Investment Q&A

Q: Which would you prefer today, VTI or VUN?

Q: Hello,
I am currently waiting out this deep downturn in the market. At some point the market will start recovering. I have followed your recommendations in the Portfolio Tracking and Analysis tool.

If you had $500,000 sitting in cash which you want to deploy once the market turns around, which sectors would you look towards investing in for the eventual upward trend? Would you be able to provide your favourite stocks /ETFS which you would use to cover the sectors you think will be first to recover?

Thanks for all your help.

Q: I am an 88 year old, investing for over 70 years, and an appreciative member of 5i since inception. My present objectives include creating capital losses; reducing my formerly 80 stock non-registered portfolio to only those in your Balanced Portfolio; thereby making my life easier so that I do not concern myself each day with fluctuations, and let you make the decisions;etc., I believe I have the following options; 1) Sell all present losers; 2) Henceforth buy or sell only stocks in the Balanced Portfolio 3) Where the 30 day rule applies, buy comparative stocks for the 30 days).. What is your opinion? Do you have better proposals in view of the present crisis? Thank you in advance for your usual consideration and advice.

Q: Good day team, did you guys post/suggest US names to keep an eye on during this market correction? If you did, I can't seem to find it.

Additionally, for broad US exposure what etf is the most efficient in a tfsa?
Cheers

Q: Good morning - I have owned VUS (CAD hedged US Total Market ETF) for many years in a taxable account. I would like to switch to VTI (the un-hedged version of the same ETF) but would realize a large capital gain. Is there any way an individual could synthetically gain the same USD exposure via a swap or option contract? I would obviously like to avoid high fees to do this. Thanks

Q: Good day and thanks for the great service. My question is mfc4644 has outperformed vti since inception and i believe that is due to its higher tech weighting. Going forward do you believe it would be better to hold mfc4644 or vti - or - mfc4644 and usmv in equal weighting which i believe would outperform vti. Looking for your sage advise...Thank you..Gene

Q: Hi,
I would welcome your thoughts on this - the MER seems high, but then again, so is the dividend, both of which makes me wonder if there are better options out there? Or, is this a solid investment? Always value your insight!
Dawn

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan and 5i,
Could you please give me a list of at least 5 US Listed ETF's (Total Market) for a Lira account with at least 10 year hold.
Thanks as always for your expert advice. Ivan

Q: Could I please have 5 recommendations for investment in Canadian stocks and/or Canadian ETF's focused on the US market. I currently have no investments in the US market in my RRIF. Thanks

Q: I have very little US exposure and have US$40,000 in my RRSP that I am looking to invest. I have looked at questions and profiles on VIG, VIGI, VYM, VTI and DGRO but I am unsure which of these or others ETFs would be best and am looking for some direction. What low cost, large US $ ETF or ETFs would make the most sense with the goal of maximizing US$ dividend income. This will be a long term holding.
Thank you

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

Q: From a tax perspective, does it make a difference where I hold XUU? I'd like to put it in a non-registered account but I'm wondering whether there is a tax benefit to put it in my RSP.

Thanks,

Q: Hello Peter and colleagues
I am trying to develop a simple but effective portfolio. What would be your opinion and recommended percentages on a simple portfolio including these ETFs: XIC, VFV, VXUS
Would you recommend adding more ETFs while keeping it simple? and if so, what would be the percentage of each. Do you recommend replacing VFV with VTI? and why?
Please deduct as many points as needed.
Thanks

Q: What are your thoughts on a pure indexing strategy? Jim collins suggests investing exclusively in VTI to build wealth and become financially independent. Thoughts?

Q: Hello 5i team,

My 33 year old son is looking at rebalancing. He has a defined benefit pension. He would like to use VTI and VXUS for non cad exposure. What percentage would you propose for cad, Vti and Vxus? And is there any ETFs that trade in canada that you would consider replacements of those two?

Thanks for all you do!

Wes

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 would appreciate your recommendations for the most tax-efficient ETF's for US equities in non-registered , RSP & TFSA accounts .
Thank you.

Q: Can you please advise which ETF you prefer and why: VTI or DIA?

And secondly, why is MSI rated as a hold? I'm up 40% over the last year...and it comes with a respectable dividend of 2.54%. What am I missing here?

Thank you.

Q: Hi 5i team,

I am wondering if you can compare VUN to VTI. Which is better to add to my portfolio? Since the holding of VUN is VTI, are they the same ? Are them both tax efficient in RRSP and TFSA accounts?

Thanks,
Alice Liu

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