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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: BMO ETF ZWH is seriously underperforming YTD, in a strong US market. According to BMO website it is negative YTD whereas ZWA is up over 7% in the same timeframe. Is there some reason for this ? Longer term ZWH outperforms ZWA. Thanks for your insight.

Ted
Read Answer Asked by Ted on July 24, 2017
Q: My daughter has these 4 ETFs in equal weighting in her TFSA. Do you think she needs more diversification? Would you add something else with future contributions or just add to her positions when opportunity arises? Thanks for providing your great service.
Read Answer Asked by Rudy on July 06, 2017
Q: In order to avoid individual stock risk, my wife (retired) has asked my opinion on investing 30% of her total portfolio in 10% each of Canada, Europe, and the U.S. (The remaining 70% is composed of 5-year laddered GIC's) I have suggested the following... Canada would be broken down into ZWC and CDZ (on a 40/60 split), Europe would be broadly broken down into ZWE and XIN (40/60 split), and the U.S. would be broken down into ZWH and CUD (40/60 split). What do you think of this strategy? Would you recommend different ETF's to balance the covered calls for the three geographic areas? Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Paul W on June 02, 2017
Q: I want to build a somewhat buy and hold portfolio that has a decent dividend. What are your thoughts on ZPW, ZWH, ZWC and what percentage would you give to each? Another possible portfolio would be MKC and MUS.
Your thoughts - thanks
Read Answer Asked by Luca on March 27, 2017
Q: 5i

What is a covered call and what is the risk level in a covered call ETF in both a rising market and a falling market. Looking at ZWH and ZWU as my utilities segment is low as is my USA segment of my portfolio. Yield on both is good and I am looking more for income with a little growth.

Wayne
Read Answer Asked by Wayne on March 22, 2017
Q: Hello Team 5i, I'm scared about a possible Trump Dump, not knowing what he will say/do next.....so staying away from Single Stocks, but do not want to stay out of Market. Hence looking at ETFs, and would appreciate your Ranking of these.
Read Answer Asked by Austin on March 16, 2017
Q: Hi,
I have these 4 in my RRSP and have about $26,000 in cash to invest there. What would you suggest for this money and would you suggest changing of any my current holdings. Looking at a 5 year hold. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Alan on February 24, 2017
Q: I currently hold ZWE, ZWU, and ZWH in my RRSP for a total weight of 4.8% .
Is this unnecessary duplication and / or is the weighting too high given
the nature of these products ? Joe
Read Answer Asked by Joseph on February 10, 2017
Q: Hello 5i team. I'm new here.
With volatility perhaps increasing soon, but not wanting to be entirely out of the market for next 100 days, which U.S etf, would you recommend, ZPW(put write), ZWH(covered call), ZLU(low volatility)or other ?
Read Answer Asked by Bernie on January 24, 2017
Q: WANTED TO BUY THESE ETF'S NOW. DO YOU THINK THEY ARE GOOD TO BUY
NOw? WOULD YOU RECOMMEND JUST GOOD COMPANIES INSTEAD.
THANKYOU.
PAULINE
Read Answer Asked by Pauline on January 19, 2017
Q: We I currently own vfv in my husbands Rrsp account and have done quite well. Since he has now retired we are slowly repositioning his portfolio from income / growth to more income with safety we are thinking of selling vfv and purchasing a covered call etf that would still provide exposure to the us market. Do you think this is a wise decision,and if so what do you think of the Bmo Zwh? And which one would you purchase at this time-ZWH or ZWH.u? Are there other consideration we should be thinking about? Thank you
Maggie
Read Answer Asked by Maggie on January 18, 2017
Q: Hi 5i team,
My US portfolio is currently about 9% and consists of GOOG, FB, SBUX, GE, MCD, PM & DEO. I want to buy ETFs to bring the % up to around 20%. In a recent newspaper article about the high valuation of US stocks and possible volatility, the author recommended ZWH and ZPW instead of buying broad base market ETF.
What are your opinions of these two ETFs? Would they be useful tool to reduce risk while still participate in the US stock market if it goes up and also earn some dividends? Which one of the two is more effective or they should be employed as a pair? Many thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Willie on January 06, 2017
Q: Peter and Team, I want to choose some ETFs for my mother in-laws RRIF and LIF. My approach is to be well diversified, looking for some dividend and a little growth to achieve btwn 5 to 10% annually. I plan to select Equal weights using ZLB,ZWB, ZDV FOR Canadian content and ZLH, ZWH, ZHY, and ZGI FOR US Content. Your opinion and any pitfalls or suggestions would be apprecuated.
Thanks, Steve.
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on December 01, 2016
Q: Hello Peter, Ryan & 5i Team

I'm looking to bulk up my US exposure, specifically US$ income rather than growth names. Would you favour ETFs or a small set of individual companies for this purpose (any suggestions of either? Thank you)

As always, thank you for your insights and wisdom.
Read Answer Asked by mike on August 08, 2016
Q: I currently hold BPY (up 50% over cost) and H&R in my portfolio 4% and 3% respectively.
I am considering swapping BPY for BEP for the additional income. Your thoughts?

I also plan to crystallize my capital losses and purchase the following ETFs:
Non registered:
ZPW – US Put Write
ZWE – Europe Covered Call hedged to CAD.
ZWH – US covered call
CPD – CAD preferred
XRE – Capped REIT

Registered (RRIF):
PGX:US – Preferred.

Each would constitute 2% - 3% of my portfolio. Diversification is my intention, but risk and surety of income is the primary consideration in all of the above noted.

Again, your thoughts.

Thank you for considering my questions

Gail
Read Answer Asked by Gail on August 02, 2016
Q: BMO US Put Write(ZPW)
BMO Europe High Dividend Covered Call Hedged to CAD(ZWE)
PowerShares Preferred Portfolio(PGX:US)
BMO Laddered Preferred Share Index(ZPR)
BMO US High Dividend Covered Call(ZWH)
BMO Equal Weight REITs Index(ZRE)
iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Preferred Share Index(CPD)
iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index(XRE)
BMO Covered Call Dow Jones Industrial Average Hedged CAD(ZWA)
iShares Convertible Bond Index(CVD)
BMO Canadian Dividend(ZDV)
Above are ranked as to yield - high to low. Can you rank as to risk - high to low?
Thank you for considering my question
G. Reynolds
Read Answer Asked by Gail on July 18, 2016
Q: ZWB, ZWU, ZWH, CPD & ZWE...just looking for a simple ETF portfolio. What do you think of a 20% allocation in each of these names for a decent return with low to medium risk. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Curtis on July 13, 2016
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