Investment Q&A

Q: Good morning,
I own a small house in Ottawa that is free and clear with a current market value of approximately $350,000.
A recent discussion with my trusted mortgage broker confirmed that a 5 year term (Closed & Fixed) term mortgage can be obtained at a rate of 2.29%. This mortgage is said to be:
a. insured through CMHC,
b. portable, and
c. transferable.
At that rate of 2.29% and given that the interest paid would be tax deductible if I use the funds for investment purposes, I'm seriously considering borrowing around $200,000 and investing this amount for an initial 5 year period with an expected net rate of return on investment of 4.5% .
Q1. With $200,000, what are your thoughts of splitting this amount in 5 different chunks of $40K in the following instruments:
a. Mawer Tax Effective Balanced Fund,
b. Mawer Global Balanced ETF Fund,
c. Vanguard Balanced ETF Portfolio,
d. IShares Core Balanced ETF Portfolio, and
e. BMO Balanced ETF

Q2. As an alternative to the above and given the 5 year time frame, would your preference be to invest the $200,000 in a selection of best in class individual stocks split between different sectors and if so, would you be so kind as to provide me with ya listing of your best ideas at this time.

I thank you and look forward to hearing your thoughts on both of these investment strategies.
Francesco

Q: I sold some VBAL:CA at a loss to realize some tax losses and would like to repurchase this ETF at a lower entry point. Can I purchase a comparable ETF from another company like XBAL prior to 30 days, or would that be considered a superficial loss for tax purposes? Similarly, would purchasing a different asset mix product from the same company e.g. VGRO:CA or VCNS:CA be considered a superficial loss?

Q: Is there any merit to owning PID if you have XBAL?Having difficult time seeing if there is an overlap. Thanks

Q: Looking to simplify my life going with either XBAL or VBAL. They seem very comparable with slight differences regarding how much Canadian content.I also have the following ETF's .. QQQ,XQQ,SPY ,IWO ,XHC and ZAG. Could one still retain these or am I doubling down when really XBAL or VBAL will cover most of the stocks in these ETF's. Are there any that could be sold eg ZAG I don't mind having a bit extra in tech though.Thanks for your sound advice in these crazy times.

Q: Re article in today’s National Post re ETF of ETF’s, no ticker symbols were included. Can you provide same and indicate your opinion on general suitability and if favourable your choice?
Thank you for considering my question

Q: Happy New Year 5i,
Is there anywhere I could get a complete list of the holdings in HBAL, VBAL, XBAL? I realize VBAL is 12,595! XBAL 16,000 plus! I am thinking there might be spreadsheets available somewhere. I am just doing a bit of education with my children and grandchildren.
Thanks
Chris

Q: Peter and team
Not sure if you can answer this in a primarily equities forum, but here goes:
I have one account with PHN that is considered as "medium risk". As such it holds 60/40 equities/bonds
The two bond funds have done very poorly over the last few years. Are there better options while still maintaining a "balanced approach" ?
Thanks

Phil

Q: Portfolio Analytics suggests we increase our US and International allocation to 35% and 25% (Currently much lower in both) and also decrease our equities and increase our fixed income to achieve a 60/40% split . (Currently we are at 85/15%). Looking at XBAL as a simple way to help achieve this, using some cash and proceeds of TSGI which I plan on selling soon. Any concerns or other suggestions ?
Thanks as always.

Q: Hi 5i Team,
If you were starting a TFSA and only had 30K would you select 6-10 individual stocks or would it be better to start with an ETF (was thinking XBAL) to start. My daughter doesn't want a lot of work tracking or watching stocks and doesn't want to incur a lot of trading costs. Would you suggest another ETF to start with or go with XBAL, keeping in mind that new money will be flowing into the account to the maximum in the next couple of years. Capital preservation is a consideration but she has a 10 year time frame to work with. Thanks

Q: Hello 5i team,
I'm looking for a one stop global balanced dividend etf at this time, for the next 4 year time frame.
Maybe VGRO, Vbal etc. but not prefered, I'd like about 3% Canadian content in it.
Too much in Canada already.
Any ideas other than balancing MAW120 or XAW with a GIC ladder ?

Q: Would you please suggest 2 or 3 US balanced funds, available in Cdn$ and hedged. Thanks

Q: Please give me your opinion on this ETA .

Q: We have about $150k in a Family RESP invested in the Fidelity Clearpath 2025 Portfolio Series B ISC target date fund. On the Fidelity fact sheet it says "Series B has the highest combined management and administration fees among the series in the Program". We were put into the fund by our previous financial advisor. Funny how that worked. The current MER is 2.17%. Could you recommend two or three alternative ETF's or funds with more reasonable MER's or even possibly a handful of suitable stocks? The funds won't be needed for another five years. Thanks.

Q: If you followed the Balanced Equity Portfolio and the Balanced ETF would you be fairly well represented in each TSX sector based on previous 5i answers and would you also be well represented geographically ie Canada/US/International ...40% ,35% and 25%. If not what would you suggest to come close to these percentages and TSX sector allocations?

Q: Which of these two funds would you prefer and why ? Please compare the managements, the fees, the yield, and the safety, origin , and selection of bond products . Thankyou

Q: I currently have an RESP invested in the Mawer Balanced Fund (MAW104) which I've been pleased with performance (we'll be needing it in about 6-7 years). Considering switching this to either XBAL or VBAL to lower fees and hopefully improve returns accordingly.

I've read some of your answers to Mawer Balanced vs. the XBAL and VBAL ETF's. Would like your opinion on XBAL vs. VBAL for this account. The new XBAL mandate is pretty much the same as VBAL, but it's MER is slightly lower at 0.18% vs. 0.22%. XBAL is much smaller than VBAL currently, but I expect will catch up quickly, and they'll probably match MER's over time.

Do you recommend either of XBAL or VBAL over each other, and suggest even bothering switching from Mawer Balanced Fund in the first place? They all seem like good options!

Q: Hello 5i Could you comment on XBAL as an investment and as a long term hold for someone about to retire and what is the current yield and is it a monthly payout. Thanks