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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: Hello 5i. Just wondered if you had seen the article on this topic in the Globe & Mail over the weekend. What it suggests is that dividends from US-listed ETFs held in an RRSP account are not subject to US taxes. However, the article states that this is not the case for dividends paid by Canadian-listed ETFs that invest in US stocks. In this case, dividends ARE subject to US withholding taxes, even if the ETF is held in an RRSP account. The article goes on to say that these taxes cannot be recovered. (Same situation would apply to mutual funds.)

Assuming the article got this, I'm not sure that all ETF investors are aware of this nuance.
Read Answer Asked by Thomas on January 23, 2018
Q: Hello Peter
What are your thoughts on Nomura Instinet analyst comment on CNBC about SQ Inc.
(Payment company Square is "analogous to Amazon or Google in their early days" but Wall Street is valuing the stock all wrong, according to Nomura Instinet)
Thank you always for your valuable advice.
Regards
Claudio
Read Answer Asked by claudio on January 22, 2018
Q: I have virtually no direct exposure to the US market at the moment and wish to rectify that. My risk tolerance is moderate with a minimum hold of 5+ years.
I am considering adding IWO and MTUM to my RRSP plus 2 or 3 other stocks for diversified exposure. What are your thoughts with this strategy and can you provide a couple stock suggestions, your reasoning behind them, and perhaps how best to allocate the funds?
Thanks for the great service.
Read Answer Asked by Ron on January 22, 2018
Q: Firstly, let me compliment your staff on the VERY quick response to my latest question!
Now, picking up on our changes to the Cash Acct, I have decided to move the bulk of our RIFF accounts to the US to counter the larger CDN investments in our Cash Acts.
I have picked only ETFS as I believe they best represent US national growth potential at this time.
I would appreciate your best advice & rationale on 4 or 5 of the following: UDOW, DDM, SPSM, XLE, DIA, VTI, XLF, SPY, IGM. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Robert on January 22, 2018
Q: Greetings 5i,

I am considering adding a long-term, full position (5%) in V. This addition is attractive to me based on its international brand presence, solid track record, and the rising interest rates that will likely help profits moving forward. I am not concerned about the short-term ramifications of the recent US tax reform on its long-term viability.

My current financial exposure consists of TD.TO and BNS.TO (roughly 3.5% each), as well as full positions in BRK.B and BAM.A (although, due to the breadth of their holdings, I look at BRK and BAM more like diversified "hybrids" than single financial positions).

I am 36 years old, debt-free, conservative (although not totally adverse to risk), and greatly prefer long-term holds that do not require constant monitoring. My investment portfolio is strictly for the purpose of expediting my retirement, and I have no need of its funds for the foreseeable future.

Does the addition of V sound like a reasonable course of action at this time?

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Lucas on January 22, 2018
Q: Good Morning. UTX is approaching 7% of my portfolio and I will soon need to sell some of it for portfolio allocation reasons. I would like to deploy the proceeds to a stock, either Canadian or US based, in the same sector. Do you have some suggestions? thx JR
Read Answer Asked by John on January 22, 2018
Q: What is the trend in the short position in GE shares over the past several months? What if anything does 5i "read into" the trend? Is it correct to think the short position in a stock reflects how "the big guys" (hedge funds, etc) are evaluating a stock?
Thank you. Edward
Read Answer Asked by Edward on January 22, 2018
Q: MU is down $1.24 to $42.75 as of Fri. Jan.19, 2018. It seems cheap at 6.5 times forward earnings & with a PEG of .34. I would like your opinion on buying a half position in this company. About an hour ago I asked another question re ORBK- Orbitech Ltd.& would appreciate comments on whether you would recommend either, both or neither of these companies as a half position?
Thanks, as always, for your great advice.
Read Answer Asked by Dave on January 22, 2018
Q: Hi there,

I currently have a blend of your Balanced and Growth portfolio - mostly switching out the large, higher yielding names with small to mid cap growth names (which were suggested to me by your team in an earlier question). It has performed well in 2017 and I am happy with the results - however, my entire portfolio is TSX based. I am looking for diversification but don't want to sacrifice the growth tilt, which sometimes ETFs tend to lead to. Based on my existing holdings, which ETFs would you recommend that would be more growth tilted and add a broader global exposure? Also, what weighting would you consider making these holdings?

Thanks for your great service!
Read Answer Asked by Michael on January 22, 2018
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