Investment Q&A

Q: In a C$Cash account, Is there an advantage buying HXS or VFV? Which one do you recommend and why?

Q: It is my understanding that VFV's holding is VOO, which has some withholding tax implications. ZSP holds the individual stocks, so no withholding tax. Am I correct or has VFV changed. If I'm correct I believe ZSP is a better product for Canadians.

Q: Greetings. Seeking a TSX traded in Cdn dollars ETF non-hedged that holds as a majority of its portfolio US equities the likes of AMZN AVGO MSFT PALO ALTO NETFLIX GOOG META NVDA or most of them and similars since wishing to sell a variety of these types of equities currently held as hedged CDRs in a registered account. Methinks the CDN dollar is destined for a fall at some point so wishing to remove CDR hedging. Please comment if this doesn't agree with your view aside from the difficulty in predicting currency moves. Thank you for any suggestions.

Q: For a CAD denominated S&P500 ETF would you prefer VFV or ZSP and why? In response to similar questions in the past it seems sometimes you suggest VFV, other times ZSP. I’m assuming that for all practical purposes they’re basically interchangeable with little to differentiate one from the other and that either would be fine. Thanks.

Q: I have 3 , 1year old grandchildren starting with 1000 each and 100 a month where should I put money in resp thanks

Q: Hi, thank you for answering my previous question. I wanted to ask a follow up.

[Previous question: "If you were to create a mini model portfolio of an FHSA with a 5-year timeline and low-risk tolerance. What would your holdings look like?" Answer: "Assuming six stocks: BN (20%), TRI (15%), QSR (15%), EQB (15%), CSU (15%), RY (20%)"]

If your were to include ETFs and/or stocks, would your holdings be different? and if so what would they look like?

Thanks in advance!

Q: I am trying to decide which ETF to purchase for an RRSP. VFV and VIG have been performing well. About a 3 year hold. Any other suggestions?
T Steve

Q: I originally submitted this question back on Sept 17 but never received a response so I'll try again. I was wondering if you could provide some investment ideas/suggestions for ongoing contributions to a FHSA, as contribution room becomes available each year. Looking for "reasonable" growth without "excessive" risk over the 15 years of the plan. I am thinking of investing 50% of the yearly $8000 allowable contribution to a CAD-denominated S&P500 ETF and wondered which one you would suggest? Or, would you recommend something else? What is your opinion of XQLT - the iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor Index ETF as compared to an S&P500 ETF? For the other 50% of the yearly contributions I was wondering which two TSX stocks and which two CDR's you would suggest for annual contributions until the $40k plan maximum is achieved in 5 years? Thanks.

Q: I'm building US content into my portfolio, and am looking for medium risk ETFs. Do you have an estimated target and a recommendation for these two ETFs? I'd like both NASDAQ and S&P 500 exposures. Is the content of ZUE and XQQ content too overlapping for the two exposures?

Q: Hi there! Long time subscriber here, and love your platform!

I'm currently developing a plan to align with my goal of purchasing my first home in about eight years, alongside a long-term investment strategy. I’m seeking your insight on how a person in this situation could responsibly proceed (I understand that nothing here is considered actionable financial advice).

I'm currently contributing $400 biweekly to my FHSA, aiming to reach the $16,000 contribution limit this year. I also have approximately $5,000 in my TFSA, with all funds currently held in cash in both accounts.

For the FHSA, I’m considering investing in a high-growth American ETF, such as VFV, IUSG, or IWO, to balance growth and risk over the eight-year horizon. However, I would only like to invest in CAD (I'm not sure which ones only allow USD). Could you provide guidance on which ETF might be the most suitable for this approach, and why? If you have other recommendations, I would appreciate your insights.

For my TFSA, I'm interested in an aggressive investment strategy, potentially utilizing one of your growth or balanced portfolios. Given my exposure to cryptocurrency, I aim to diversify into equities for greater stability while still pursuing substantial growth over the next 45 years. I'm comfortable with higher volatility during this period. With $5,000 currently in my TFSA, would you recommend specific securities or a strategy that balances high growth with diversification?

