Investment Q&A

Q: Given the recent increase the USD/CDN exchange rate, does it make sense to buy ZSP or ZUE while looking for few year gain as market comes back?

Q: I am looking to follow the S&P 500. I am not sure what etf is best to use. I have seen you recommend VFV in Q&A but your model etf portfolios hold ZSP. Is there one you would choose over another? Is there another option I should consider? If you can advise if it is best to put in a register or unregistered account. I have room in both my TFSA and RRSP.

Thank you for the great service.

Q: Peter and team
I sold off all my equities part way through this recent collapse.
I have followed your BPort, along with some picks from the GPort.
I do not have the time to diligently follow individual stocks anymore, and was thinking of switching to ETFs.
What are your thoughts about splitting some 400k in cash between ZCN,ZDV, and ZUE. Is there too much overlap in the two Canadian ETFs, and what are your thoughts on going with the "hedged" ZUE?
This is a non registered account. I am pretty sure that ZUE is treated as a Canadian Equity with no foreign withholding tax. Correct?
Thanks

Phil

Q: Hello, Please provide ETF's that replicates TSX, S&P, DOW & NASDAQ
are there Hedged and non-hedged versions for US stock Indices.
Thanks.

Q: I sold my business and started a non-registered investment account in November 2019 and currently have no US equity. I am semi-retired and looking for total return, with a 10 year time line. Can you recommend an ETF that I can slowly add to with market dips? ZDY is down about 10% YTD, trading a 52-week low with a P/E of 14.90 and dividend of about 3.25%. But ZSP and ZLU have historically better 3-year returns. I would be grateful for your recommendations. Thank you!

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: Ignoring taxes, cash requirements, sector allocation, on a straight-up basis, for a minimum one-year hold, which of the above-listed equities would it be prudent to currently sell,buy, or hold? Thank You

Q: I am looking to add an ETF that tracks the s and p 500 that has to go in my Tfsa. Can you give me some etf recommendations and your rationale? Thank you.

Q: Which Top 3 ETF's do your recommend to track the S&P 500.

Q: ZSP is an unhedged Canadian Dollar ETF. It has not done as well as the US Dollar ETF, symbol IVV.

Why would that be so? Shouldn’t their performance be identical?

Q: I currently own TDB900 and 902. Have now read that TD will be using ETFs to purchase their funds like the ones mentioned. I have held these funds for a long time . So I am wondering if it still ok to hold onto TDB900 and 902 since I am uncertain how this will affect those holdings. Is it time to switch the funds for similar ETFs. Any clarification is appreciated. Thanks Paul.

Q: when I put these three on a chart together (Thompson-Reuters feed on webbroker), for a specified period, hxs shows a much greater return than zsp which shows a much greater return than xsp. Five year chart 93%, 77%, and 45% respectively. This charting service does not show total return so some of the difference between hxs and zsp will be the dividend (included in hxs but not zsp). Some of the difference can be explained by hedging of the currency on xsp but not on hxs or zsp. Given the difference in five year returns there must be something else. Suggestions?

Q: I was reading Norm Rothery's article on the "hot potato" portfolio strategy. As you know it involves investing in one of four etf's based on the previous year's best performance. The asset classes are Canadian Bond Index, S&P/TSX Composite Index, S&P 500 and MSVI EAGE Index. I have to do a little more research on this strategy but should I decide to allocate a small investment here, what 4 specific etf's would you recommend?
Dennis

Q: Would appreciate your view on this etf as a long term hold for some relative safety and income using US dollars. Secondly what would you suggest as a Canadian dollar version of this etf holding a similar array of US large caps with a similar yield and low mer - would you recommend these for purchase or another pair instead - finally would you suggest averaging in for a fairly aggressive portfolio percentage (as high as 20%) or just buy and hold given the holdings -all the best - Ken

Q: Thank you for answering my past questions so clearly.

All the ETF's below mirror the S&P 500.

BMO S&P 500 INDEX CAD UNT ETF Symbol ZSP (not currency-hedged)

VANGUARD S&P 500 Index ETF, Symbol VSP (currency-hedged)

iShares Core S&P 500 Index ETF, Symbol XSP (currency-hedged)

Over the last decade, as expected, XSP and VSP have appreciated as much as the S&P 500 has -- a little over 100%.

ZSP has appreciated about 180%. Likely, that is a function of the currency hedging/not hedging.

Please explain.

In your opinion, will ZSP continue to outperform?

Thank you.

Q: Hi Team,
Would you please recommend 3 to 4 C$ denominated etfs that are focused on us equities (I already own XQQ and ZUB).
Cheers,

Q: I would appreciate your recommendations for the most tax-efficient ETF's for US equities in non-registered , RSP & TFSA accounts .
Thank you.

Q: hi, within a long term focus rip, would you see benefit from holding VGG as well as ZSP ? If not both, which is preferable? Thanks$$

Q: In reading Jason Heath's article in the Moneysaver he comments that there is no US withholding tax on US ETF's held in an RRSP, but there is withholding tax on the Canadian equivalent. I am in the process of rearranging our RRIFS and have been switching to more ETFs, including US based ones. Many ETFs have both a Canadian dollar and a US dollar version of the same fund. For convenience, to avoid opening a US dollar RRIF component, I elected to go with the Canadian equivalent.

Does the withholding tax also apply to RRIFs as well as RRSPs. If so it follows that perhaps I should convert a portion of our RRIF to US dollars and then purchase the US based ETFs in that account. It is not difficult to do, just a bit inconvenient.
Your thoughts please.
Russell