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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: I purchased ZPW in April 2017 primarily as an income source in a stagnant or rising market. Since that time, the ETF has fallen 5%, and the monthly income has also dropped from $0.105/share to $0.095/share. At the same time, the S&P and DJIA have both risen 5%, so this ETF does not appear to be behaving as I would have expected.

Can you please explain why both the NAV and dividends have dropped for this ETF while markets rise? Is it related to the rise of the CAD vs USD or are there other factors at play here? If something fundamental has changed with this ETF, would you suggest any comparable alternative that would provide reliable income that is not fully taxed as income (e.g. bond ETF's). Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Alan on July 17, 2017
Q: Hi 5iResearch Team,

Ethical issues aside, I am looking at investing in Atria Group the main businesses of which are: smokeable products, smokeless products and wine. However, I am concerned about the law suits filed by US Federal Government a couple of decades ago against tobacco companies in the States seeking major financial penalties. Would you please provide an update on these law suits. Are they still on going? If they have been settled, are there still lingering issues and the Feds could come back in future and file more law suits?

As always good work guys and your help is much appreciated.

Harry
Read Answer Asked by Harry on July 17, 2017
Q: I know that you suggest Sun Life for a Canadian life insurance company, but how would it stack up against the potential of other life insurance companies in the US? Brian Acker recently recommended Met Life saying it was much cheaper than Sun Life. How would you compare Sun Life to US companies? Overall what Life Insurance companies would you invest in regardless of Canada or US?
Read Answer Asked by Kel on July 14, 2017
Q: Good day Peter and 5i Team,

This question is basically about asset allocation. My goal is to gain more exposure to global markets as opposed to the Canadian market. (United State, Europe, and Asian markets). I would like to gain this exposure by investing in, what you consider to be the highest quality ETF'S currently available with exposure to these markets. I understand there are countless possiblites available; therein lies my problem, but I would appreciate keeping the number of ETF'S to a minimum. So, what is your best investment for in each of the sectors for capital gains, some dividend support, and lower fees for overall investment appreciation?
-Europe?
-Asia?
-United States?
Keeping in mind the current condition of the world economy, what percentage of my funds would you designate to each ETF?
Thanks-you for your continued support.
Read Answer Asked by Les on July 13, 2017
Q: Hello. My 31 year-old son has been diligently saving for his future retirement, and has a combined portfolio of $80,000 (TFSA & RRSP). The money is mostly divided between Canada (45%) and USA (44%), with a small bit in the International market (11%). Under your advice last year, he sold his Canadian ETFs and bought some individual stocks. The result is amazingly better than the index, so THANK YOU!

Now, I'm wondering about his US portfolio. In the US part of the portfolio, he has several ETFs: VFV, VGG, ZLU, XSP - 42%, ZQQ- 18%, Health - XLV - 12%, and a remaining $10084 CAD cash (28%) that can be dedicated to US equities. What should he do with the money?

Alternatives: 1) increase his US ETFs. 2) buy individual stocks. 3) wait until the dip...
What should be the strategy for this portfolio? I'm interested in buying GOOG for him for a long term hold, but the price is too high for such a small portfolio. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thank you!
Read Answer Asked by Esther on July 12, 2017