Investment Q&A

Q: I have a well diversified portfolio in Canada. I have little direct exposure to the US market but I have about $25k in a US cash account right now. I have about a 5 year horizon when I believe I will have to close this account. I am interested in buying some companies or ETFs that are difficult to cover with my Canadian holdings. Could you please name 3 ETFs/Companies for a fairly conservative but not completely risk averse investor to check out.
Thank you for your invaluable help.

Q: Hi 5i team,

Enjoy reading the blog on power of dividend growth stocks. I want to invest in US, Europe and Emerging Market. Would investing in ETFs that track dividend growth stocks be better than the overall indexes?
Please provide your ETFs picks, in US$ and in C$, that invest in dividend growth stocks in US, dividend growth stocks in Europe and dividend growth stocks in Emerging Market. Would these etfs be best held in RRSP account? Thanks.

Q: Dear 5i
I own VGG , VFV , and ZWH ETF`s that all trade on the TSX . I bought these ETF`s because they hold all US stocks and i needed some US exposure. It seems however that when the US markets are up big but the TSX is down a bit on the same day the US ETF`s are down . So my question is if one expects the US markets to outperform the the TSX then would it not be best to buy said ETF`s on the US exchanges ? It just seems like i`ve got the US exposure but even on big US market days coinciding with low TSX market days i`ve lately been missing out lately on the current US market rally . Should i stay the course or switch some to the US exchanges ? This is assuming that we believe that the US markets will do better then the TSX this year .
Thanks
Bill C.

Q: After reading your article about Dividend Growth Stocks, the first question that came to mind was "Is there a Canadian ETF that covers dividend growth stock for Canadian stocks and one for US stocks and would you recommend them based on past experience? With thanks, Bill

Q: Would you pick CUD or VGG or is there another alternative that you prefer? Would you switch from one to the other?

Q: I have very little invested outside of Canada and would like to increase foreign investments. What are the tax ramifications if any, of investing in index funds such as Vanguard or Ishares in a taxable account? I suspect that there may be a withholding tax.

What would your 3 favourites be for investing outside of North America?

Thanks
Ron

Q: I have a 5 year old grandson and want to start a long term investment fund. Would an ETF be the best way to go, and if so, could you recommend a few. Thanks. All the best in the New Year. Thanks for all your help over the years.

Q: I have about 20k US funds to invest. Since I have couple of balanced Canadian portfolios already in registered accounts, so for the us funds, I am looking for safe growth in stocks or etfs, Ideally to invest in the areas that Canadian market doesn't cover, such as IT, AI related. Could you suggest couple of names?
Thanks,
Lin

Q: In order to build some exposure to the U.S. Market I am considering investing 30% in VUN, 30% in VGG and the rest in VGG. Would you consider any changes to the above selections and allocations?

Thanks to the team
Merry Christmas to all.

Q: My 29 year old son has $40,000 in a tfsa all in cash. So far, he has little interest in investing. I'm thinking as a possible way to get him interested (and to at least get some kind of return) of suggesting to him that he put $35,000 into a Cdn equity etf and $5,000 into a growth stock. (I would really like for him to just put it into say 4 growth stocks but if the whole thing tanks it will be "dad's fault".) He also has his employer DC pension plan (2 or 3 years in) in which he's invested in life-cycle funds.

Could you recommend an etf and stock for his tfsa? Or would you suggest some other completely or slightly different route to go with his tfsa? Thank you.

Q: WE HOLD THE ABOVE STOCKS IN OUR CHILDS RESP AND HAVE A FEW THOUSAND TO ADD, WE WONDER SHOULD WE ADD TO ONE OF THE ABOVE OR ADD AN ADDITIONAL STOCK. SHE HOLDS ABOUT 10% OF EACH

Q: My TFSA is worth about 26000. I do not need the money and have a long time horizon - say twenty years. I intend to maximize the annual contribution limit. Currently I have roughly equal positions in ZLU, VMO, VVL, and VGG. Plus a smaller position in CBL, which has tanked, but pays a dividend.
What do you recommend for a TFSA makeover, if any, in this case?

Q: I would appreciate your thoughts on how one should diversify his investments geographically, (Canada, United States, and Internationally). What do you think would be the percentages I should allocate to each area? I realize allocation is a personal decision but I'm looking for some kind of general guideline. I consider myself to be an average investor and therefore willing to accept some risk.
Being a member of 5i, and following your guidance, I think I have the my Canadian investments under control but I would appreciate some help for the U.S. and international allocations.
I would also appreciate it if you would suggest your favourite ETF to invest in the United States and internationally.

Q: Good afternoon,

I am looking for exposure to the US market, in my RRSP. According to your previous answers on this type of inquiry, an ETF would be the easiest way to go, since it automatically brings both diversification and exposure.

My time horizon is minimum 10 years and don't mind a medium amount of volatility, as long as the returns are there in the end. My plan is to invest into the chosen ETF each year, so that my exposure to the US market is taken care of.

I have been looking more closely at VGG, VFV and VUN, mostly out of the reputation of Vanguard products. The dividend growth orientation of VGG sure is appealing, but I am not primarly looking for income. Aside from that they all seem pretty similar.

I would like to know your point of view on these ETFs I mentionned and if there are any others that you consider that would fit better in a long term plan.

Thank you very much!

Q: Hello 5i,

I would like to hear your suggestions on what the 2 best choices are for Dividend paying ETF's from the list above or any others I didn't mention. One for CAD and one for USA (on the TSX). I would want to keep these for 10-15 years or even into my retirement if returns continue to make it worth it.

Thank you kindly,

Paul

Q: Good morning, If I sell ZWH, VGG and VIG in taxable accounts and replace with ZWA and VGH (both hedged and in Cdn dollars), will this trigger the disallowed tax loss? i.e. are they too similar to replace within 30 days? If so what would be a better solution? What would be your suggestion for US representation at this time?
Thanks for your never ending help.
Ted

Q: I'm considering various ETFs (mostly from Vanguard) for global exposure and I just wanted to get your thoughts:

Asia/Pacific - VPL or VAH
Europe - VEH or ZWE
EM - VEE or VE
USA - VUN or VIG or VGG
Global - VT, VIGI, VYMI, VXC (would it make sense to buy all of these, or is there too much overlap?)

These would all be held for many years. I don't need the income from dividends, but a decent yield is always nice. Currently wondering about things like hedged vs unhedged, fund size, growth potential. Thanks for the advice.

Q: I own VUN and VGG, plus several other US companies which make up my US portfolio. I'm looking for more growth - would you recommend IWO? Would you drop either of the Vanguard ETFs?
Thanks

Q: Hi,
I'm young and have good income, good risk tolerance and no need to withdrawal any of my investment dollars anytime soon. I'm looking for long term growth mostly. Currently I hold the listed stocks, do you see any names that jump out as really bad/ should sell? Is anything really lacking and maybe should be added? Right now everything is held in a tfsa.

Thanks!
Dave

Q: Hi5I
We are giving our 3 grandchildren $5000.00 each, so they can each open a TFSA account. Our intention is to give them the same amount for the following three years.
Considering the size of the deposit, and the fees for the accounts, your recommendation on where to open the accounts and what to buy inside the accounts would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks MJ