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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: Hi 5i Team:
A couple of thanks first before getting to my question.
1. Thanks for the fantastic job you did on my portfolio review and the suggested transactions.
2. Thanks for your opinion and feedback on annuities.
I have some money to add to my fixed income. Are you still liking CLF for government bonds and CBO for investment grade corporate bonds. Time horizon is very long term. Or do you have some other suggestions.
Thanks so much.
Read Answer Asked by Dennis on June 21, 2017
Q: VSB looks to include both government and corporate bonds. Is owning VSB the equivalent to owning CBO and CLF? Looking to reduce number of holdings and the MER on VSB is attractive. Is there something similar that includes corporate and govt short term bonds that you like better? Thank you for all that you do!
Read Answer Asked by Pamela on June 13, 2017
Q: Dear 5i
Can you confirm the following yields and MER`s for the following Bond ETF`s;
CLF yield 3.04% & MER .17%
CBO yield 2.91% & MER .28%
CPD yield 4.54% & MER .51%
XHY yield 5.47% & MER .67%
Thanks
Bill C.
Read Answer Asked by Bill on June 01, 2017
Q: I am looking for an ETF to replace my maturing corporate bonds as part of my fixed income portfolio. I am thinking of buying HAB. I also currently own HFR which I bought last year. Any thoughts on HAB or do you you suggest something else to provide reasonably stable returns.
Read Answer Asked by David on May 11, 2017
Q: My average annual return based on 5i guidance is 13.3% over 8 years. Can't argue with that. Thank you.

Question: XWD, for example, is a global ETF which invests in 5000 companies around the planet, which has returned a very steady (almost a straight line) 13.09% since inception.

So why not sell my 40 stocks and simply buy a combination of:
- XWD (growth)
- CBO (fixed income + security)
- XGD (security)
and call it a day? This would have returned say 11% - 12%.
Pretty close...

Maybe this should be addressed on your ETF site, but I thought it was worth asking here.

As usual, thank you for your sound advice.
Read Answer Asked by J Carl on May 01, 2017
Q: Hi team,
Just a point of confusion: TD Direct Investing treats CBO, XHY and the like as equities, while in your Portfolio Review these are treated as fixed income. Does this matter as long as one is consistent in their assignation of the sector / allocation? I think it does matter as it changes the perspective of the portfolio as a whole. I would like your opinion.
Thank you
Stanley Cohen

Read Answer Asked by STANLEY on April 13, 2017
Q: I am interested in beefing up the fixed income portion of my portfolio. My adviser recommends PMO005. I see a MER of 1.39%. What do you think of this mutual fund? Are there similar ETF's at a lower MER. I know you don't usually like Mutual funds but your commentary in the questions and answers seems good on Pimco. Should I diversify fixed income into several bond funds? If so could recommend a few of your favourites please. Thank you for your great service.
Read Answer Asked by Brian on January 20, 2017
Q: Hello 5i
I have been using Preferred shares as fixed income strategy but would like to ask for your recommendation on traditional bond ETF and a Mutual Fund. (volatility dampening and downside risk protection)
Can you comment on return expectation and whether one should just stay in cash instead of select a bond investment?

Is there another strategy or investment that may be a consideration for inclusion in a well diversified equity portfolio to accommodate volatility dampening like Government bonds are suppose to do(but do not like 0 or negative return)?

Thanks
Dave
Read Answer Asked by David on January 09, 2017