Investment Q&A

Q: Peter.
VOO vs VFV

Both these ETFs track the S & P 500. VOO cost U.S. $ $269 and yield 2.5%. VFV cost $72.48 CDN and yield 1.7%. Assume 1) purchase for long term hold 2) to simplify assume FX rates stay the same as today. 3 )can will invest either Cdn$ or U.S. $. How would you determine which is better? Would you normally get hosed on fx conversion with VFV?
Thank you

Paul

Q: Hi 5i team, firstly thanks for all the work you do, I’m a new member and am really enjoying the content.

A family member in her early 30’s would like to start investing with a long term time horizon (25-30 years). She has some risk tolerance and is seeking a passive set it and forget it ETF index type of investment strategy. She would make regular contributions and benefit over the long run from dollar cost averaging. Currently she does not have interest in picking individual equities or monitoring market conditions. She has a stable government job that provides a good pension plan and is starting with $10,000 capital.

What are your thoughts on a portfolio starting with the following ETFs; VOO, XIC, VEU, with a weighting of 50% VOO, 40% XIC and 10% VEU for some international exposure? Are there any other ETF’s you would recommend she start with? Do you think the EFTs mentioned provide enough diversity as a starting point? I like the above mentioned ETF's for their low fees and broad exposure.

My thoughts are being that she has many years of investing ahead that ETFs with 100% exposure to equities would provide greater growth potential when compared to ETFs containing a mix of bonds and equities. And that her stable government employer matched pension could be viewed as a bond proxy.

Thanks again for all the great info!

Q: Can you explain why VFV is outperforming VOO (by 7% on a 3-month chart comparison, and by almost 5% over 1 month)? Aren't they basically the same, other than the currency they trade in?

Q: I have the following securities in what I consider a balanced portfolio. The fixed income portion doesn’t show here because it consists of OAS. CCP. Plus two other pensions.
I’m thinking of sell part position in MMX ( small loss);and ARE to realize a capital loss while at the same time raising some cash for the next pullback. I like TFII . We need to keep the food chain moving. Trucking an important part . The other is cargo jet. Am I on the right track . Your opinion. Or would you look elsewhere given the current holdings.

Q: To several members, you've suggested an S&P500 etf. Among those are ZSP, XUS, VFV and HXS, all trading on the TSX in Canadian $. They all appear similar, except that HXS pays no dividend (why?). Then there's SPY, trading on the US exchange. It has dropped considerably more than the Canadian versions, and consequently has a higher dividend yield. Can you explain the discrepancy, please? Don't they all hold the same stocks? And there must be other S&P500 ETFs trading on US exchanges, besides SPY - could you please name some? Which version of these ETFs would you choose?

Q: I hold the above equities. I have additional funds to allocate. Your suggestions please. Take this opportunity to thank Peter for a great job, very reliable.
I would not want to add to my positions in ECN.PR.A , ENB, PNG ,& LSPD because of weighting’s and/or risk.

Q: The vanguard ETFs make up 13% of my portfolio. In the tech space I own PNG & LSPD.
A little bit overweight in both due to increase in value . If I were to buy another tech stock which would you suggest. My portfolio contains mostly dividend stocks with some Growth. My biggest risk would be if interest rates were to rise.

Q: Which do you prefer currently - VOO or VTI - and why? Thank you.

Q: I hold vgg in in TFSA and RRIF accounts , 5 % of my total portfolio. VIG in non registered US account 5% of total portfolio. I’m gradually moving from individual stocks to ETFs to reduce the time required to monitor my investments. Getting up in years .As an aside I’m an experienced investor, previously worked in the investment business. Right now I’m looking at reducing my position in vet and investing in vfv or convert C$ to US$ and buy VOO.
Your thoughts Peter on this or should I look elsewhere?

Q: I am looking to add an ETF that tracks the s and p 500 that has to go in my Tfsa. Can you give me some etf recommendations and your rationale? Thank you.

Q: Which Top 3 ETF's do your recommend to track the S&P 500.

Q: For eft’s. v f v and v g g , what are the advantages/disadvantages of holding in a
r r s p , t f s a , or a non registered account?

Thank you for your help,
Michael

Q: Hi Peter & 5i,
I have these US ETF's in an RRSP, is there any duplication here, if so, could you suggest an alternative. As always
I do appreciate your input.
Thanks
Ivan

Q: I am continuing to try and "perfect" my portfolio allocations. Your Portfolio Analytics program has been a huge asset, and has caused me to really re-think things. I am close to retirement, and can accept some risk but not looking to create an above-average risk portfolio.

For equity investments, I am aiming for about 35% US, and 35% international. I would like safety and growth, and am willing to have some risk. Once I am happy with the final portfolio, I hope to be able to "walk away" for the next few years and let it grow. I have a preference for the "dividend growers" strategy.

Does this allocation make sense to you, for both international and US equities? Are there any changes you would recommend?:

US Dividend growers (e.g. DGRO, VIG): 20% of equity portfolio
US Quality: 10% (e.g. VOO)
US SME: 5% (e.g. IWO)

International dividend growers (e.g. VIGI, iGRO, ZDI): 20% of equity portfolio
International Quality: 10% (e.g. XEF)
Emerging markets: 5% (e.g. VEE, ZEM)

Thank you so much for this amazing service!

Q: Would you buy the S&P 500 on this dip? Seems like a buying opportunity to me just curious what your thoughts are. Cheers

Q: Can you please give me your recommendations for ETFS in the following categories?

US S&P 500
US Total Market
US Dividend

Thanks

Q: Hi 5i team,
I am wondering if you can compare VOO to SPY. Which is better to add to my portfolio? Are them similar? Are them both tax efficient in RRSP and TFSA accounts?

Thanks,
Alice Liu

Q: i currently hold rsp and voo in my rif account. Is this too much of an overlap and should I consolidate or just keep them as they are? If I keep them as they are and am planning to add more money which one should it be? I know that you have often mentionned that you like a market weighted approach. Thanks for a wonderful service

Q: In reading Jason Heath's article in the Moneysaver he comments that there is no US withholding tax on US ETF's held in an RRSP, but there is withholding tax on the Canadian equivalent. I am in the process of rearranging our RRIFS and have been switching to more ETFs, including US based ones. Many ETFs have both a Canadian dollar and a US dollar version of the same fund. For convenience, to avoid opening a US dollar RRIF component, I elected to go with the Canadian equivalent.

Does the withholding tax also apply to RRIFs as well as RRSPs. If so it follows that perhaps I should convert a portion of our RRIF to US dollars and then purchase the US based ETFs in that account. It is not difficult to do, just a bit inconvenient.
Your thoughts please.
Russell

Q: For the purpose of simplicity I would like your opinion on these 3 ETF portfolios.
My idea is to rebalance 1 / year.
non registered: VFV 30% VDU 30% VAB 40%
TFSA: VFV 50% VDU 50%
RRSP: VOO 30% VIG 30% IWO 30% VAB 10%
Any suggestions as to changing the etf's used for better tax purposes ?
Are there better etf's that you would recommend using?
Thanks for your help .
Victoria