Investment Q&A

Q: I submitted this question on Sunday, so now re-submitting...

Asking this question for a friend who is relatively new to investing (and may be a future 5i client:-)

She has $200k in a non-registered account and is contemplating a balance of 75% US ETFs and 25% US equities, any sector. The account is growth-focused, moderate to medium risk; no funds will be withdrawn for 3-5 years. Given these parameters, please suggest 4 ETFs and 4 stocks she should consider. Thank you.

Q: could you pls suggest a couple of US denominated etfs that track the sp500 - preferably equally weighted. Thanks

Q: I currently own a full weigh of the above listed ETFs and in light of President Trump's economic policies that are likely to benefit the financial sector, I'm looking at possibly adding XLF: US ETF to my US$ Non Registered account.


Q1. What would be your best idea for US$ ETF to add to a US$ Non Registered account at this time along with your rational for this choice?

Q2.What are your thoughts on XLF:US in terms of potential return for 2025 and the remainder of the Trump presidency?

Thank you and I look forward to your response.
Francesco

Q: Can you please recommend an equivalent ETF to VOO or MGK that is denominated in Cdn dollars. Thank you.

Q: Is there a "Best" S&P500 Index ETF, or are all the same? Which has performed the best last year?

Thanks!

Q: Recently you answered my question regarding US dividend WHT on Canadian domiciled ETF issues (Vanguard Canada, RBC Ishares etc) and noted that withholding taxes are owing on distributions since the Canadian ETF is simply holding the US ETF and the taxes would be levied when distributions are paid by the US ETF to the Canadian ETF.

Some follow up questions:
- I am assuming that the WHT would apply even if the Canadian ETF is held within a registered account?
- Does the WHT explain part of the difference in yield when comparing the US ETF and the Canadian ETF? For example - VIG yields 1.69% while VGG yields 1.17%. Assuming also that the higher MER on VGG also explains part of the yield difference??
- Given these factors - the WHT and higher MER - why would anyone choose the Canadian version of the same ETF. Further to this - In another question posed by Jacques - you point out that the Canadian ETF ZSP would be preferable to VFV since it holds the stocks directly and not thru the US ETF VOO....thereby avoiding WHT's for registered accounts. However - when you look at VOO - the yield is about 26 bp's higher than either VFV and ZSP....again why would you not just buy VOO.

Many thanks

Q: Are there US withholding taxes associated with the ETF's that are offered by Vanguard Canada (or any other Canadian ETF issuer) that pay a USD distribution??
Thanks

Q: The existing investments for my other grandson are shown above. Please rank his investments for long term growth. Best wishes for the Holiday Season.

Q: I am looking at hedged ETF's and specifically VSP. I was interested to see how well the ETF tracked the index and found that over a 5 year time frame - it underperformed by about 11%. (Total return for VSP is 81.0% and SPX is 93.33% - The Vanguard US ETF - VOO tracks SPX almost exactly.)

I am assuming that this underperformance is because the hedging strategy is not perfect?? .......or does the 11% difference represent the cost of hedging?? Also - would other hedged ETF's have similar comparisons??
Thanks

Q: good morning - I have done well adding to VOO over the past two years. I recently took a position in IWO, anticipating a broader economic increase. What do you think about pruning VOO and adding to IWO? Or adding to a different US ETF?

thanks

Q: If I am wanting to move money into an index fund next year, what are your thoughts on RSP versus VOO? I see they have more of a weighting in Financials and Industrials. Thanks.

Q: Could you please provide a list of top US ETF’s that can be bought (low cost with great management)
a) using a US dollar acct
b) using a CDN dollar acct
3-5 for each.

Thanks

Q: I bought Hershey in my RRSP in mid-2024. While mostly known for chocolate, the company has been diversifying into non-chocolatey snacks. However, the stock price remains down due to high cocoa prices. Would you be content to hold Hershey and collect the dividend until cocoa prices drop? Would you have some other suggestions? I tend to go for boring US dividend payers that also have some growth potential in my RRSP. My top holdings right now are MSFT, COST, MA, BIP.UN, ENB, and O. I also hold VOO as an underlying holding. Thank you.

Q: I have very little faith in the go forward value of the Canadian dollar versus the US dollar.Whats are good equity ways to access exposure in a broad sense to the US$?

Q: I am still toying with RRSP strategies - I have about 50% of my RRSP in US funds and 50% in Canadian funds. I plan on starting to draw my RRSP down in January and need about an 8% annual return, including dividends and growth for the next 10 years. I have slowly been rolling my Canadian side toward your income portfolio, and am about half-way there. On the US side, I hold the above positions. What are your thoughts on the following - mirroring your income portfolio with the Canadian side, and on the US side hold a combination of ETF's/Equities, or just ETF's. I have been actively growing my RRSP (with success thanks!) But hope to be able to spend less time on it once I retire. The above idea means, for the Cdn side, I can continue to follow your moves on the income portfolio. For the US side, I will continue to monitor/rebalance, but I don’t want it to be a daily task - please suggest a tactic, including whether to mix equities/ETF's, or just go to one or a few ETF's, and please suggest holdings in either tactic. Thanks!

Q: I currently have ~$170K of VOO in my RRSP, up 45%. I notice that ZSP and VFV have better returns. Would it be worth it to sell VOO and go to ZSP/VFV?

Q: If u were to buy only one all in one etf what would you suggest - for longer term 3-5 years growth

Q: good morning - I'd like to increase my US ETF exposure and already have IWO and VOO. Do I just add to one of these (which?) or add a third? Thanks for your ongoing good work. Al

Q: What are the chances that an individual stock picker outperforms a mix of VOO, VUG, and QQQ over the long term (20 years)? What factors could influence one's ability to do this?

Q: What US equity ETF do you suggest for a very long time horizon (I’m in my 20s so likely will keep investing for decades)?

Earlier this year I had been adding to RSP since most of the gains were concentrated in the Mag 7. With the market having broadened out a bit, I’m not sure if I should keep adding to RSP or if I’m better off investing new money in VOO (or VTI).

Which of the 3 ETFs (RSP, VOO, VTI) would you expect to have the best long-term total return?