Investment Q&A

Q: My unregistered investment account has a 50% core of VEQT and 5 equally weighted satellites; CEW, VGG, XSU, ZEO and ZQQ. I am considering overweighting CEW and ZEO. Do you think this is a good idea, would you use some of the other satellites or just stick with equal weighting. I would like to maximize the return without unduly increasing the risk. Thank you

Q: Hi, currently holding these Cad ETFs in RSP. What would be the best equivalent ETF's to buy in the US if I were to convert my holdings to USD and buy the US ETF. Looking for equivalent exposure with lower MER, better tax efficiency, etc... I've included some of my choices, would these be the best ones to switch to? Other ETFs are welcome if I haven't listed them below. Thanks and Happy holidays, looking forward to a great 2022!

VGG to VIG
XEF to either VXUS/VEA/IEFA
VEE to VWO
ZUH to either XHC/VHT/XLV
VUN/VUS TO VOO

Q: Good morning,

VGG is currently held in my TFSA and given that VGG is a proxy for VIG (US Dividend ETDF).

Q1 Is there a withholding tax on VGG in a TFSA account?

Q2. Would it be more advantageous to hold VGG in my Non Registered account?

Thank you and and I look forward to your sage advice.

Q: Hi, I'm looking to save and invest $X every week into the market. I could either:

1) Buy etf's as there is really no commission on the purchases
2) Buy individual stocks as the funds accumulate. Commission is only ~$5, what would be the minimum $ amount to invest so that it's worth it?

If I were to choose option 1, what would be your two or three ETF choices for either dividend growth or pure capital gains growth. Same for option 2, what two or three individual dividend growth or growth stocks would you choose to allocate capital to every week or two?

Thanks!

Q: In my grandchildren RESP I currently own IWO and VRO. I would like to add a third ETF, which would be better VGG or ZQQ? Money not needed for 12 years. At what $ amount would you start to invest in individual stocks?
Thanks

Q: Is there another good Canadian-listed ETF similar to VGG? I need another one or two so I don’t exceed exposure in a single ETF. Anything based on the S&P is not ideal as I already have a fair bit of technology exposure.

Thanks.

Q: Am wondering which of these stocks are vulnerable to climbing interest rates. For the vulnerable ones, would you please advise at what point you would consider reducing or selling them. Also, a strategy on when and how to do such an assessment would be instructive.

Thanks for your great advice. Most of your subscribers say this regularly, but they probably really mean it ! If it weren't for 5i, I'd still be holding a bag of mutual funds not knowing how big my losses were.

Whatever number of credits works

ConsCyc US:NIO
ConsDef US:CELH
ConsDef US:COST
Enrgy CPX
Enrgy AQN
ETF VGG
FinSvcs RY
FinSvcs US:V
FinSvcs SLF
FinSvcs US:MCO
FinSvcs GSY
FinSvcs BNS
FinSvcs US:BAM
FinSvcs US:JPM
Heal US:MDT
Heal WELL
Ind US:RTX
RealEst US:RDFN
Tech SHOP
Tech KXS
Tech US:MSFT
Tech US:CRWD
Tech US:U
Tech US:CRM
Telco BCE
Telco T
Util US:BEP
Util CU

Q: About 1 year ago you provided some general guidance on a retirement portfolio and I’m wondering what changes, if any, you might recommend given another year has passed. I’m not looking for specific guidance but rather suggestions for me to investigate further given how the investing landscape has changed this past year. Retirement horizon is 5 years and the portfolio has the following holdings: ZAG(26%), ZSP (3%), CDZ(65%), ZEA(6%). We have a large cash position that we’re ready to deploy. First, what is your take on the viability and allocation of the current holdings? Second, what are some ETF suggestions for the cash - add to existing ETFs or do you have alternative funds you’d recommend for us to investigate. Thanks so much!

Q: Do you have a preference between VGG and VFV for any reason?

Thanks.

Q: Hi
in regards to the Balanced ETF model portfolio, which ETFs that trade in USD would you recommend in place of VGG and ZSP?
I assume that both of these ETFs provide dividends and would best be held in an RRSP - is that right?
thanks

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan, and Team,

We need to increase our US exposure and wish to do this in our non-registered account. We're considering CUD and VGG as we'd rather use ETFs. (Our broker allows us to buy and sell CUD with zero commission, and not so with VGG, but this wouldn't be a 'make or break' reason for choosing one over the other). What would your recommendation be when considering tax efficiency, performance, volatility, and other important metrics? I do like that CUD has a relatively low weight in Technology, as our Canadian holdings like CSU, ENGH, KXS, TOI, etc. have done so well, and we're now overweight in this sector, thanks to 5i. :) Also, if there are any other US ETFs sold on the TSX that you think we should consider, we'd appreciate that info as well.

Thanks in advance for all your assistance and wise counsel.

Q: Hi, can you please recommend an ETF which is similar to VIG that can be bought in CAD? Thanks.

Q: Hi, I've sold IYW for a decent gain in a US rsp account. I would like to consider 2 US stocks with reasonable dividend. I currently hold ICLN and RBLX as US stocks. Can you suggest a few US dividend stocks or ETF to consider? Thanks.

Q: If you were adding a dividend producing ETF to a pipeline, insurance and bank-focused portfolio (North American bias), which ETF would you use for:
a) dividend/total return
b) diversification?

Q: You’ve mentioned that you generally like to keep single ETF exposure to 15%. Since VGG and VGH invest in the same underlying ETF (VIG), should I keep exposure to 15% between them, or could they each still be 15%?

Thank you.

Q: This is a list of the ETF's in my portfolio, (I have omitted the fixed income ETF's that comprise of about 20%).

Do you see any issues with the selection? Any overlap? Perhaps there are better alternatives than the ones chosen.

Thanks for the great service.

Q: can you your top 2-3 dividend paying ETF's currently for a 3yr time horizon? Thanks!

Q: Thank you for the reply to my recent question. Unfortunately the question pertained to the 5i balanced etf portfolio not the balanced equity portfolio. May I please have to top five etf positions to add new money at this time.

Q: I am looking for a US etf with long term growth. This in order to balance out the over-weighted Canadian portfolio of blue chip dividend stocks. This investment is long term, no short term plans for this allocation and do not want dividends for tax efficiency. This question applies to both RRSP and non registered accounts. Could you provide me with 3 suggestions please.

Q: VGG has an expense of .28 but holds 100% VIG at an expense of .06. Why is there such a difference in expenses? What factors should an investor use to decide between the two.
Mike