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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: I have been retired for 11 years and looking at de-risking a taxable portfolio consisting of HFR and corporate class index funds HXT, HXS, HXQ, HULC, HUC and HEQT. My registered accounts hold mostly corporate strip bonds. What would you suggest in terms of tax efficiency and capital preservation given the challenging investment environment ?
Read Answer Asked by Paul on October 23, 2023
Q: I hold the listed equities/ ETF in my 14 year old grandson's RESP account. Given thee current environment what changes would you make in preparation for the next 4 years? I consider HFR is cash available.

Woule you consider adding some US listings for diversification? Given some current thinking regarding the US dollar would it be wiser to add Cdn listed ETFs of US companies? . What would be the tax implications of adding US listed companies that do not pay a dividend? Any paperwork?

Thanks very much. Take whatever credits are needed.

are there any stocks in the account that you would replace?,

Mike
Read Answer Asked by Michael on June 29, 2023
Q: I am 74, retired with a good pension. 20% of my investment holdings are in laddered GICs, 6% in HFR. Remaining portfolio is in equities. If interest rates are expected to level out over the next year or 2, would you consider moving some fixed income funds into longer term fixed income? Keeping the same ration of fixed to equities.

Thanks very much,

Mike
Read Answer Asked by Michael on March 22, 2023
Q: Portolio Analytics shows that I'm woefully short in fixed income. I am wholly unfamiliar with the category - is it as simple as shopping for the best GIC rate, or are there other, better options I should consider? Please give me some recommendations. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Ben on February 23, 2022
Q: I have used hfr to park cash for several years. With rates about to rise I want to park some additional cash there but wondering if there is/are other short-term note etfs you can recommend for comparison.

Thanks very much.

Mike
Read Answer Asked by Michael on February 17, 2022
Q: Please take as many credits as you need to.

I'm so tired of seeing my fixed income portion of my portfolio trickle away. What would you think about equal allocation to the following?

I'm not so concerned with costs if the holding doesn't degrade, but I still want some yield. Please pick it apart and make suggestions. Thanks!

HORIZONS ACTIVE ULTRA SHORT .HFR

RBC CDN DISC BD ETF .RCDB

KRANESHARES TRUST IVOL

PIMCO MONTHLY INCOME FD CDA .PMIF

PENDER CORPORATE BOND FUND .PGF550

FIDELITY GBL CORE PLUS BD .FCGB

BMO PREM YIELD ETF .ZPAY

PICTON MAHONEY FORTIFIED .PFIA

DYNAMIC PREMIUM .DYN3361

BMO AGGREGATE BOND .ZAG

FIRST ASSET INVESTMENT GRADE .FIG
Read Answer Asked by Gregory on January 26, 2022
Q: I have the following bond ETF's: HFR,VSC, ZAG and XHY. They total 22% of my portfolio. My question is do I move out, reduce or shift into different bond investments. I am 70 and they are split evenly in registered and non registered accounts.
Cheers and thanks for your great work. Bob
Read Answer Asked by robert on January 06, 2022
Q: Hi! I have an ETF portfolio and a portfolio of Canadian and U.S. stocks. I have 10% of my ETF portfolio in Fixed Income given the historically low interest rates. This accounts for about 5% of my overall portfolio which is pretty low. Difficult to add here. I have some XHY and CBO which offset the risks of rising rates somewhat. Should I add to my fixed income portfolio or wait for rates to rise a bit. If I do add, rate reset preferred might be another option or continue adding to CBO and XHY?

Thank you,
Jason
Read Answer Asked by Jason on September 09, 2021
Q: Hello, could you please provide some of your favourite ETF's to fill the fixed income portion of a portfolio?

What about cash?
Read Answer Asked by Lorraine on July 22, 2021
Q: I have a portfolio weighted to US Tech Growth stocks. About a year ago, I sold some companies and moved 10% of my cash into 1) Gold (HEP) 2) Short term bonds (HFR), and 3) a Banking ETF (ZWB) to diversify. These three have proven to be losers for me. Does it make sense to keep any of these three for continued diversification or are there better ways to round out the portfolio with a bit of a safety net? Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Marc on June 22, 2021
Q: Looking for both US and Cdn (GIC replacement) ideas for an 80+ year old, looking for some income, not looking to shoot the lights out. Sitting in cash is tough. 4-6 suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by David on April 28, 2021
Q: Hi,

In my RESP's fixed income/cash allocation, I hold CMR, CBO and HFR.

With a rising rate environment I'm thinking of switching the CBO share into HFR (although the laddered aspect of CBO mitigates problems a bit). And with CMR stopping their distributions, I thought of switching out of that too. Does this logic make sense or would you prefer having both CBO and HFR for diversification purposes? Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Steven on April 09, 2021
Q: Further to my earlier question about ZST and HFR, I don't think you have addressed the issue. The l0yr average total return for HFR is practically 25% more than for that for ZST. (as per your references). They are both ultra-short bond funds but their behaviour is vastly different. Why?
Read Answer Asked by richard on March 10, 2021
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