Investment Q&A

Q: In a question asked Jan 2025 whether it was a good time to buy CVD, you answered "Yes, with rates heading lower and corporate earnings moving higher, convertibles we think look good today". In a more recent post on your Income model portfolio, you speak of selling the CVD to buy equities you said "We liked the CVD ETF during the high interest rate environment from 2022 and on, but without factoring in its high yield, its unit price is mostly in a downtrend. While we feel we caught most of the upswing in unit price over the past couple of years, we are preferring to add to individual stocks at this point in time." So for someone who's not looking to raise cash, and likes the dividend is it just as well to keep it or are you suggesting time to take profits, and move to something else? What would you suggest?
Thanks!

Q: I,m 81 so far i managed. pretty well thanks to your Income portfolio, I'm not a fat cat and rely on the income provided.The market tells me to be cautious the stocks I mention constitute 9% of my accounts,I'm willing to increase this percentage as protection to my income I don't expect obvious capital gain,How do you judge the approach,any suggested addition?

Thanks to the Team

Dan

Q: Hi 5i,

Currently have a large portion of my investments in equities and I am looking to invest in Bonds for the sake of diversification.

Could you provide your best ideas for Bond ETFs or any similar investment products that I should consider? This is for non-registered account.

Thank you.

Greg C.

Q: I have owned CVD for a while and while it has shown decent results, I am in the unfortunate position of being unsure why I bought it! If I understand the product, a series of bonds (duration unknown to me) would rise faster than a similar bond fund without the conversion features if equity markets rose. I, therefore, assume that in declining equity markets, the fund would decrease less than the underlying equities because the bond provides a "floor" to some extent.

When the conversion price is reached does the fund buy the equity and keep it or does it sell it on the market and use the proceeds to buy more bonds?

If my understanding is correct would you not be better off buying pure equities if you expect the markets to rise and a pure bond bond if you think markets are going to decline? So I am left with the question: "What is the value proposition of a convertible bond fund?"

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: Hi, would this be a good time to be buying convertable bonds or the ETF equivalents.
thanks. James.

Q: Good afternoon - the recent runup in equities has me looking to re-balance and add more bond exposure. I currently have positions in XLB, XBB and HYG. Can you suggest bond positions ( likely ETF's) in Canada and the US, please? Just add to the existing Canadian positions? What about HYG? Time to move?

Many thanks

al

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: 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.

Q: I’m looking to diversify the fixed income portion of my portfolio. I don’t have any bonds/treasuries so was looking at TLT and XLB. Can I get your thoughts on these and others you could recommend?

Q: 2 questions:
In a taxable account what would you suggest to play the role of Bonds if any? I need to beef up my bonds allocation and need to keep cash and cash equivalent in my taxable account where I have new funds.

For a young retiree with a comfortable portfolio what percentage would you allocate to cash and bonds? Volatility is not a problem for me with a long term view.

Thank you
Yves

Q: I have these bond funds: PGF510, CVC, ZAG, XLB, along with mostly GIC's in my fixed income side of portfolio. Do these Bond funds pay interest the same as the GIC's or do they pay Dividends so I would get the Dividend Tax credit? All are in my margin account. Would any of these be worth adding to now that they have gone up somewhat? Thanks so much!

Q: I have these ETF's in my portfolio, although they are a small percentage. I am wanting to do a clean up of most of my partial holdings in individual stocks and purchase more ETF's. I was going to add VIG as well. Could any of these ETF's be replaced with better ones or not bother with them, and what others do you suggest to compliment them for an income investor who wants to see a little growth as well in a well diverse portfolio? Thanks.

Q: I have the fixed portion of my portfolio equally distributed across these two ETF's. The yield from CVD is much better currently at 5.33%, and ZMP is currently 3.05%. Any risk I'm not seeing if I only own CVD and get the higher yield?

Q: Hi Peter & team

My son is about to graduate and will be starting his first job shortly thereafter. He is going to have approx $100,000 to invest and he asked for my help. I am recommending he start a portfolio which includes HPS.A, GDI, TVK, GSY, BNS, EQB, SIS, ATS, KXS, TOI, ATZ, DOO, ENB, BTE, LMN. I am also going to suggest 10% be placed in CASH as a rainy day/opportunity fund he can add to. Is there anything else you would have me add? Is there any of these you would have me remove? And if 10% was focused into fixed Income, what would you recommend? Please deduct appropriate number of questions.

Thanks for all you do

gm

Q: If you wanted to replace CVD in a portfolio that resembles the income portfolio, would you reinvest in the other current securities or would you replace it with another security? Secondly, what would would you consider replacing it with that would give you better tax treatment, for one who is relying on the portfolio almost entirely for retirement income?

Q: It certainly feels as though we are seeing the beginning of a new bond bull after the roughest two years since the 1980s-early 1990s.
Please provide you opinion on the above, as well an any other bond etfs that you follow.
Can you please provide you opinion regarding a bull market..
Thanks in advance
Rick

Q: hi. assuming rates stay the same, or begin to fall next year, do you like these ETF's? are they still your top picks for pref.s and bond ETF's in Canada? cheers, Chris

Q: I am a retired income investor and I purchased this ETF several months ago for income and some potential growth. It is in a registered account. The payment is reasonable but I now realize that I don't fully understand how this will react to interest rate swings compared to either short or long-term bonds. Should I expect it to have a higher beta than longer-term or shorter-term bonds? Would it usually react fairly quickly to anticipated interest rates move or because there is an equity component does the state of the economy (aside from rates) impact its value, resulting in slower swings? Would you consider it riskier or "safer" than "straightforward" bonds?

Appreciate the insight.

Paul F.