manulife dsc, but had a few weeks of good returns to make up for it. Was this a good move long term and should I not panic over the last couple of days. Should I look to some of their other funds so I’m not all in on the balanced fund.

Q: What is your recommendation on
Dynamic global dividend funds series F
Or maybe an ETF that is similar
Thank you for your input
BD

Q: 5-I,

I am looking for an investment to cover the small cap market in the USA.

1) What are your favourite ETFs that I guess would primarily cover the Russell 2000. I own VTWO but am interested in ones in Canadian dollars, either hedged or unhedged.
2) What are your favourite mutual funds that cover this space?

Thanks

Paul

Q: 5Iteam: If you look at the track record of phn balance d fund of which I have held off and on over the year's and allways ended up wondering why I sold. Could you give an opinion as to why anyone who wants a hands off approach to part of their portfolio would be any better off with say Plv or Vbal or even Pimco or other. Your comments greatly appreciated.

Q: ETF MERs and recommendations

I am in the process of educating myself through your insights and advice along with other research. My wife and I have used a TD adviser for the past few years and our returns have been reasonable. However, I am digging in the weeds and find virtually all our funds have MERs of 1.8% to 2.28%. Our adviser has balanced our investments to our comfort level of risk. I think we can do better with your advice on replacement ETFs.
The funds involved are: CIF843 2.01%mer, FID1222 2.23%, FID2312.28%, MFC291 1.89%, TDB171 1.79%, TDB2940 2.06%, TDB331 2.06%, and TDB619 2.26%. These funds combined gives an overall 60/40 equity/fixed income which is what we are comfortable with; breakdown is 40% fixed income, 15% Cdn equity, 25% U.S equity, 15% intl equity, 5% other (whatever other is).
Are there a funds or a single fund that you could suggest to help us consolidate these into something where the MER will be considerably less?
I do subscribe to the ETF site but see this site as the go to for my questions.

Thanks for your informative site and previous and future advice.
Best regards,
John

Q: Is there any point of keeping these.
Margita

Q: Gents,
I am interested in the Beutel Goodman Canadian Dividend Fund BTG875. It has had a bit of a rough go over the last 6 months perhaps due to interest rate increases. As more rate increases are anticipated do you think that this fund will continue to suffer? Are there other funds in this space that will fair better?
Thanks Chris

Q: I own TD International Index-e, which has been a solid low-MER performer; however, I noticed that TD now has a new ETF called TD International Equity Index ETF (TPE) which has even lower MER. Does it make sense to switch from the fund to the ETF (in registered accounts, where no capital gain would be triggered)?

Q: Manulife Monthly High Income Fund Series F
As far as mutual funds go, how would you rate the Manulife Monthly High Income Fund Series F? The MER seems reasonable at 1.07. I'm trying to identify a good income fund for my mother. Any others you would recommend over this one?
Thank You

Q: I am looking at picking up RBC's Quant US Div Leader and they have 2 versions Hedged and Unhedged. With the CDN dollar at close to 80 cents which one would you recommend to purchase for the next year. Some advisors are saying the CDN dollar will be weaker in a year from now. Should you have a balance of Hedged and Unhedged of the same fund?

Q: Good Evening Folks,

I'm looking for a good US/International mutual fund to balance out a portfolio of mine. I'm looking at Edgepoint Global and PH&N Global. what are your thoughts on these funds? Could you suggest any others that I should consider? Are there any ETF's that are comparable?

And one more question. I've held two Canadian mutual funds with blue chip holdings for years - Mawer Canadian Equity and TD Dividend Growth. Performance has been OK but not great. Can you suggest better replacement funds or ETF's?

As always, thanks for your advice.

Dennis

Q: Just an admin question on your answer to Brad today, re the Manulife Strategic Income Fund. You mentioned that the MER is .97, but I'm seeing that that is for the 'F' series, which as I understand it, if you have an advisor where you're paying a fee, you get to buy the 'F' version (which is the trailer removed version). But if you're doing your own, I understood that the MER would be about 1 point higher than the 'F' series. So in this case, 1.97% Mer. Is this correct?
Thanks very much...

Q: Which ETF best mirrors the Tangerine Equity Growth Portfolio, Fund Code: INI240? I'm happy with the performance but thought I may be able to reduce the MER with the same product in an ETF.
Thanks

Q: I would appreciate your views on this fund AGF 808 Serie F for my RRIF.
This is a switch from CI Canadian Investment CIG 7425, about 3.5% / RRIF

Thanks
jean guy

Q: Would you sell or hold any or all of Sprott Energy, Sprott Gold, Sprott Cdn. Equity funds at this point Thanx Robbie

Q: what if I use the cash component of my model balanced portfolio to buy,say,tdb3098 mutual fund units;would this move undermine some aspect or purpose of the portfolio?