Investment Q&A

Q: The Analytics tells me that I need to reduce the Financial sector by 8%. Currently own BNS (3.5%), BN (1%), X (2.%), TD (4%), and VBAL (17%). Thinking about selling BNS and X or trimming the VBAL. I would appreciate your comments on which approach is better. Thank you

Q: My wife has never dabbled in the markets and has often labelled it as too risky. She has tended to stay with GIC’s or higher interest saving accounts, yeilding perhaps 2-3.5% annually. However, after seeing returns on some of my equities and ETF’s she is reconsidering. While I know you cannot personalize what is best for her, can you please give your highest conviction for lower risk stocks/etf’s for an RRSP (about 130K) with a 3-5 year window. I have shown her RoR on Canoe ETF (about 8%) and HMAX (about 12%). Lower risk stocks like BN or GOOG are also being considered. Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for all the great work you do!
Brian

Q: Retried and have a diversified stock and bond portfolio that I live off. Not tending to the portfolio as much as much as I have in the past and wish to simply my life. I am thinking of selling most of my portfolio and buying "all in one ETFs". Would you advise selling all and buying only one of the above ETFs or " diversifying" by splitting into all three above or even more ETFs to avoid risk of illiquidity in the event of a need to a large amount of cash. Please elaborate on any other risks in a strategy, such as company reputational risk, in allocating a very large percentage of the portfolio to only one or three such ETFs.

Q: Hi, I’m looking for 2 ETF’s suggestions, that is mostly out of Canada, as all my stocks are on the TSX. ( RY,ENB,BN,CSU,etc.) Looking at a mix of U.S. and other countries. Retired so has to be somewhat conservative with a 2%+ dividend while I wait. Could be a balanced etf for a little growth and safety. I was looking at TGRO, as an example, but maybe it is too much risk? your thoughts, thanks

Q: Do you have any preference re these balanced all-in-ones?

Q: My granddaughter has an individual stock portfolio which I need to change to an ETF portfolio as she does not personally follow or trades stocks and I am no longer able to manage the account.
Would you please suggest a portfolio of ETFs that is diversified as well as recommendations for ETFs that focus on precious metals, base metals and energy?
With appreciation,
Ed

Q: Regarding my family RESP I set up for my two kids, it will start to be used next year and they will be in school for six years. I was thinking of moving a portion into CDZ for the next few years because I consider it more stable than keeping it in the single stocks that it's currently in. Do you agree or have a different ETF or a few you could recommend?

Q: Good morning.
I’m planning on setting up a RESP for my grandkids.
Could you guys please suggest a ETF or two that would be suitable, this would not be used for at least 12 years.

Thanks.

Q: I am considering gradually switching from an all equity portfolio to these six ETFs at the following percentages: XGRO 20%, VBAL 20%, ZSP 15%, SPY 15%, XIC 15%, and VIU 15%. I have been happy with my returns but am thinking more conservatively.
1. What do you think about this mix, are there any you'd suggest a replacement for?
2. What would your educated guess be for an annualized return over the next 10 years?

Q: My daughter is starting a TFSA and as a full time student she doesn't have a lot of time. I have suggested a couch potato based strategy with rebalancing. I believe there are now ETF's that incorporate the whole strategy and the rebalancing and I am wondering if you have a few options to suggest with Canadian equity, international equity and a smaller bond component. Also if she wanted a buy once and hold forever type stock, what might be a few stocks to look at?

Hopefully this question goes through - I wrote up a similar one and even though it said success after submission the credits have not reduced and I don't see anything. I think this may have happened twice.

Q: I am getting older and I am trying to simplify my accounts in case my wife or daughter have to take over for whatever reason. I am moving to VBAL and VGRO as all in one type ETFs to make that happen. My question is about taxing: how are these viewed by the CRA?

Q: Thanks fo r this mornings reply which was great except one question you did not answer and it is this,
From all of the etf's listed which do you suggest to be in TFSA or RRIF?
Thanks.
Terry

Q: At age of 85 is it worth for me to consider converting my present holdings of 20 diversified ETF's to All-in-One ETf's?
If yes can you give me an idea as to the negative or positive reasons behind this decision and which ones from your blog list that should be considered! All the present holdings are in RRIF and TFSA.
Thank you for taking the time for your reply & Merry Xmas!

Q: Hi team,

Could you come up with a list of « sleep at night » ETFs, with a 5-10 years horizon, ranking them from best to lowest potential growth and from highest to lowest risk ?

Please deduct as many credits as you see fit.
Gratefully,

Jacques IDS

Q: Creating TFSA for 25 year old daughter. Started off really timid with VBAL then slowly started to add individual names. Small quantity in US names. If 10,000 left to add, what would you suggest to balance it out and be diversified, based on current prices, value, potential upside, while managing huge swings in price with things like metals/oil/gas? I want her to see the benefits of investing and feel the pressure so don't want to make any huge mistakes. Thanks for your great advice!!

Q: I would like to set up a portfolio of approximately $250,000 for my son who is in his mid forties who has zero interest or ability to manage the portfolio. Half the money would be in a TFSA and the other half in a 'cash' account. One possible option is to invest in a number of ETF's along the lines of the MoneySaver, Model Portfolio but not certain that this would be a good option as rebalancing would be required on a regular basis.
The other option that I am considering is to invest in one or more balanced ETF's or mutual funds such as VBAL, VGRO, XBAL, ZBAL, etc, or perhaps MF's such as the TD Balance Index Fund or the CIBC Balanced index Fund.

How would you structure a portfolio that would require little / preferably no maintenance over a long time frame. Thanks

With ETF's such as VBAL, XBAl, are dividends or interest payments reinvested by the 'fund. or is reinvesting of any proceeds necessary?

Q: Is it a good one

Q: I was intrigued by this ETF and also looked up these other fidelity funds. can you give me your assessment of these three as a one stop shop for a retired senior looking for some fixed and growth investments being somewhat conservative. Any other suggestions for a income/ balanced, and equity ETF

Thanks Dave

Q: I am looking for some suggestions for good balanced funds now that I am retired.

Q: Hi 5i Team,
My husband and I are in our RRIF years so we have large injections of withdrawn cash into our investment accounts throughout the year. We also sell stocks from time to time when they reach a target price and end up with more cash. The intention is to reinvest but often deciding what and when to buy means that large sums are sitting idle for long periods. HISAs, GICs and other interest bearing alternatives are generally not worth the effort given how they are taxed.

We would like your recommendations on what to do with these funds while researching and waiting for appropriate investments to surface. I’m thinking index funds and ETFs - things that are taxed efficiently and are liquid.

Have you any specific, short term recommendations? They could be Canadian or US as long as they can be bought and sold easily and quickly.

Thank you for your thoughts!