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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: Good afternoon, Please recommend your 3 favourite international equity ETFs (without US holdings) and your 3 favourite US market ETFs. I already own QQQ which represents approx. 10% of my RRSP (in US dollars). Further, what are your thoughts on investing in the US market in US dollars (converted using Norbert Gambit) vs. Cnd. dollars? Is there an approach which has generated better results? Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by bernie on June 07, 2024
Q: Hi,

Is there a way for me to buy US and/or Global small cap stocks in Canadian dollars? Your answers from the archives suggest XCS which deals only with Canadian small caps. Any ETF or Mutual Fund in CAD for the US/Global Small caps? What is your favourite Mutual Fund? I know you don't like their high MERs. Neither do I. :) Many thanks.

P.S. I searched in ETF and MF Newsletter to no avail. Still no easy search function ;) Long over due folks.
Read Answer Asked by Savalai on June 03, 2024
Q: 3 short questions:
(1)XSU:CA is the TSX listed hedged version of IWM:US. Is there an unhedged version of IWM:US on the TSX?
(2) Is there a listing on the TSX for IWN:US; either hedged or unhedged?
(3) XSMC:CA (100% IJR:US) has net assets of only $35M compared to net assets of $544M for XSU:CA (100% IWM). Can I conclude from this that IWM is the more popular US small cap ETF in Canada? 5i research has suggest the IJR holds larger, possibly more stable US small caps compared to IWM.
Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Grant on February 26, 2024
Q: Is there an Canadian ETF that is like IWO and IJR?

Thanks
Read Answer Asked on January 02, 2024
Q: https://www.rbadvisors.com/insights/4-for-24-year-ahead-outlook/

RB advisers recommend the following 4 themes for 2024 and as a value investor I am looking for ETF recommendations:
(1) US small caps: I am using XSU (100% IWM)
(2) US cyclicals: I found IYC but P/E is 27! Recommendation?
(3) Non-US and emerging markets: I have been using XEF and ZEM. I like XEM (100% EEM) because it posts a P/E each day.
(4) Theme 4 is "Industrials: deglobalization spurs infrastructure". No idea what ETFs to use here.
Thanks for your recommendations/comments!!!
Read Answer Asked by Grant on December 21, 2023
Q: I am looking for a US small cap ETF that is hedged to the CAD. I have been looking at XSU. Fundata in the globe and mail indicates that it follows the Dow Jones US small cap RT index but has been doing worse the this index. My questions are:
1) Do all small caps follow the Dow Jones US small cap RT index?
2) what is your impression of XSU?
3) is there another US small cap ETF that you would recommend?
thanks
Read Answer Asked by Mary on December 18, 2023
Q: Yesterday, in an answer to a question about a small cap ETFs, you referred to XSU. That appears to be Canadian hedged but has a double layer of holdings by way of holding a share in a US fund, making it less efficient tax wise. Are there any other funds trading in Canada that are hedged but own the holdings directly? If so, can you pls indicate if you see them as a suitable place to invest. Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Leonard on July 27, 2023
Q: I listed in descending order securities that under performed since their 2022 highs. Please rank the securities in order of the best chance to recover their losses when we get back to the risk on mode. Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Richard on July 25, 2023
Q: If I understand what I have been reading in your comments is that small caps in general are down but have good potential if the economy gets back on track. What would be your favourite Canadian traded ETF to capture a small-cap rebound in Canada and your favourite that trades in the US?
Read Answer Asked by David on July 24, 2023
Q: Hello, I asked a question, not long ago, on XSU. Thank you for your answer. Now, I would like you to compare it to XSMC. I know it is way smaller, but the returns have been much better the past 2 and 3 years, 15 to 20% better (I know they don’t follow the same index). This order of magnitude is still surprising to me, unless much of it is a function of the exchange rate fluctuation. I know it is difficult to evaluate, but is this outperformance likely to continue? Is the small size of this ETF a dealbreaker? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Martin on June 12, 2023
Q: Wondering if you still feel like the small-capitalization U.S. stocks are showing value going forward? Even with the YTD 9.59 return?
Wondering if you know of a ETF similar to XSU.CA that's tilted towards GROWTH, can be unhedged.

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Shawn on March 09, 2023
Q: This fund which was a great fund years ago will shortly be converted into a lower MER fund which I appreciate. However, this got me to look closer at recent performance which I don't think has been very good. I am considering switching it to something else. Can you recommend an ETF or another fund that would be a good replacement. We don't have a lot of foreign exposure other than this fund and a Mawer fund (MAW102) but we are otherwise very diversified in individual stocks.
Read Answer Asked by Earl on March 30, 2022
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