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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: Hi.

Comparing Global ETFs (XEF, VXC) [7-year AARR ~6.3%] versus MFs (RBF1067, RBF1370, MAW120, AIM1593) [10-year AARR net MER ~10%].

Hard to compare these with the tools I have at my disposal, but it appears that smart management of Global investments maybe be worth the MER ding. Your thoughts?

Haven't owned in MF in years, but maybe it makes sense here...

Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on October 29, 2018
Q: I have 25 holdings in my RRIF, all Canadian Equities. I want to diversify. I am considering XAW, VXC, XFH, VSP, ZEA and ZEM. Of these which 2 or 3 would be my best choices?
Also would consider a couple of Bond funds.
Read Answer Asked by John on October 25, 2018
Q: I currently hold CDZ and VGG in my RRSP. I am looking to add a similar product with more international exposure. Are there any Canadian listed ETFs that focus on European, International, and/or Emerging Market dividend growers?

Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by EVAN on March 12, 2018
Q: I am seeking to invest the proceeds of a business sale for target returns of inflation + 4% and wishing to increase competence in self directed investing. 25% is marked for bond funds, 35% is earmarked for dividend stock, 25% for Equity ETFs, 7.5% t-bills and 7.5% highly speculative stocks . Do you feel that an allocation of 25% into bonds is too heavy given the probable rise in future interest rates? What funds would you recommend with low mgmt fees and reasonable performance?
Read Answer Asked by Wendy on March 05, 2018
Q: Hi guys, I just opened an RESP for my 4 month old and have $5k to invest for his future education. Obviously I have a long term outlook. I'm contemplating buying a single ETF, for example VXC, or a solid dividend paying company, like BNS or ENB. The latter is pretty beaten up so there could be some growth there as well. I hold all 3 mentioned funds/stocks in my RRSP/TFSA mix. Which way would you lean and/or is there a better place to invest right now?
thanks for the great resource guys!
cheers,
Mark
Read Answer Asked by Mark on February 15, 2018
Q: Please give me your opinion of the Manulife Mutifactor ETFs, sub-advised by Dimensional Fund Advisors. Which would you recommend among the Manulife Mutlifactor Int'l Equity ETF (MINT), HXDM, HADM or other International Equity ETF in a taxable account?
Thanks,
Gerry
Read Answer Asked by Gerard on February 14, 2018
Q: I own pretty much all the stocks in your model portfolio (other than GC, PKI, SJ, and SYZ) and about 1/2 of your growth portfolio. I also own a number of ETFs, including VXC, VCN, VAB, CDZ, SPY, XAW, and VXUS. I was doing a review of my portfolio and noticed that the ETFs above now make up 20% of my portfolio. A couple questions:
1) Are some of these ETFs redundant in my case?
2) What sector allocation would you suggest for 2018?
Read Answer Asked by Eric on December 04, 2017
Q: I am holding all of these ETFs in fairly equivalent amounts in both TFSA and Cash accounts. I will need to sell some to pay my 2017 tax bill, as the sale of an investment property has me realizing some significant capital gains.

Do you have a recommendation for which ones to sell over others, or would you maintain an equal weighting? These will be long-term investments.
Read Answer Asked by C Shane on November 15, 2017
Q: Good Morning! I am going to become a grandparent for the very first time in the next couple of weeks!! I would like to build a stock portfolio for my grandchild over the next 18 to 20 years, investing $1,000 each birthday year. Which two stocks (or ETFs, if you think that is better) would be excellent choices to begin a long-term portfolio the day the baby is born, with dividends reinvested through DRIP? Thank you so much for your help!
Read Answer Asked by Sandy on June 05, 2017
Q: The above 5 etfs are core holdings with VXC and XHY at 15% each and the others at 10% each. The balance of my portfolio is made up of a diversified set of individual stocks (Canadian companies). I am considering exchanging XIN with ZWE to still have European exposure but with a better yield or should I keep XIN and just add ZWE to my core holdings? As always, thanks for the advice.
Read Answer Asked by Rudy on September 12, 2016
Q: I've been struggling to find out what to do with all the cash I was holding in my portfolios so a while back I used VDY as sort of a money market fund,for me that's pretty conservative. I realize that VDY is basically buying the tsx financial sector, I'm up about 4-5% with this right now but do realize that with a correction in the financials it could come down some. I'm looking for something "safer" to park my money in.
Read Answer Asked by Richard on September 08, 2016
Q: My son is in his mid-thirties and has very limited time available to actively follow/trade the markets. He is looking for a simple, passive investment portfolio with very broad exposure, a modest dividend focus, and that is rebalanced, ideally, once a year. Can you comment on the following proposed portfolio and allocations, assuming about $100k? Are there any alternatives he should consider? Should he modify his approach in a TSFA/RRSP? Thanks.

VAB - 20% (Canadian bonds)
VCN - 15% (Canadian equity)
VDY - 15% (Canadian dividend)
VXC - 50% (Global equity excluding Canada)
Read Answer Asked by Sheldon on June 06, 2016
Q: I am considering replacing vxc with 50% vti and 50% vxus in my Rrsp. This I think will save some small mer, better for taxation and less losses due to currency exposure. I would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions also about possible alternatives.
Read Answer Asked by Shyam on April 28, 2016
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