Investment Q&A

Q: What ETF would you buy to be long the market in this volatile environment (moderate risk - some income if possible)? If you can suggest 3 with a brief comment that would be great. Thank you.

Q: Could you please provide your top 5 Canadian ETFS and top 3 dividend Canadian ETFs.  Rank the ETFs as well

Q: I sold my individual dividend stocks and am replacing them with an ETF for simplicity. How would you rate/compare these dividendETFS? Which two do you prefer? I'll put 1 in my rrsp and a another in my TFSA. I am diversified in other countries already. I'm thinking XDIV and XEI might be the safest?

Q: I would like to create a portfolio (10 years and more) for a non-profit organization. The return objective is 5% or more. The amount to be invested is $40,000. Is it possible to achieve this objective with ETFs? Which ETFs should I buy for this account?
Or should I pick a few names from your Balance Equity portfolio?
THANKS

Q: Would appreciate your ETF suggestions for a non-registered account that provides some growth and reasonable (3% + ?) dividends that qualify for the Canadian Dividend Tax Credit. This is new money going into an existing account that has no capital losses available (yet!). Current holdings are BAM, ENB, EIF, ZUT, VDY . Have other registered accounts with diverse equities. Looking for something that is not too volatile & would like to keep the number of total holdings at no more than 7. Could increase or replace ZUT &/or VDY if recommended. The ETF landscape is very challenging to wade through !

Q: Can you name a handful of ETF options for long term holds in my son's RESP account. Growth, dividend, and balanced. Looking for exposure in Canada and USA. I don't want the headache of managing stocks for this portfolio. I'd rather have something that I can just buy and not look at it for 15 years until he needs it.

Q: It is rare that I ask this question coming from an 84 year old senior, but all the above equal weighted ETF's are presently in my TFSA and can't decide how to invest for the 2025 contribution. Which ETF I should I be adding to the above list or should I be adding a new one that is not in the portfolio?
Also are any of those listed that do not belong in a TFSA?
Thanks for your usual great service.

Q: Hello Peter,
I tried to balance growth and income as well as dividends (no with holding tax in RRSP for US stocks but there is in TFSA), and hence, can you let me know if these make sense for a mid 20s person starting off to have a more growth in TFSA and more income in RRSP.
TFSA: veqt, vgg, and xfn and maybe xic ( veqt has cdn exposure so thought i would exclude xic )
RRSP: vbal, zuq, xic, and xuu all of these trade on tsx. Much appreciated.

Q: Hi 5i!

A question for a friend looking for a new investment instead of csav and cash as interest rates are reduced.

He already have XQQ and ZSP.

1. He is looking for an etf of canadian dividends stocks, do you have a suggestion?

2. What would you propose now for lower risk tolerence?

Q: Most of my TFSA is in Canadian stocks (plus some US CDRs GOOGL, MSFT, AMZN). Now I'm thinking of adding 2 ETFs to my unregistered account. So far, my first choice is VFV, because I know you like it. But you mentioned another one that broadens out from the S&P 500. Not sure about that one: thoughts? But I want one more, particularly with dividend and some growth. If there is a USA one that, like VFV, trades in Canada TSX but pays dividends in US dollars, that might work nicely. Alternatively, maybe a Canadian one that is not too focused on Financials and Energy, one with which I could get dividend tax credit, may work. Between dividend and growth, I would lean toward growth and sacrifice some dividend. Between Canada and USA, I'd like USA, but only if I can buy on TSX. I'd like to stick to just two, but maybe three would work best? What say you? Thank you, yet again, for such a fabulous service.

Q: Retired (70 yrs old), dividend-income investor. Been meaning to ask this question for a long time. We run a concentrated portfolio of roughly 10 ETFs and 10 stocks, plus fixed income on top. Our pro-rated MER for the equity ETFs is 0.64 and for the entire portfolio is 0.38.

I use the ETFs above that are sector ETFs (like HHL, NNRG, XIT) as my proxy for the sector and am ok with the trade off of paying fees for a sector ETF instead of having lots of stocks.

I then add my individual stock selections to achieve my targeted Asset Allocation for the entire portfolio (like AD, BCE, FTS, GSY, RY, NWC, PBH, TRP, WSP, etc). I weight each of these relative to my risk tolerance.

Does this make sense to you? Does my "sector ETF" make sense, especially with a potentially large weighting in one ETF. Virtually all of my ETFs are capped at around 7% of the equity portfolio and the stocks are capped at 5% max.

Your thoughts on my strategy and on my MER....thanks...Steve

Q: I am nearing retirement and planning to rebalance my taxable portfolio towards Canadian dividend stocks and ETFs, so that I can live off CPP and eligible dividends in retirement. What are your favorite Canadian ETFs where all distributions are treated as eligible dividends? You recommended CDZ many times, is it still your favorite?

Q: Which one do you prefer? Thanks.

Q: Up to this point I have been a growth investor. Recently retired, I am converting some RRSP into a RIF and want to lower the risk profile. I am 60 y/o.

Kindly advise some ETFs that you would recommend in Canada or US.

Thanks a lot,

Q: Please recommend a Canadian low volatility dividend etf
I am primarily interested in income with possibility of some growth
5-10 year horizon
Many thanks

Q: Interested in dividend etfs and looking at these 3
How can I find information on the general holdings of each? For example is weighting mostly financials ? utilities ? etc. Mo point in buying 2 with similar weightings!
Is there a sight that discloses holdings in each or at least general weightings.
Do you have a favorite among these 3 or another to recommend. Goal us income with some growth but primarily income 5 year horizon
Many thanks for great service
Peter

Q: Could you please suggest 2 or 3 dividend ETFs that I could look at to increase the amount of dividends in my account.

Thank you
Paula

Q: Can you recommend a list of safe dividend income ETFs with high steady monthly distributions? Thanks.

Q: Can you pls recommend 3 Cdn ETFs that focus on high dividend stocks, with an estimated 10% yield including both dividend and capital appreciation for over the next 1 year?

Q: My niece is looking to enter the DIY investing world and move her TFSA over to an online self-directed account. Her advisor has her in these high fee accounts above. These look like funds for a retired person looking for income rather than for a 29 year looking to grow a TFSA with the goal to hopefully get a down payment for a condo some day. Could you please give some advice for a beginner investor, ETF's some Canadian and US equities to get her started. She's a bit nervous as all ne DIY investors are. Thank you