Investment Q&A

Q: As a follow up to my question on international ETFs in CAD, you pointed out ZEQ. Two questions: 1. In a comparison between ZEQ and HXX, the former is CAD-hedged, but not the latter. On performance, HXX has outperformed. Please advise your advice on currency risk, and if willing to accept the Euro risk, which you would prefer and why. 2. HXS and XIU and tax efficiency - if your preference is for XIU, please explain pros and cons and why XIU. I note in 2022, XIU outperformed.

Q: Please recommend a couple of lower risk ETFs for the European market. Both in Canadian and US$.
thank you

Q: hi 5i,
what are you top picks for non-Canada core ETF's for long term hold/accumulation? im looking for US markets, European, Asia, and India. I like very liquid entities, and a dividend is fine. If possible, can you include both hedged/unhedged to $CDN. I notice that most of the unhedged versions of the ETF's have higher annual returns-do you recommend hedging or no hedging for the $CDN?
thanks, Chris

Q: For diversification purposes, which non-US ETF will be better VE or ZEQ?

Q: Please rate these Europe ETF's in order of your best choices. VGK; ZEQ; XEH; XEU; VE.

Q: How would you rank these two groups of ETF’s for future investment returns, where the best is listed first. European ETF’s VE, ZEQ, FEZ, & XEU. Emerging market ETF’s VEE, XIN, and ZDI. In the two groups if there is a better ETF in i5Reseach opinion, please add it to the list. Please correct the list if I have incorrectly categorized an ETF. Also what percentage of a portfolio should be invested outside of North America. Thanks … Cal

Q: May I please have the names of 3 or 4 recommended non-North American, non-European ETFs and one European ETF?
With appreciation,
Ed

Q: Hi which of these 3 ETF'S would you recommend for exposure to European markets ZEQ,VE,XEH, could you list them in your preference.
Thank you for your service
James

Q: Hello 5i,

I am looking for a Canadian dollar etf alternative to the above international quality factor etf. IQLT has 1% USA assets. Could you suggest two CAD etf alternatives: one with some USA assets and one without? I suspect the mer will be higher, but that’s ok.

Many thanks,

Q: Hi 5i team,
For my RRSP, I would like to invest in a developed Europe ETF. In your opinion, giving the fallout of the pandemic, would it better to invest in a broad index ETF like VE or a concentrated blue chips index like HXX? Which is your favorite developed Europe ETF for C$ RRSP? Which is your favorite Asia ETF (excluding Japan)? Thanks.

Q: I am trying to find the relative valuation of this ETF to its past. It appears to have a PE of about 24. Maybe you see something different. I would assume it is expensive. The holdings consist of very large, high quality companies - a lot of "go-to names". Is there a site or any resource where I can compare today's valuation to other years ? I'm one who hates over-paying for an investment.

Q: If you were to start an resp now, would you consider these etfs as suitable or a combination thereof,or do you have alternatives? Thanx.

Q: The rise in stock prices of a few mega-caps (Apple, Facebook, Amazon, etc.) has distorted the concept of broad diversification through index investing (S&P 500). While the index rises, many index constituents have performed poorly.

Some ETF providers have created funds that hold a subset of the components of existing indices. Inclusion is based on their concept of company "quality". Presumably this eliminates poor performers and results in a "better" fund.
Examples are: ZUQ, SPHQ, QUAL, ZGQ, ZEQ.

Please comment on this idea of "quality" subsets of existing indexes. Do you consider this to be a useful investing strategy? Would you consider the examples listed to be preferable investments compared to the broader indices?

Thank you.
IslandJohn

Q: Hi Peter, VCN and XAW are in one portfolio, VXC is in another. Would you add to these or is there a better choice considering the Canadian dollar or Covid? Thanks.

Q: I have exposure to these etfs in my rrsp. Would you recommend selling zwe and adding zeq? How much overlap is there between xef and zeq?

Q: I understand that a covered call investment is not the holding to have during a market rebound.

Instead of ZWE, which ETF would be appropriate holding to capitalize on a rebound.

Q: Hi 5i,
Can I get your thoughts about any of these 3 ETF's from BMO for a buy and hold investor? Should one be concerned with the relatively low trading volumes? The general performance of all three ETFs look better than their underlying indexes.
The ETF's appear to rebalance/reconstitute semi-annually so my thinking is these might be good as core holdings for a long term investor since they are always suppose to hold the best quality stocks.

Here is the BMO summary of the product;
1. selects high ROE stocks
2. selects stocks with stable year over year earnings growth
3. selects stocks with low financial leverage
4. caps max. stock weighting at 5%

MER Holdings AUM AvgVol Description
ZUQ 0.34 126 330M 7,200 US High Quality
ZEQ 0.45 126 260M 6,400 Europe High Quality CAD Hedged
ZGQ 0.50 330 80M 2,500 All Country High Quality

Q: Hi, could you list ETFs that you would recommend that hold mainly European companies & ETFs that hold European indexes. Thanks … Cal

Q: Hello

I am aiming to have about 20% of my equity portfolio in international stocks (ie. not US or Canada). I currently own ZDH (4.3%), ZDM (5.06%), ZEQ (1.87%), ZLD (4.19%) and ZEM (4.15%).

Do these ETFs appear reasonable to you? Do you see any need to change/consolidate, or to reduce MERs? The Portfolio Analyzer recommends VIU, XEF, VEE and XEM. Do you think it is worthwhile replacing my ETFs for the recommended versions?

Also, VEE and XEM do not appear to be as tax efficient as ZEM, or am I missing something?

Thank you for this great service!

Q: I currently hold CDZ and VGG in my RRSP. I am looking to add a similar product with more international exposure. Are there any Canadian listed ETFs that focus on European, International, and/or Emerging Market dividend growers?

Thanks!