Investment Q&A

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: How would you suggest a 70+ participate in this market,if at all?

Q: After selling a rental property I now have cash that equals approx 25% of my investment portfolio. My goal with this cash would be to create a mini portfolio within 2 TFSA's to produce dividend income to help with everyday expenses for the next 5 years or so. After this time the investments would be sold and incorporated into my balanced portfolio as the income should no longer be needed. I am looking to keep the portfolio to a max of 6 positions that are diversified from a geographical and sector standpoint. I do not have an exact income requirement, but 4% was my initial target. What investments would you suggest to meet my goals? Feel free to deduct as many credits as required.

Q: I was just reading about thematic investing in ÈTF's and wanted to get your opinion on it? I have some BAC I want to sell and find something newin US, this is in RRSP so looking for higher dividend, would you have any recommendations?

Q: Hi,

Can you suggest 2 US Etfs that are similar to our CDN XEI?

Q: Please list three or four US income etfs that you like.
Thank you

Q: The question is what ETF is the best match for me based on

1. my normal stock selection is large blue chip dividend paying companies
2. this ETF is in my RRSP, I am assuming it should be purchased in American funds. (unless you say otherwise.) US or Canadian ?
3. I am thinking a broad based ETF, possibly a "dividend aristocrat" or just whole market but not sure of what the difference would be.

thanks

Ernie

Q: I want to build an American ETF portfolio of 5-6 ETFs that pay a decent (4%-5%) yield. I have historically bought Canadian hedged ETFs for that purpose however I think there is a possible currency advantage to be had. I have looked at many many ETF questions in the 5i ETF folder and they seem to be very Canadian based. Would you be able to suggest 5-6 US based ETFs or more if you want to add a few more.
Thanks
Norm

Q: I have the following ETF's in the noted ratios and dividend yields %: HDV (3x) 3.32%, ZDV (2x) 5.37%, XTR (1.8x)5.88%, ZWU (1.7x) 6.60%, and CDZ (1x) 4.66%. I'm a dividend investor and good for 3-5 years. If we hit some hard times which of these would be hit the hardest? Any duplication? Should I drop one or more and add to others?

Q: Hello 5i folks,
Are there any Canadian ETFs that mirror these US ETFs?

Thanks Mary

Q: Could you offer me a suggestion for a dividend income etf. Also going forward with a corrrection coming would this be a moderately safe position thank you Ken

Q: Hi 5i
I am completely new to the world of ETFs but, according to Portfolio Analytics (and I did know it was a good idea before being told, really I did) I need to add US and International exposure to my portfolio. I think the only reasonable way for me to do that given I don't/can't follow non-Canadian equity markets is through ETFs.
I would like to place 55K in US ETFs and 45K in International ETFs and this will, for now, comprise the entire non-Canadian portion of my portfolio.
I am not adverse to some above average risk and while I'd like income I'm more interested in growth.
In researching where to place this money I've concluded that I might not have the candle power necessary to make rational decisions about ETFs because of the distinct possibility of purchasing ETFs that hold the same or similar underlying equities from the same or similar geographies in the same or similar sectors (assuming I'm not just concentrating on discrete sectors). Left to my own devices I feel that I could very possibly purchase a little bundle of different ETFs that are all essentially but unintentionally quite similar.
My question is two-fold:
1. Is my concern about concentration valid or have I misinterpreted the lay of the land, and
2. Could you suggest 4 or 5 US ETFs and a similar # of International ETFs that I can consider and that won't have the type of overlap I'm worried about.
I realize this is a broad and general (and perhaps rambling) question - so please deduct as many credits as you think is warranted.
Thanks a lot!
Peter

Q: A large part of my US holdings is SPY which I like for its broad market exposure and liquidity. While SPY is in my non-registered account, in my registered account I hold HDV for the higher dividend and to shield the dividend from withholding taxes. Does this strategy make sense? I ask because I am trying to reduce my total number of holdings and would like to consolidate wherever there is any overlap. Right now my annual tax rate is close to $0 and I won’t really be needing to draw any dividend income for at least another 5-10 years. Does consolidating these two into one make sense and if so which would you prefer?

Q: Good Day to you All
Would you consider this ETF as a good place to be in the present stock market
thanks in advance for your advice georges

Q: Lads the above are my US dollar income tilt portfolio holdings. My goal is to add some US cash to stable dividend payers (some of these and perhaps some others you can suggest). Two questions I have - first, could you possibly rank these 9 from most stable to least so I can consider which ones are the most stable to add to my current holding and second, can you recommend some other US equities providing a minimum 3% dividend that you view as stable holdings. Thanks as always for your guidance.

Q: I am looking for a US dollar denominated ETF with a good yield and covering mostly large, stable companies. I was considering SPYV (I like the P/E, yield and expense ratio here) or DVY. Could I have your opinion on these choices? Do you have other suggestions?

Q: Bonjour, please provide general comments on these two funds (MER, growth prospects, suitability considering a 10 year time-frame.
Merci
Ronald