Investment Q&A

Q: Hi there. As always, we really appreciate your insight into the markets and your thoughts on the evolving landscape. We have held Royal Bank for many years in a portfolio for our grandchildren and it has done well on an annualized return basis. It is a core holding but would you suggest going into a basket possibly being the better move going forward as market uncertainty seems to be growing? Do you have any names we can explore that might better capture future growth and allow a bit more diversification? Do you see Canada as an index finally outperforming the US this year with the sky-high valuations of the Mag 7? Thank-you!
Please take as many credits as needed

Q: Merry Christmas 5i folks.

Thanks for everything this year. Overall very solid returns achieved.

I was holding ZWT and then added QMAX (to compare for a bit and then consolidate) for Sector exposure, but when I looked at my whole portfolio, AMZN, MSFT, NVDA, GOOG and SHOP, through 40-600% gains (many thanks), have become about a third of my portfolio, but also represent 40 and about 22% of ZWT and QMAX. With their fortunes tied so heavily to my individual holdings, is it worth holding a sector ETF?

Conversely, I kept teeter-tottering on which Canadian bank was going to be "The best" over the next few years +, and not pulling the trigger. Based on some of your other answers recently, I settled on going with a 6% position in ZEB, and am ultimately pretty happy with the lower management fee and equal weighting approach, and having a holding in the financials. Do you think the outlook for the financial space over the next few years would justify a higher weighting? Would adding a small position in PRL or something make it more complete?

On the small caps side of things, I have positions in PNG, TCS, CLBT, TMDX, ASPN, HPS and CALF. CALF has been sort of... uninteresting, and I'm considering selling it and initiating a couple more small caps for more torque. Front runners currently are VHI, ZDC, WELL, MDA. Thoughts? Any others you would put in there? Would you dump ASPN for UFPT?

Given how weak the Canadian dollar is right now, would you prioritize US or dual listed companies? Or will Canadian ones get a 'Double boost' if we can get some strength back in the loonie?

Thanks for everything, and Have a great new year!

James

Q: Hell 5i I am considering selling BMO shares holdings and RY holdings as they in their higher price range. Sell high buy low! My plan is to reap the profit to buy ZEB. I would appreciate your thoughts on this. Thank you

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I have spent a bit of time using your chart feature, which I think is excellent. I like the feature of it being total return (CG plus dividends).

Comparing total return for ZEB vs ZWB over various timeframes is easy, since they both have adequate history. The complication arises when adding HMAX to the comparison, due to it's very short history and therefore not being through a full cycle. It is apparent to me that the covered call ETFs do indeed give up total return for higher steady income.

To my amateur eyes, it appears that ZEB is the clear winner over 1-3-5 year timeframes, with HMAX taking over 2nd place in the 1 year timeframe.

However without the benefit of a full economic cycle, I can not come to a final decision. I have started building a position in HMAX, but I am now wondering if I should have been building a ZEB-ZWC position. I know that ZEB is banks, whereas HMAX is financials (banks, ins, etc).

Any thoughts you could throw in the mix would be helpful. Any indication of how it might perform over the longer term, based on the history so far....thanks...Steve

Q: Good day, Your humble opinion on this CDN. bank etf. Thanks again

Q: I currently own ZEB, ZUT AND ZDV for income. I'm considering to add one of either XEI or XDIV or sell my holdings and consolidate into one of either XEI or XDIV. Please advise whether adding or consolidating is better and which of XEI and XDIV is the better one. Please take as many credits as required.

