Investment Q&A

Q: Once the current rout in the market bottoms, please suggest the best ETF's listed on the TSX to ride the market back up, purely for capital gains, covering both the TSX and the Dow. These would be short-term investments during the recovery mode.

Q: Greetings,

I just sold some mutual funds(finally) in my wife's RRSP account. We are fairly diversified at individual level, majority of our holdings are from your Balanced and some from growth and income portfolios. All our funds are in Canadian and would like to diversify.

Please advise, if this is right time to diversify in to US/World markets. if it is a right time, can you suggest few EFT's for 5+ year hold.

Q: Could I please have 5 recommendations for investment in Canadian stocks and/or Canadian ETF's focused on the US market. I currently have no investments in the US market in my RRIF. Thanks

Q: RE: -- Stephen's 2020-01-22 question on VGG & IWO --

Comparing VGG vs IWO over last ~ 7 years (details below), VGG has less risk/volatility (beta), a higher dividend, and a better return (based on risk for the ETF category). As I slowly adjust my portfolio this year to reduce downside risk when a market correction eventually hits, what do you think of moving some or all IWO to VGG. Most interested in your thoughts here.

As always, thanking for you wise advise.

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Ticker IWO VGG
MER 0.24% 0.30%
Dividend 0.70% 1.20%
Beta (Risk) 1.12 0.74
Style Small Cap Growth Large Cap Blend
P/E 25 26
Mkt Cap $9.8B $625M
Risk vs Category Average Risk Average Risk
Return vs Category Average Return Above Average
Morningstar Rating *** ****
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Q: Have vgg as a us position. Should i add to it or consider another us etf? As always thanks for your amazing service.
T Steve

Q: Happy New year Peter & Ryan!

Very happy with the Growth portfolio performance last year. Quick question on the US ETF exposure. What is the argument for taking the growth 'style' IWO over IWM or the value based IWN?

I know the performance has been better for Growth in the last 10 years, but most of the perhaps 'dated' literature I've read suggests value biased ETF's tend to do better over the long haul and would be curious to get your opinion.
eg) https://tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2469/faj.v55.n5.2300)

Thanks!

Q: Hello 5i,
I am now putting growth stocks in my TFSA after putting in my GIC's over the years. I am holding IWO and LNF in an unregistered account. To complete my TFSA contribution should I include IWO or LNF?
Thank you
Stanley

Q: Hi Gang, I am interested in buying one of this etf. Iwo, iwf,iwd, or Dia which one would you buy today. Our any other suggestion. Reasons? 3-5 years. Thanks
Alnoor

Q: My adult son (Canadian citizen/resident) is in his early 30's, has maxed out his RSP and TFSA (he holds high-quality individual securities within these accounts, which have done well over the years), and he is lucky to have a high-paying job in which he has surplus funds (Canadian dollars) that he can invest, within a non-registered account, approx. $20k to $25k per month. The goal is long-term growth, aggressive (80% equities), with the possibility that he may need some of the funds within the next 3-5 years, to join a group practice (capital contribution toward partnership). My advice to him is that he purchase each month among the five following ETFs (% as indicated below), rebalancing as he makes new monthly contributions:
20% VAB = Vanguard Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF;
20% ZCN = BMO S&P/TSX Capped Composite Index ETF;
25% VFV = Vanguard S&P 500;
25% TPE = TD International Equity Index ETF;
10% ZEM = BMO MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF.
What do you think of these 5 particular funds and the overall allocation? For his situation, are there different ETFs you might suggest we look at that would be better-suited for his situation? Thank you.

Q: I noticed in the latest BlackRock circular that IWY (iShares Russell Top 200 Growth) has significantly outperformed IWO (iShares Russell 2000 Growth) based on the latest 1 year, 5 year, and 10 year published returns. I assume you like IWO since it is in your growth portfolio. Can you elaborate a little on if/why you might prefer IWO to IWY and would you endorse a switch to IWY at this time for someone already holding IWO?

Q: Which of the three main US small cap etfs do you prefer, IWO, IJR or VB, thanks Bill

Q: Hello Peter and colleagues
I am trying to develop a simple but effective portfolio. What would be your opinion and recommended percentages on a simple portfolio including these ETFs: XIC, VFV, VXUS
Would you recommend adding more ETFs while keeping it simple? and if so, what would be the percentage of each. Do you recommend replacing VFV with VTI? and why?
Please deduct as many points as needed.
Thanks

Q: Hello Peter,
I was thinking of investing in a us small cap etf. I was leaning towards Schwab US small cap etf ,SCHA. Any comments or can you suggest one? Also, if you have a us small cap trading on tsx, would appreciate it. Thank you.

Q: Hello Peter and team,

Is there a tax efficient way to have US exposure in a taxable account? Would you recommend a ETF? Trying to get more US exposure in my sons portfolio and the taxable account is quite a bit larger than the RRSP's and TSFAs (both maxed) so if we want more US exposure, it has to be in the unregistered.

Thank you,

Wes

Q: My grandson is 21, he has just opened a TD trading account. He will have $12000 to invest now . And he expects to contribute about Seven to two thousand this year. Can you recommend two or three investments to start with. Thank you . Chuck

Q: Hi, Which specific country ETF's would you say has the best growth prospects over the next five years, thanks?

Q: Hi,

What US ETF's do you think would be a good way to play the US market for the next 2-3 years. I really for longer than that but I think there's going to be a lot volatility in the next couple years. I'm underrepresented in cyclicals, consumer discretionary, banks, energy and big Pharma, but not technology. I own QQQ.

Q: What are your thoughts about the performance of this etf, 1/3 year? Thinking of selling a portion of it . What would be ( us) a teck company that has good momentum/ growth for 3 hold?
Thank you!

Q: Hi,
I'm currently in my late 30's and have some funds in a LIRA from a previous company pension. They were invested in some funds with Sunlife before but now just sitting in cash waiting to be in invested. I'm looking for long term capital appreciation as I won't be able to take these funds out until retirement. Looking to increase my US and Intl exposure, which ETFs would be best? Currently own VGG, VUS, XEF and VEE. Should I increase these weights to my desired % or add any others? Looking for low MER core positions. Also should I approach investing in my RSP and LIRA in different ways or would you view them as the same? For example, would you buy stock A in your LIRA instead of RSP or vise versa.

Thanks!

Q: Good morning gentlemen, which one would be the safest from this three. Parking for 2-3 years. Thanks. Alnoor