Investment Q&A

Q: Good afternoon. Buy and hold investor. Currently hold 20% XUU, 15% VIU, 5% VEE in portfolio as my non-Canadian equity holdings. What would the pros and cons be of selling them and putting it all in to XAW, and would you recommend such a move? I only re-balance once a year as it is. Thanks for your reply.

Q: HI, I just recently made the switch from mutual funds to ETF’s and a DIY strategy and am looking to lock down 4 low cost ETF’s that I will invest in for the long term (30 + years) and leaning more toward the aggressive side for these. I am looking to take advantage of some dollar cost averaging to enter the ETF market for some broad market index ETF’s in my TFSA and was looking for you opinion of some that I am trying to choose between.
Canadian Market – I am trying to choose between XIC, VCN & ZCN. They all have significant overlap and same MER so I don’t see a whole lot of difference between the three, although I am leaning towards XIU, thoughts on which one you would choose for your portfolio?
US Market – I am trying to decide between VUN & VFV. The VFV has lower MER than VUN and has outperformed VUN as of late. Smaller and mid-cap companies historically had higher volatility than the large-cap companies found in the S&P 500, and so the trade-off is potentially higher growth, for potentially more volatility if you go with a total market index like what is found in VUN. The S&P 500 has outperformed the total market index as of late so I guess the question is will this continue, I am leaning towards VFV, thoughts on which one you would choose for your portfolio?
International Developed – I am trying to decide between XEF & VIU, both have similar MER, thoughts on which one you would choose for your portfolio?
Emerging Markets – I am trying to decide between XEC & VEE for a small percentage of my portfolio, thoughts on which one you would choose for your portfolio?
These are some ETFs’ I have come across from doing build wealth Canada course and reading other materials and listening to podcasts that seem to fit my long-term outlook. I am by no means experienced in this matter and just looking to hit the ground running so If you have better suggestions for certain markets that I may have missed feel free to outline them.

Thanks
Sean

Q: Good morning,

I have the same amount of shares in VIU and VEE as a year ago, but the quarterly dividends both recently announced are both smaller than last year's. Why is this? Have many international companies maybe cut their dividends due to the virus and it's impacts? Could this be a Vanguard decision? Thanks

Q: Hi,

Could I get your opinion on 2 investment paths contemplating at moment for equity portion of portfolio?

At moment my equity exposure is passively invested in IWO, VGG, VIU, VEE. I am trying to decide if I should sell off this passive postion, in part or entirety, and invest in individual beaten up securities, for example a number from your recent reports for North American exposure.

The objective would be to have a higher return 2-3 years out from this market. Not really concerned with volatility.

Thanks

Q: What are your thoughts on TPE vs XEF or VIU for international equity in an RSP? It seems somewhat safer due to larger cap focus but the TER is higher so combined cost of 0.32 to 0.23 for VIU. Leaning towards VIU as it has the most holdings and includes Korea.

Q: Which is the better investment & why?

Q: I am looking for an ETF recommendation to increase my international exposure.

I currently own 15% in VIU and 12% in VEE. Income is not my primary objective at this time. I was thinking XEF but through there would be too much overlap with VIU and didn’t think that made the most sense. I am ok with going mid-small cap and thought an ETF like SCZ may diversify my current holdings. What are your thoughts of this fund and do you have any other suggestions?

Also, so you have any recommendations for an international small- mid cap value ETFs? Thanks for your help.

Q: I bought these ETF's a couple of years ago for diversification purposes. They have not performed well and I am wondering if I should keep them or move on and forget about diversifying outside of North America. I do not like exchange risk.

Q: Good afternoon,
The analytics indicated that I needed to increase my international exposure by 31%. I'm sitting on some cash that I hadn't decided what to do with. I assume it makes sense to add international ETF's. The ETF recommendations from analytics included the VEE and VIU. I currently hold a small amount of the VEE and the VXUS. I'll add to the VEE. Which do you prefer the VXUS or VIU or should I just add to both with having so little exposure outside of North America?
Thanks,
Kerri

Q: My international allocation currently resides with VI and VIU. What are the downsides of switching these two for VIDY for more yield?
Thx.

Q: For international developed equity I own VEF and the asset allocator is suggesting VIU. Is there enough of a difference between these two for me to switch?

Q: Hi, In order to increase my international exposure, I am considering VIU. But I was wondering if there are any equivalent of IWO for international exposure (i.e. a more aggressive small/midcap international exposure), a low cost mutual fund may be an option as well. Thanks.

Regards,

Shyam

Q: I purchased these ETF's a little over a year ago as my first outside of North America holdings. Just wondering what your thoughts are about these. I do have a long time frame.

Q: Hello 5i Team
A general question on ETFs.
Have you come across a table correlating the Vanguard Canada ETF and the Vanguard US ETF.
Specifically, I cannot determine if VIU (Vanguard Canada ETF trading on TSX in C$) has an equivalent Vanguard US (trading on the NYSE in US$) ETF.
Expanding this question, have you seen a table correlating all companies (IShares, Vanguard etc.) Canadian ETFs against their US counterparts.
Thanks in advance for the great service.

Q: Good morning 5i
Thank you for the new website. Its great.
I bought VXUS... thank you. I am well diversified with equities and will have some Canadian dollars to spend after I shave some of my winners (which there are many..thank you) in my RRIF. What would you suggest in the form of an ETF? Europe? Japan UK Australia??? etc??? VXUS being international may cause an overlap but perhaps there is one area that you are particularily in favour of?? Do you expect more growth in the near to medium term (3 to 5 years) in any of these areas? Or should I plan this as a long term (5 to 10 year) investment. Thank you for your timely and priceless answers.

Q: Hi,

I'm currently only holding XEF(1.5%) and VEE(1%) for international and EM exposure. I'm looking to increase it a bit more maybe to 5%, as the rest of my portfolio is in US or CAD equities. I know you have talked about VXUS as a good international ETF to hold and the expense ratio of 0.11% is hard to beat. When I look at the regional allocation for VXUS, 19.3% is EM, so if we just hold that, would we even need to hold VEE? What do you think would be best to hold to have international and EM exposure? How about VI and VIU (exposure excl. North America)?

Was looking at one or two good quality ETF's to hold. Your thoughts on how they compare?

Thanks!