While I’d prefer to follow your portfolio exactly, my current funds are only 5% of the $100,000 needed to follow it exactly. As an alternative, I'm considering selecting stocks from your portfolio and eventually investing evenly across the entire growth portfolio when my TFSA grows to an appropriate amount. Given my current $5,000 and my $100 bi-weekly contributions, which companies would you recommend selecting from within those two portfolios? Should I allocate $1,000 each to five different stocks or focus on three stocks with an initial $1,600 investment in each (the more I diversify on such a small number the less the potential return)? Your advice on which equities to select for both approaches and your opinion on the most responsible approach would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance! :)

Q: Hi Everyone at 5i!
I have a 27 year old nephew who would like to open a TFSA. He is putting $5000 in to start which he will gradually add to. He is looking for a growth ETF concentrated on the US market. Would VFV suit his needs, or should he consider something else??

Cheers,

Tamara

Q: What are the pros and cons for a Canadian to put money in Vanguard S&P 500 ETF Portfolio (VFV.TO) vs. a Vanguard S&P 500 ETF Portfolio (VOO)?

Q: Hello Team,

I am setting up a TFSA account for my son, he would be saving this money for a house down the road (at least 5-7 years away).

I was thinking maybe purchasing 3-4 stocks and 1 ETF for him to hold, can you let me know what you would recommend. We are going to deposit the max he can deposit which is 19.5K.

Looking to maximize growth.

Thanks.

Q: For ETF’s there are a number of variations of a given index such as market capitalization weighting vs equal weight capitalization vs capped weighting and for Canadian versions of US ETF’s hedged vs unhedged. I’m sure I’m probably missing other differentiating options. For someone who wants to invest in Canadian (rather US) dollars, and given all these different options, I’m wondering what your preferred funds would be for S&P500, NASDAQ100, and an international ex-US ETF and a brief comment for each as to the rationale why? For coverage of the TSX do you prefer a fund that tracks the TSX60 or the entire index and which one would that be? Would these suggestions differ depending upon whether the funds are held in a non-registered account vs an RRSP vs other registered accounts (TFSA, FHSA and RESP)? Thanks.

Q: My daughter is investing about $1500/month into an FHSA until the yearly $8000 max contribution is reached and will repeat this process for the next four years until the plan max of $40,000 is reached. What suggestions would you have in order maximize growth of the contributions given the relatively small $40k amount and short timeline (15 years from plan opening but only 10 years after the full $40k has been contributed) involved? Many thanks.

Q: I look after a RESP for my grandchildren and I have IWO, VFV, VGG, at equal weight. XIC, XQQ at a lower weight and only 2 stocks BN and LMN. Is there any more ETF that you would recommend to go with the ones I currently own? What 2 stocks would you recommend as well? The funds are not needed for 10 years,

Thanks

Q: Question about discrepancy in price action between these two SP500 index ETFs.

As of 10:50 AM, SPY is up 1.45% while VFV is up 1.23%, lagging SPY by 22 basis points.

What explains the discrepancy in price action between these two very liquid funds? For index funds such as these, is there a mechanism that exists to correct and adjust these funds to the actual price movement of their indexes? Especially when it comes to VFV.

Thank you for your excellent service.

Q: H i5i,

I have a question about opening $10,000 RESP for our granddaughter who is 11 yrs old. An extra $2,500 will be added each year to qualify for the $500 from the gov't.

We are newbies to RESP's so pardon our ignorance for our lack of knowledge. Our current service is through a CDN bank so each transaction costs $. That is ok for us as a buy and hold strategy. For an RESP, is it best to open an account with Wealth Simple to avoid fees? We would like a DRIP stock(ETF) and then a suggestion how to manage the additional funds that are added each year. Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you for your service. Without question, 5i is the best value that I have ever found. It is our go to reference and we let everyone know if they pay for one service, 5i is the best choice.

D&J

Q: Writing in again because I keep hesitating about how to start a high growth all equity portfolio..

For context, I am 39 years of age, with a comfortable income, and planning on working about 25 years. This would be for retirement money.

You previously answered you would be comfortable with an SP500 index fund as VFV of SPY as opposed to an all in one equity fund such as VEQT or XEQT, from what I understood.

Can you please suggest a porfolio of 5 to 7 all equity ETFs that you believe to be superior to the all in one variety. I don’t necessarily care about the truisms about absolutely needing to be geographically diverse. And I certainly prefer to avoid Canadian home bias.

Thank you.

Q: Hi 5i Team,

In a recent question by Kyle (July 15), you recommended ZSP. Any reason for choosing ZSP over the usual VFV? MER a drop higher for ZSP although liquidity looks better.