Investment Q&A

Q: I am nearing retirement and planning to rebalance my taxable portfolio towards Canadian dividend stocks and ETFs, so that I can live off CPP and eligible dividends in retirement. What are your favorite Canadian ETFs where all distributions are treated as eligible dividends? You recommended CDZ many times, is it still your favorite?

Q: In your response to Pat today for dividend growth ETFs would you consider DGRC as a viable investment option in Canada? It is underweight financials but heavy in energy. Maybe that is a function of energy having better dividend growth than financials over the past few years.

Q: I am converting my TFSA to a dividend with some growth portfolio to reduce volatility and hopefully get more sleep. I want to start with 2 etfs to establish diversity. I like DGRC and VGG. I plan to set and forget the etfs once I reach the desired weighting. Do you think this is a good pairing of dividend growers? Can you comment on the somewhat lower average daily volumes of the etfs? Would including CDZ add value? Thank you

Q: Hello,
Can you recommend high or dividend oriented etfs that fall under the following category:
1) From at least more than one ETF company
2) Focuses on dividend payers and moderate growth
3) Covers CDN,US and the rest of the world (not necessarily in one ETF)

I like to pick and chose and change as needed. Not a huge fan of asset allocation ETFs at this point.

Q: Hi Team, Wondering if you could please suggest a good
ETF for growth - Canada and US.
Also a good ETF for Dividends - Canada and US.
This is for RRSP account.
Thanks

Q: Hello:

It seems b/c DGRC is not heavy on Energy and Financials, it has done better than ZDV/VDY.
Going forward, should one add to one's DGRC position or VDY/ZDV. Out look for energy is still bleak, isn't it?

My main aim is to enhance Dividends, get tax credits in our non RRSP portfolio. Safety is always a concern and I presume all of them offer some safety though not 100% as they are all based on stocks after all.

Also how do these ETFS compare with VCIP which I presume will be safer but less tax efficient and less growth?

Thanks for your service.

Q: Hello 5i
I've not been impressed with CDZ's performance of late. I see that you keep recommending it even though their fees are higher due to better diversification. I believe they've been hurt recently by one large holding that went south, AGF I think. I'm puzzled by all this so what advice do you have? Is there alternative in this segment for a long term hold?

Thanks for the service

Q: Two questions on Canadian equity/dividend ETFs:

1) The holdings in DGRC are selected based on market cap, expected earnings growth, return on equity, and return on assets. How is it that none of the Big 5 Canadian banks qualify for inclusion in their portfolio? This is puzzling to me. What is your opinion of this ETF for the core Canadian equity component of one's portfolio, for a longterm hold?

2) You continue to recommend XIC despite reminding members, many a time, of how the TSX index is heavily concentrated in financials and energy. Why? It is a cheap ETF, but other CDN equity ETFs (like DGRC) are modestly more expensive but I can't help but think that the few extra basis points in cost are worth it if it allows for a more balanced sector allocation overall. You continue to recommend CDZ even though it is very expensive, with a MER of 0.66. Why? I know it is analogous to VGG/VIG, which you (and I) love, but I don't think they're comparable, since VGG/VIG contains many companies with a much longer history of dividend increases (including many so-called 'Dividend Aristocrats' and 'Dividend Kings' whereas inclusion in CDZ only requires that a company has a history of increasing its dividend in at least four of the last five years. It almost seems like the continued recommendation of XIC and CDZ is due more to historical reasons rather than their merits as of right now, relative to other ETFs that may not have been available when XIC and CDZ were first made available.

Q: Would there be a better selection than CDZ with regards to an ETF that tracks the so called dividend aristocrats?
Thank you

Q: What would be the Pros and Cons to invest in a new ETF such as DGRC with a total asset of 1.3m?
Would you rather invest in VDY or CDZ?
Really enjoy the new website
Well done
Sylvain

Q: Hello team:

I saw an article about the new ETFs by Wisdom Tree and Horizon's. DGRC caught my attention.

Any thoughts or opinion on this? Instead of ZDV or XDV or VDY....worth buying this one?
Thanks.