Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Peter and all at 5i. Wishing you the best of the season!

Peter, first of all, I really enjoyed your last article in the National Post. Your financial stories were highly entertaining.

I manage a RRSP for my daughter-in-law. She has approximately 24K in cash due to a GIC that recently matured. (She got 5.16% interest).

She has these commission-free ETFs: CEW, QQC.F, XHC, XIT, and XST. She would have to pay a $10 commission on the following stocks and ETFs: BCE, BNS, FTS, PBH, SLF, WSP, ZIN, and ZRE.

Question 1. In what order would you suggest she uses the cash to purchase more of the commission-free ETFs?

Question 2. If there are compelling reasons to do so, in what order would you suggest she uses the cash to purchase more of the stocks and ETFs where there is a $10 commission?

I’m hoping that this question can be answered before Christmas if possible. Please use as many question credits as you see fit to provide a comprehensive reply.

Thanks as always for your valuable insight.

Q: REITs have declined substantially since 2022. The payout has remained steady, but the market value of units has dropped.
What needs to happen in the markets to create a turnaround in this sector?

Q: Retired (70 yrs old), dividend-income investor. Been meaning to ask this question for a long time. We run a concentrated portfolio of roughly 10 ETFs and 10 stocks, plus fixed income on top. Our pro-rated MER for the equity ETFs is 0.64 and for the entire portfolio is 0.38.

I use the ETFs above that are sector ETFs (like HHL, NNRG, XIT) as my proxy for the sector and am ok with the trade off of paying fees for a sector ETF instead of having lots of stocks.

I then add my individual stock selections to achieve my targeted Asset Allocation for the entire portfolio (like AD, BCE, FTS, GSY, RY, NWC, PBH, TRP, WSP, etc). I weight each of these relative to my risk tolerance.

Does this make sense to you? Does my "sector ETF" make sense, especially with a potentially large weighting in one ETF. Virtually all of my ETFs are capped at around 7% of the equity portfolio and the stocks are capped at 5% max.

Your thoughts on my strategy and on my MER....thanks...Steve

Q: I am 83 years old and thinking of reducing my portfolio of stocks and putting the monies in Dimensional Funds in my RRIF. Returns seem to be excellent and I would like to get your opinion on these funds. I have no pension so I rely solely on the income generated by these Funds
Second question: The other option is trading my stocks for ETF's therefore what 5/6 ETF's would you recommend that would make a nice balanced income producing portfolio

Wayne

Q: Hi Gang
What are your 5 top Canadian income ETFs

Thanks Mike B

Q: Why are these two ETF’s down over a 5-year period?

Q: I was considering A switch from ZRE to Rmax for my RIF. What would be your opinion? Thx, James

Q: If we do go into a significant recession over the next year, what sectors will do poorly and what sectors will likely be more stable? How might REIT ETFs perform?
Thanks!

Q: Why the sudden market reversal ? With the forecast of 2 or 3 central rate cuts by the Bank of Canada, their value should rise, shouldn’t it ? thank you

Q: I have noticed that the real estate ETFs have been languishing over the last 10 years. What is your view of the real estate ETFs over the next 5 years? Under what conditions will these ETFs do well? What type of real estate ETFs do you expect to do well (domestic vs international, commercial vs residentical, etc.)?

Please recommend a North American and an international ETF which you feel could do well over the next 5 years. What percent of a portfolio would you recommend include real estate for diversification purposes?

Thank you for this excellent service.

Q: Looking for an ETF that you feel would be a good candidate for growth plus a fairly high dividend (5% or more).
Thank you for your good service, looking forward to your answer.
Earl

Q: I presently have these underwater stocks in a RESP. BCE, BEP.UN, ENB, FTS, LMN, XIC, ZEB, ZRE. The RESP will not be need for the next 10 years. I would like to sell some of these underwater stocks. Which stocks would you recommend keeping & which stocks would you recommend selling. Thanks … Cal

Q: Those ETF are at the same share price as 18 yrs ago...,could they still go much lower or is it a good entry point at this level ?

Q: hi, ZRE is up 4.12% since 5i income portfolio purchase ( not sure the exact date of purchase for the income portfolio? ). the unit price is up 21 cents from 10 years ago, or about 1%. so basically holders of the ETF have gotten the dividend but nothing else really. I would have expected the unit price to be up much more than that since 2014, as property values have dramatically increased since 2014, as have rents. can you elucidate for us what is going on here ( im not convinced this is all interest rate action ). im wondering how well this ETF is tracking it's underlying holdings/investment thesis/philosophy? further, do you have data in regards the performance of ETF's in tracking their underlying holdings/investment thesis etc.? my guess is that they all "underperform" as they essentially are just another "equity" on the open stock market, sensitive to the irrationality of the markets? thanks for your insight! chris

Q: hi, the annual rate of return on the equity price ( not including dividends ) is about 2.15 percent since may 2010. is this what you would expect for this going forward? and do you have the annual rate of return including dividends/fees etc? I can't find that. do you think this is a good time to add shares ( its trading below April 2013 ). im a bit confused as to why it is trading at this level, ie how do metrics compare with April 2013? cheers, chris

Q: As an older investor, I am considering a gradual move from mostly individual stocks to a fully ETF portfolio. My thinking is to allow management simplicity for my wife in the event of my death or disability. Seeking dividends predominately but also a representation of growth. Can you please suggest an array (portfolio) of ETFs that I could begin migrating towards? As always, your advice is appreciated. thank you

Q: I have these ETF's in my portfolio, although they are a small percentage. I am wanting to do a clean up of most of my partial holdings in individual stocks and purchase more ETF's. I was going to add VIG as well. Could any of these ETF's be replaced with better ones or not bother with them, and what others do you suggest to compliment them for an income investor who wants to see a little growth as well in a well diverse portfolio? Thanks.

Q: Is there an ETF that provides equal weight coverage of the TSX similar to what EQL does for the S&P 500?
I would like to increase my ETF holdings providing a broad coverage of the Cdn market vs individual stocks. I already have a heavy weighting in individual financial stocks and most TSX ETFs would simply further skew my overall balance.

Q: Hi, In my prior question, the breakdown for ZRE is far from 100%. Is "residential" missing? Could be a private question. Thanks.

Q: I hold both ZRE and XRE. I selected two ETF because their Top10 holdings looked different enough. ZRE has also a better yield. Do you see a better growth from one of them?
Would you have on-hand a breakdown of their holdings (industrials, residential, retail, office). Could these ETF have private holdings? Thanks a million.