Thanks 5i !! Ken

Q: Hey team. I'm a senior, dividend investor and I have been investigating both Ishares XEI (S&P Comp High Div ETF) and Vanguards VDY (Vangaurd FTSE Canadian High Div Yield Index ETF).
They look pretty much the same with slightly different holdings with XEI having a slightly higher dividend. Looking for your advice as to which one has the edge on the other. I own XEI now.
My second question is on the Ishares ETF- FIE (Canadian Financial Monthly Income) Yield of 6.49% when I looked. I'm not real happy with the high MER of .80 Would you know of an equivalent ETF with a lower MER that I could research? Cheers and thanks for your expertise and advice. Bill

Q: Retired dividend income investors. We prioritize asset allocation in all of our portfolio decisions. We plan on capturing some income tax savings by selling the remaining shares of my wife's BNS, thereby offsetting other capital gains. I need to replace these funds in the same sector...ie: financials.

She leans more on the conservative side. Combined, we already have a full position in RY and other financials contained within ZLB, CDZ, ZWC, as well as AD.UN.

In the current declining interest rate environment, does HMAX fit the bill? As interest rates decline, what impact will this have on the share price? Should I assume that the capital appreciation will be fairly minimal, while the dividend maintains roughly where it is now?

I appreciate your help...as always.
Steve

Q: With TD,BMO and BNS stock prices levelling off from their decline, could you suggest 2-3 ETF's to invest in for the potential recovery with a 1-2 year hold period?

Thank you

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: In what way will the lowering of interest rates affect insurance companies such as SLF:CA and the Canadian banks?

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: I currently have HCAL in a growth orientated TFSA and I don't think this is a good fit.
Currently, I hold Goog, SHOP, LMN & CLS. Do have a few ideas for a stock that could replace the HCAL ETF?

Q: ZWB or ZEB Which would be the preferred etf to hold in a TFSA account?

Q: Just finished reading the Money Saver's email warning " Avoiding The Yield Trap " on covered call ETF's . Where it mentions ETF's yielding in excess of 10% yet uses a BMO banking covered call as an example . I believe all the Hamilton ETF covered call products yield in that 10% or better area and in the case of the banking ETF ZWB used as an example, HMAX yields 15% which beats ZEB's 10 year return by over 5% . And that doesn't take into account the 50% of the HMAX portfolio that contains the underlying stock which should return 50% of the return on ZEB .....If ZEB over 10 years returns 9.6% then HMAX should return the annual yield of 15% plus 4.8% reflecting the 50% of the portfolio containing the underlying stock .... There will also be a small capital gain/loss reflecting the covered call side of their holdings which I have no idea how to calculate so have ignored .... Please explain how I would be missing out growth in the banking sector using the example the Money Saver used were I to purchase HMAX instead of ZWB ? 15% + 4.8% = 19.8% which doubles ZEB's return ...... Please explain the flaws in my logic. { I suspect they are there I just don't know what they are }

Also could 5i give me a list of all the Hamilton ETF products that operate like HMAX { 50% of the portfolio with the underlying securities } with an explanation of what sector they represent, their current yield in percent , and annual dividend amount { I'd like this number so I can calculate the yield on any given day while I follow them and make my decisions on whether and when to purchase }

Thanks for your great service in helping us DIY investors ......

Q: Could you please give me a Canadian ETF for each of the 11 GICS sectors within the TSX? An ETF that best represents the respective sector would be ideal. Thank you very much.

Q: I recently sold BNS to harvest a capital loss with intention of repurchasing it after 30 days. In the meantime, I purchased ZEB while the 30 period passes. Is ZEB considered a "similar" security and therefore, I am unable to claim this loss?

Q: For a purchase today would you pick ZEB or XLF? Or perhaps you have a preferred alternative in the financial sector?

Q: For a long term hold (15 years) in a RESP, would you prefer ZEB or ZWB and provide reasons why. Also any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Q: I seem to recall one of the "Market Masters" saying the time to load up on Financials is after they have been crushed. I know you don't necessarily like the expression "load up" but if you wanted to increase your Cdn bank exposure are there one or two you think stand out as having the biggest bounce potential from here, or would you forget about trying to be right on one or two securities and just buy the ETF if you believe the whole sector might recover from these levels? Thanks for your thoughts.