Investment Q&A

Q: I am down on all of these by about 20%. If I sell them for a tax-loss harvest, what should I do for proxies? Also, since I have no capital gains for 2022, should I sell these stocks/ETFs in January to avoid a jump in stock price before the end of the year (as tax-loss harvesting season ends)?

Q: Hi Peter and 5i Team,

My TFSA is made up of CSU (33%), TRI (22), VGT (17), DSG (14), GSY (14).
CSU is the core position (thank you for that recommendation) and will not be added to at this time.

With current available cash and the upcoming 2023 contribution which 2 companies out of TRI, VGT, GSY and DSG would you add to for the best growth scenario?

Thanks for all your sage advise over the years. My first 6 years of retirement have been financially successful and the dividend and share growth has been stellar. Again a big thank you to 5i!

Q: How much of an overlap is there between VGT and FDN? Is one substitutable for the other?

Q: Good morning, I have some USD in my tfsa and was wondering if you could suggest a few ETFs in the states where I won’t get charged a withholding tax. Can be growth or index oriented.
Thanks

Q: SOXQ What would be your suggestion(s) of a proxy for a tax loss sale of this ETF?

Q: Assuming we’re nearing a bottom for big tech, which of these two would be best for a broad play on big tech recovery and growth? What are the major differences between them other than a slightly higher yield on VGT? Thx

Q: I'd like to buy tech now as I feel prices are stabilizing, but don't have enough US cash to buy balanced number of individual names. Is there an ETF you would recommend that has the larger US tech names that I can buy?

Q: HI, This retired income couple want to invest 5K for our 20 year old grand daughter from our TFSA. To do so we have to sell some of our holdings in this account. Our largest holding SLF to our smallest TPZ are available with profits in most. Please suggest best to worst to select for raising the necessary cash. Our plan is to use the cash to purchase VGT.US or perhaps your other preferred etfs to be used in about 3-5 years. Thanks

Q: Could u rank your preference in putting the above in TFSA account, from most prefer to least prefer, over a 5 year horizon, or any other choice you would add. Thank you

Q: I am looking at 2 and 5 years charts for both funds and VGT was outperforming XQQ all the time in the last 2/5 years and didn't get cut as much. if you were to pick one now would you still go with VGT?
What is your view on ARKK now?

Q: Hello Peter,

For a mid-risk investor who just retired and has a little cash to work with in a registered account what is your perspective on:

Opening a 1/2 position of VGT or just add 1/4 position to MFST or Appl to a full position.?

Which stock(s) would you be ok with today to be 6%-8% of a portfolio for a 5-10 year hold? Please rank the stocks if there is more than one possible choice.

Thank you
Debbie and Jerry

Q: Hello 5i,
I am a value invester with a mix of equities and ETF's. I have done well with VGT and am up $8,000. As I look for dividends I am looking to sell VGT and buy ZWT. Also exchanging XHYy for ZWH, XTR for ZWC and VE for ZWE. Some are underwater but not by much. $75,000 is involved altogether with these exchanges. Do these changes make sense or should I just leave things as they are. The difference in dividends is nice to have (an extra $300 or more a month) but not really needed.
Stanley

Q: Hello 5i Team,

A similar question has likely been asked before.

For tax-loss selling purposes in a non-registered account, are QQQ and any other ETF that tracks the NASDAQ 100 index (eg. QQQM) considered different ETFs?

Thanks!

Q: Hi,

I'm looking for an average beta US ETF with some growth, to hold forever.
VOO has a beta 1. Over five years its done 17.86 % annually
IUSG has a beta 1.1 Over five years, its returned 23.4% annually
VGT .has a beta of .9 over five years, 31.46% annually.
So both IUSG and VGT have lower beta and higher returns than VOO?? And both VGT and IUSG have done much better in the recent tech selloff? Seems hard to believe? While past performance is no guarantee, the numbers suggest I should choose VGT. What do you think?

Q: I am a 49 year old Canadian with $50,000 Cdn in TFSA and $25,000 in RRSP. I would like some names to build a portfolio. High growth. Risk tolerance high. How much cash should I hold for dip buying. Right now I am overweight TSLA. It seems to me MSFT is a very good stock and I like its outlook and steady growth. A trusted friend recommends TSLA. Please suggest other names including ETFs. Could you rank the names with percentage allotments? 15 year outlook.

Q: Hi. Our19 year old granddaughter has received a small 5k inheritance. We would like to start her on her way to portfolio construction. Please advise your best suggestions.
Have thought of VGT or some combination of stocks at present lows. Thanks

Q: Good morning Gentlemen,
Which 1 to 3 Active or Index US ETF (to buy), you will replace ARKK if you sell it. ?
Thanks
Best Regards

Q: FTEC now makes up almost 12% of my portfolio and wondering if you would recommend trimming a bit and investing in an ETF like ARKK? I also hold ZSP which is about 10% of my portfolio now and maybe there is a bit of overlap between the two ETFs? Looking for growth in my RRSP, 10+ years and I don't need any dividends.

Do you think there is still some upside left to an industrial ETF like VIS? And do you have any other sector ETF recommendations that will complement FTEC and ZSP?

Thanks in advance. Please deduct credits as required.
KD

Q: I have the time and interest to invest in individual stocks and have benefited greatly from your advice, My 28 year old son is looking to me for investment advice and I was hoping that you could help me. He is young with a long investment horizon so he is not interested in any bond or fixed income components and is comfortable with a portfolio holding a diversified mix of 100% stocks in various geographies. He wants to control his own portfolio but does not have the time to research and stay on top of individual stocks and is leaning towards an ETF portfolio. I am not well versed in this area and was hoping you could provide some guidance.

He is looking at XEQT and VEQT as possible one stop solutions. There are some minor differences between the two, but overall they appear very similar. XEQT has a MER of 0.2% and VEQT has a MER of 0.25%, VEQT holds more stocks than XEQT and XEQT is weighted a bit more towards US stocks and a bit less towards CAD stocks compared to VEQT. Would you recommend one over the other, or hold both?

Instead of buying one of these he is also considering holding a two (or more) ETF portfolio using VCN and XAW ETFs. VCN tracks the Canadian market, XAW tracks the global market excluding Canada. A portfolio of 25% VCN and 75% XAW would replicate XEQT/VEQT very closely, but would have a weighted average MER of about .18%. The trade off is that this one would need to be rebalanced, whereas with XEQT/VEQT all rebalancing is done automatically. Would a 25%VCN/75% XAW be preferable to XEQT/VEQT?

If it was you at 28, would you do either of the above or would you prefer a portfolio of other ETFs and if so, what would those be?

Many thanks

Scott

Q: I am 80 and stopped investing in companies Investorline..
Not to loose out to inflation I put all my RIF USD into the 3 indexes IYY/VOO/VGT. Feb 1 to todate I made in CAD 9.9% Is that a reasonable way to invest with little effort and no trading fees no exchanges. Pls advise