Investment Q&A

Q: Hi,
I have 10k that was invested with my banks GICs .. now looking for something different , any suggestions where I can put the funds for 2-3 years . .. safe money with a reasonable return ..
Thanks.

Q: Several years ago your team helped me build out my sons (2) RESP accounts. The stocks have all done well growing approx 55%. THANK YOU! My oldest is finishing year one of university and my youngest will start in 2.5 years. It’s a conservative portfolio of stocks with 30% in interest bearing instruments. I have enough now for both of them so (my) common sense says move all to capital preservation - interest only vehicles. Do you agree and if so, can you recommend anything I can lock into for 2 ish years?

Q: Hi Guys

Really appreciate your opinion. Given interest rates at near zero, where do would you invest the fixed income part of your portfolio?

Thanks

Q: For my USD TFSA, could you please recommend a US ETF short term bond equivalent?

Thank you.

Q: Hello 5i,
I have $21,000 in XSB and the same in XLB. Should I sell these and just get ZAG or does it really matter and stay as is?

Q: Could you suggest 3 ETFs for the fixed income component of a portfolio of recently retired individual.
Thanks

Q: I'm re-balancing my RESP account. Can you recommend a bond ETF for a 4 year holding period. My thought was XBB.

Thanks,

Joe

Q: First a big thank you for the terrific returns we received in 2020 thanks to your stellar guidance (our largest holdings we first discovered through 5i -hello LSPD,XBC and WELL!). We gifted our kids memberships in December and praise your service to everyone. This is truly an invaluable service.
Now to the question, my brother is tired of paying high fees for his CIBC pension holdings. When I looked into this for him last year, some pools had MER in the 2% range! He’s moved the following into cash and is looking for lower fee/higher return alternatives in the following areas of his pension account:
-Imperial Canadian Dividend Income Pool
-Imperial Canadian Equity High Income Pool
-Imperial US Equity Pool
-Imperial International Equity Pool
-Imperial Short Term Bond Pool
-Imperial Long Term Bond Pool
Please charge as many questions as required.

Q: What Canadian bond fund would you suggest if as the fed states they are not even thinking about raising rates for two years? What bond fund would you suggest when rates do start to increase? If I bought XBB , which bond fund would best act like a hedge to it? The idea is to collect a small yield and preserve capital.

Q: For the fixed income portion of the portfolio, do you have any recommendations / suggestions (ETF, private fund, mutual fund, specific bonds). Realistically, hoping for a return between 3 and 6%. I am ok to take some risk. Looking for a decent risk/reward investment. Long term hold.

Q: 3 grand children and 2 family RESP's. Ages 17 &12 in one RESP and 14 in the other. At present both RESP's invested in VBAL and I am concerned about the higher bond duration vs XSB. Therefore to keep this as simple as possible I am thinking of selling VBAL and putting the entire RESP's into XSB. I would then average into Veqt by reducing the XSB positions. I am still making annual contributions and am ok with the 2% XSB yield. Please give me your comments. Thanks guys.

Q: Happy New Year 5i team - I was reading about the iShares Global Green Bond ETF (BGRN on Nasdaq) in today's Globe. I would appreciate your thoughts on this fixed income fund. I have avoided bonds in my portfolio and have opted to hold cash in a high interest savings account for flexibility. I'm retired and am wondering whether this may be a good and relatively safe way to hold one to two years of living expenses, while at the same time generating some income. Thanks for all your good advice over the past several years.

Q: My 89 year old Mother-in-law has a couple hundred K, half in TFSA and half non registered. She is not in need of use of this money for regular everyday expenses. We are looking for recommendations of an investment in stocks or ETF's that would pay better than any financial institution will offer. Understanding low to medium risk.
Greatly appreciated as always.

Regards,

Q: To whom it may concern ,
I have some GIC’s maturing but interest rates are so low that it is hardly worth rolling them over. I am looking for some alternatives with high security and better Yield. I am thinking perhaps some bank stocks or Vanguard products and would appreciate your opinion or any other advice you may have.
Thank you for your valuable advice..
Ernie Trosch

Q: 5i, thank you again for all the great advice! I saw someone asking a question about these bond / high interest ETFs earlier today. Do you have other suggestions for bond / high interest ETFs? I have a longer investment horizon, but currently are 40% equity and 60% cash. I want to put some of this cash to work in a relatively safer manner.

Q: For a balanced portfolio with the next 3-5 years in mind, what are your suggested weightings in preferreds, utilities and high yield bonds. Given low interest rates preferreds in particular seem like a place investors will go to seek higher yields with some opportunity for growth.

Q: What are the best bond etfs to own in Canada and US in your opinion? Please provide several options in both countries. Thank You.

Q: I have been following 5i advice for a few years now and it has served me well. Thanks! However, this is the first time I have had a question that I haven't seen an answer too in the forum; I some capital that I need to invest shorter term 1 - 1.5 years. Everything fixed pays next to nothing, so where should I be looking at this time? Bank stocks with a safe dividend? Other high dividend slow growth companies? If so, which would you recommend? Thanks, Dan

Q: Hi Folks,

I know your main focus is stocks, but if you have some cash to invest and you don't want it it equities, would you prefer XBB or XSB right now? Or is there another bond fund alternative I should look at for $CDN. This if for a long term hold.

Thank you. Michael

Thank you.

Q: Good morning 5i. I am considering "parking" about 10% of my portfolio in "cash equivalents". Are CVD and CPD your preferences in this case as I see they pay out roughly 5% which seems a reasonable risk/reward scenario? Are there other options or recommendations that you might consider? Thank you in advance.