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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: Why would you advise holding these five ETF's in a TFSA, given that the foreign withholding tax is unrecoverable?
Read Answer Asked by Terry on November 21, 2019
Q: Greetings 5i,

I will be adding the following ETFs / Mutual Funds to my portfolio over time in order to round out my sector and geographic imbalances. Could you please suggest the prefered account to hold each of these in. RRSP, TFSA, or Regular Trading Account.

VXC, MAW108, ZWU, QQQ, VEE, ZCH, EWL, REET, ZDI, ZWE

Cheers!
Read Answer Asked by Duane on November 20, 2019
Q: For the moment, I'm satisfied with each of the CDN and US holdings in my portfolio. But I have nothing that is non-North American. So I'm planning to invest about $50,000 which would be 10% of my current portfolio. I haven't tracked international equities very much and am looking for recommendations. What do you think about purchasing individual stocks ... intending LT (5+ year) hold? Could you suggest 4 or 5 stocks I might look at? Asia? Europe? etc. Finally, if you're not keen on investing in individual stocks, can you recommend a few international ETFs for me to research? Thanks very much. (5i is an awesome resource for me).
Read Answer Asked by RANDALL on November 15, 2019
Q: RE: Nov 12, 2019 Q: I found your response to Leonard’s question regarding which accounts international ETFs are best placed quite interesting.

When both (a) VWO's extra withholding tax and (b) VEE's better return than VWO (longer term - 7 years) factors are considered together, which has produced the best 'real' return (and be likely to in the future)?

VEE vs VWO Performance (approx):
- VEE: Dividend: 2.8% 7-Year: +36.9% YTD: +9.2%
- VWO: Dividend: 2.7% 7-Year: +5.5% YTD: +7.6%

Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Paul on November 13, 2019
Q: I found your response to Leonard’s question regarding which accounts international ETFs are best placed quite interesting. I hold large positions in both VE and VEE in a registered account. If I understand your response it means that I am paying a withholding tax twice (on US and International side) with no recourse to claim it back. If staying within a registered account, what two ETF would you recommend to replace VE and VEE for better tax efficiency? Would you endorse immediately switching and would there be any drawbacks to making such a switch?
Read Answer Asked by Steven on November 12, 2019
Q: Hi there, is the John Bogle Vanguard approach to investing a good one? I believe Buffett has a similar approach. Is a 2 US ETF equity portfolio good enough to get growth and global exposure, since many US companies operate on a global scale? Would a 50/50 split between ZQQ and VUN or a split between ZQQ and VFV be better? Can I go 100% into VUN/VFV? Are there better ETFs or is there a better approach to this? Thank you!
Read Answer Asked by Michael on November 07, 2019
Q: Looking to possibly switch from VEE into another Emerging Market fund. Like Mawer but Mawer 160 is quite small . Or do you other suggestions? Or stay the course with VeEE.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on October 16, 2019
Q: My portfolio review tells me that I need to add 20% to the international portion of my current holdings. At the moment, I hold only ZDM. Should I add to that or do you have another recomendation? I also need an Emerging Market ETF recomendation for diversification.
Read Answer Asked by Michael on October 07, 2019
Q: Hi 5i team,
Group A: XCV 35%, VVL 35%, VEE 10%, VAB 20%
Group B: VSB 15%, ZPS 15%, XSB 15%, XIU 30%, VCE 20%, XAW 5%
For short term 2-3 years, which group would you pick? or any better idea?
Read Answer Asked by Eli on September 30, 2019
Q: I currently own 200K in vbal, 200K in vgro, 150K in xwd and 50K in vee, I am thinking of switching out vee with zlu as zlu performs better in the long run and also vee is covered in vgro and vbal.
Thoughts?
Thanks
SF
Read Answer Asked by Steve on September 17, 2019
Q: Hello,
My portfolio mentioned that I need to add more international exposure to my portfolio. Can you suggest some good international ETF(s) or individual stocks that would be good for me to help balance my portfolio?
Read Answer Asked by Ryan on September 10, 2019
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.
Read Answer Asked by Aaron on September 06, 2019
Q: Just a follow up on the XEF. Would the 37%(mostly japan) Asia component be adequate for an emerging market exposure or would you want a true ETF like the ZEM you mentioned to go along with XEF?
Read Answer Asked by JEFF on September 04, 2019
Q: Hi,
I'm currently in my late 30's and have some funds in a LIRA from a previous company pension. They were invested in some funds with Sunlife before but now just sitting in cash waiting to be in invested. I'm looking for long term capital appreciation as I won't be able to take these funds out until retirement. Looking to increase my US and Intl exposure, which ETFs would be best? Currently own VGG, VUS, XEF and VEE. Should I increase these weights to my desired % or add any others? Looking for low MER core positions. Also should I approach investing in my RSP and LIRA in different ways or would you view them as the same? For example, would you buy stock A in your LIRA instead of RSP or vise versa.

Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Keith on August 23, 2019
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