Investment Q&A

Q: could you advise on the merits to use this alternative strategy fund to diversify a portfolio that is currently 80% phnbalanced fund 5% mawer global smallcap this leaves 15% that i would like to add more bang for my bucks. this 15% is in my rrsp that i cannot add to and plan on leaving for 8 years for manditory convertion to rrif. would you also consider cgl gold to be a part? hope this is not to vague. thank you kindly LARRY

Q: What can you tell us about this fund which seems to have had a dramatic increase in the last few weeks (according to the globeinvestor ) Thanx Robbie

Q: While I am not sure where oil prices will bottom whether that is $30,$20 or even lower, they will bottom at some point. I would like to follow a short list of 4-5 energy producers that are financially sound and have the most potential for a strong rebound when prices strengthen. An alternative is to buy an ETF like XEG or perhaps a fund like Sprott's energy fund. I would appreciate your views and a short list of companies that I could buy for potentially strong gains in the energy sector if and when that happens. Thanks.

Q: can you tell me if this a good investment for the next 2 years

Thanks for your help

Q: A year ago you responded to my question regarding Mawer Funds. You said they were among the best of the managers available. I purchased Maw 102, 104, 108 and 130. I am happy to say they have all done extremely well. I am thinking of buying more of maw 108. What will be the impact on the fund if the Canadian dollar appreciates in value. Could you explain how exactly the fund is Canadian dollar hedged. Thanks for your help.

Ray

Q: I presently hold as much as 25%of my portfolio in th IA Clarington Strategic Fund CCM3550. I was looking at the steady dividend income when I purchased this fund. Can you tell me how rising interest rates will affect this fund (higher dividend or lower). This is for long term, is there a better place for my holdings? Your advice and insight would be greatly appreciated.

Q: Good day
What are your thoughts on BMO tactical dividend fund? Could
it be a core holding for a RRIF account?

Q: Hi Peter, I have these Mutual Funds in my portfolio and they have done extremely well in this market environment, I wish more people shared they good investments here. While I am at it, would like your opinion of TBE and RMM.un. many thanks, Joe.P Burlington

Q: Thank you for your information on Phillips North & Hager's High Yield Bond Fund. The MER is .087 and the RBF1280 Symbol is shown on their website and is what I used to purchased it on Royal Bank Direct Investing. I tried PHN 285 on their site and it showed no response. The fund closes again this Wednesday.
Thanks again.

Q: Re: Steven's inquiry and 5i's response. TDDI shows RBF1280 as the ticker for this fund. The MER is indicated as 0.87%
PHN285 is an invalid ticker as per TDDI

Q: Phillips, Hager and North have recently opened their high yield bond fund to investors for the first time in a while - would you buy this type of fund for a five year minimum hold?
Thank you.

Q: Hello Peter and team,
A friend asked me my opinion about his LIRA account (which he won't be accessing for about 25 years). For a few reasons he is not interested in transferring to a self-directed account, wishing to keep this part of his portfolio with his financial adviser. She believes that Edgepoint Global Growth and Income (EDG180) is the best option for him. I have never heard of Edgepoint, so after a cursory glance at their website and Morningstar looks fine, I thought I would ask you. Do you have any feedback about Edgepoint as an investment company and EDG180 as a fund that I could share with my friend?
I appreciate the excellent service you provide.
Thanks in advance, Rory

Q: Hi Guys, I have taken over a few accounts from my financial advisor thanks to your guidance. Now, I have an Income mutual fund ($15,000.00 value, 5% weighting) that has a penalty of $ 600.00 if I cash it out early (matures in Sept 2016). My thoughts are, cash it in now, if I can earn between 7% to 12% within your equity portfolio I will be ahead of the game.
thanks,
Jim

Q: Hi, one of my friends was asking what I thought of the Allegro Moderate Portfolio A mutual fund. First, the performance is rather mediocre. Second, the MER (2.54%) is fairly high, but non uncommon in the fund industry, for a balanced fund. It is a fund of funds, which are all Investors Group products. Not that all their funds are not worth owning, but this product seems obviously designed to be most beneficial to that company. I was not impressed with this feature. I also noticed that many of the funds included in this product are of the "A" class (based on GlobeInvestor). Does this means that there are also MERs of 2%+ that also apply. If so, it is outrageous. I told her she need to find out from her advisor, but I was wondering whether my read of this last feature is correct.

Q: if a person was to choose betweenthe fairly new mawer global balanced fund and the mawer canadian balance with a very good track record. I am thinking the global fund might be a better buy.considering they both started with a net asset value of about 10$ per unit. is it reasonable to think that the new global fund has more upside potential in spite of higher mer for a long term hold . your opinion greatly appreciated. thanks Larry

Q: RBC Canadian Dividend Series A mutual fund has been a double for me but the mer of 1.78% is quite high compared to that charged by etf funds. Could you suggest some etf products that would work as well as the mutual fund but are cheaper?
Thanks,
Dave

Q: Hi Peter, currently have both in my portfolio and done well YTD,21 and 18%. Should I take profit or add to? Also, considering RBF274 with a little higher MER. Can you suggest a life science or health related one?

Q: 2.5 total investments . In view of. Current problems get out? Better monthly income funds? 80 yrs old.

Q: Hi Peter
What is your opinion of Harbour DSC 890 fund? My daughter has been contributing to it for many years and I would like to see her set up a self directed account with ETF's. She has no other investments at this time. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks for all you do.

Q: H guys,

For 2 years I've been trying to get my conservation 50 year buddy into buying good Canadian blue-chip dividend companies without luck. Ultimately he decided to move his investments from a local under performing asset company to dundee wealth. Here is the email he sent me:

"I pulled the trigger and pulled my money out of the investment company I was using and put it with a new guy. I was honest with him and said I would like to be as modern as possible and he seems quite flexible so far. I have my money in transit right now but next week I will be meeting with him and reinvesting most of it into mutual funds that he and agree to.
I am also going to invest a small portion into some kind of ETF(s) or stock(s).

Right now I am gathering any information or opinions of what are people's top 5ish successfully performing mutual funds in their portfolios that have performed well over the last 5, 10, an/or 15 years. And that they are sticking with in the future so far. I have heard of two mutual funds that sound good so far: Mawer (Keeps receiving a lot of awards) and Edgepoint (Is run by the old Trimark gurus. They left Trimark and started Edgepoint)
As it stands now I may be investing in both of them and their Canadian Equities and Global Equities funds equally. Example; Mawer Canadian Equity and Global Equity and Edgepoint Canadian Equity and Global Equity
Any opinions if this is a good idea or not?

I am writing to get your opinion and/or that of your Investor Manager friend.
Is there some better Mutual Fund options out there?

I am also looking for your opinion of your top 5 stocks and/or ETFs (long term) that you have invested in and plan on leaving it for 5 -10 more years. I will be dabbling a bit in these areas.

If you don't have an opinion or don't feel like sharing it, no problem. You are welcome to pass this email on to anyone that you feel may give me their opinion.

I understand that you would only be sharing your opinion and would not be recommended anything so you should not feel responsible if something turns into a dog.I would take your opinion and then research it and see if I liked it or not so it could become my own."

Any thoughts? Thank you. I appreciate you time and effort on this one.

Brent