Investment Q&A

Q: Is there any advantage of buying US bonds like AGG over XBB? I notice the MER of 0.03% is a bit cheaper.

Thanks

Q: Hello, last question on bond ETFs: for diversification purposes, having in my RSP individual canadian bonds, it might be interesting to invest in VGAB or VBU for additional money in fixed income products. For a long term investment, which ETF is preferable for the next few years: VGAB or VBU (given the interest rate context, etc.)? Thanks.

Q: I currently own HXY in my RRIF account and have been in a lost position for quite some time. It is a 8% holding in my RRIF. If I decide to sell what would you replace this ETF with?

Q: Hello, I plan to rebalance my portfolio in the new year, increasing my bond component in my reg accounts. I already have Canadian individual bonds in my RSP, so I was looking at VGAB for diversification, but when I compare it to XBB, it underperformed XBB for every period in the last 5 years. What do you think of VGAB and should I just keep it simple and use XBB instead? Thanks

Q: Hello, regarding HBB, is its performance over the years comparable to XBB, for example? Would you recommend HBB for a taxable account? Thanks.

Q: Good afternoon 5i staff
Just a brief addendum to my previous question regarding short or long term bond etf’s are best for today. Many say that Canada’s inflation rate is already rising and that Trump’s policies will push inflation. What I was interested in is why you don’t believe the narrative that we will be facing an inflationary environment.
Thanks

Q: Good afternoon 5i staff
To a question concerning the possibility of inflation and David Rosenberg’s reaction to that, you said:

For Canada, we like XSB, and for the US we like SHY.

I hope I am not quoting you out of context here. But, I was wondering whether you were saying that ´supposing ‘ an inflationary environment, we would choose these. Or, whether you meant that we would be facing an inflationary environment and these would be the best choice. In other words, in your opinion, which would be the best choice for today for a permanent allotment to bond funds, short term or longer, such as xsb and agg.?
Thanks

Q: Given the expected economic/market conditions over the next 5+ year horizon, if you were to look into your crystal ball, would XBB be a good solid bond fund to hold for one’s safer investments ?

Q: I have recently read that actively managed bond funds or etfs, unlike equities or the same, have a better outperformance history. Can you please comment on this? Would you recommend buying into any and if so could you recommend some?
Also do you think there is more room to run from dropping rates?
Those referenced here are general passive funds.
Thanks

Peter

Q: Building the bond part of my investments. What proportion would you allocate to each of the four indicated. 2-What is the difference between XSB and XBB? 3- Do you consider OK to allocate some XHY as a bond equivalent?

Thanks for your great service.

Yves

Q: As a follow-up to my previous question, why would higher inflation / interest rates in the USA cause the price to go down of XBB shares which hold 100% Canadian government, provincial, and corporate bonds?

Q: Why is XBB dropping in price over the last few days? I thought bond prices would rise with the prospect of lower interest rates.

Q: Why is the price of XBB going down now, since interest rates have come down?

Q: These are some of the bond ETFs you have previously suggested. You have recently noted that, while interest rates are dropping and long-term bonds should ultimately provide the most torque in this scenario, shorter-duration bonds should not be forgotten. Does this suggest that a 50/50 split between longer and shorter duration is best, or would you suggest some kind of uneven split for a retired-income investor looking for stability and reasonable growth? As a general strategy, would you also include some portion be allotted to convertible bonds?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: If you were going to build my bond portion (40% +/-) portion of my portfolio using ETFs, how would you build that? Is there one ETF that provides a broad mix of corporate / municipal / provincial / federal, a broad laddering of periods, a mix of risk, a mix of regions, etc? Or would you build it using multiple ETFs that specialize in specific products?

Q: With the lowering of interest rates, what bond funds to invest in? Bond ETF’s?

Q: Greetings,
I have put some cash into HSAV but feel there is not much return coming. As being very conservative is there a better place for better returns to pack some cash?

Thank you,
John

Q: Could you recommend 2-3 fixed income ideas for both in a registered and non-registered situation.

Q: Hi,
I'm looking for your sage opinion on how to deploy cash at this point in time. I have enough cash for 5 years of expenses and I'm in my 2nd year of retirement. The rest of my nest egg is in equities, real estate and bullion.

I have been thinking of just putting this cash into a five year GIC ladder and call it a day. But.... rates are already falling on GICs as we speak, likely in anticipation of further Bank of Canada and soon US Fed cuts.

Have you other options for me to consider for how to deploy this cash to 1) ensure a high probability of being able to meet expenses without selling equities in the event of a market downturn, while 2) ensuring a reasonably decent return from this cash over such a long period.

Specifically, does it make sense to accept around 4% as a guaranteed average rate or is there a solid case to make for dividend payers instead of GICs. Open to other and all suggestions.

Thanks for your invaluable service.
Michael

Q: Good afternoon, I am realigning my RRSP account using geographic and asset type recommendations. The asset allocator recommends that 15% of my portfolio be in fixed income. Can you please recommend a few fixed-income ETFs? Also, should fixed-income holdings be mostly domestic or include international as well? Lastly, would you consider CASH.CA part of the fixed-income component of a portfolio or simply a place to keep cash until it is directed into another asset? Thank you in advance.