Investment Q&A

Q: Can you help suggest a low MER, technology sector ETF available in either US or Canadian exchanges that includes GOOGLE as a holding. I found IETC that has a low MER but the classics like VGT, IYW and XLK do not include GOOGLE. Many thanks.

Q: I am retired but with a small consulting business that has cash sitting in an investment account. I have some concern about the valuation of the current markets and looking to invest with some tilt towards safety realizing nothing is guaranteed. I think ETFs may add a small amount of safety. With that in mind, I am looking at the following ETFs: XUT, XSU, XST, VIDY, TECH, TEC, JXI:US, FEQT with a slightly higher position in FEQT.

I would greatly appreciate your comments/thoughts and suggestions for improvements.

Thanks for this super service!

Q: I have a question about hedged/unhedged versions of the same ETFs. There are a number of these, and they often have very different market values, as in TD's Global Technology Leaders ETF - TEC (unhedged) and TECX (hedged). In this case, the unhedged version has a mere 8.7m assets compared to 3.5b for TEC.

I would normally think an ETF with such a small AUM unstable, but given this is a TD ETF and mirrors its vastly larger brother, would that necessarily be the case? And isn't the rise and fall of an ETF simply a reflection of the stocks it holds?

What brings this to mind is the way hedged ETFs of American stocks have outperformed their unhedged counterparts this year. There is an administration in the US determined to drive down the US dollar by hook or by crook. So it seems to me that hedged is the way to go for now.

Q: Greetings 5i,

Looking for diversification for the wife's portfolio. We hold within the TD platform, TD WebBroker. Specifically regarding TDs ETFs I had thought that some of their ETFs had no transaction fees associated with purchases. Usually within TD WebBroker there is a $9.99 fee for most transactions and I am trying to get around that for the ETFs we are considering. I thought 5i may have this information available and could you list the ETFs that have no transaction/trading fee through the TD WebBroker.

Cheers!

Q: Hello ,
I was thinking of buying TD technology leaders etf (TEC) instead of XQQ , the nasdaq 100 etf as it has performed the nasdaq and seems to be more diversified. Any comments please?

Also, I looked at the details of VUN and XUU etfs, They both seem to have similar holdings and over 5 year period both have similar performance. However , going over more than 5 years, why has VUN out performed XUU. I am not clear on this..

Regardless of the tariffs situation, the US market seems to do well over time, and hence i thought instead of total Europe exposure, go with VEQT etf. Any comments please..

Also, do you prefer unhedged products like VUN as opposed to VUS? Lastly, i use yahoo to to compare charts. Do you know a better site please? Thanks very much

Q: Hello 5i Team, Happy New Year! I have a diversified portfolio with plenty of tech exposure and S&P. We are looking into Sector based ETFs. Based on this environment, which one would you recommend out of these - XAD, HBGD, TECI, CHIPS, TEC, XEXP, FOUR, RBOT. Or, would you recommend any other sector ETF?

As always, thanks for your valuable insights.

Best, AJ

Q: Hello 5i Research
Is there a etf that I purchase in Canadian dollars the replicates the VGT in the USA.
Thank you

Q: Further to previous questions, I have ZWT as a Tech ETF, and has done well, but things like SMCIs pop last week would have definitely not been fully realized. Is there a solid Canadian listed Tech ETF for putting in my TFSA? I would like to avoid tax things if it pays a dividend. US listed options as well, preferably with negligible dividends.


Can you suggest a few options for each market, with low fees and a good management team? and maybe a specialized Data center ETF?

Thanks

James

Q: Hello 5i
Many thanks for your continuing excellent weekly observations and advice.

In my RRIF, TFSA and Unregistered accounts some of the larger holdings are US companies (GOOG, MSFT, etc). I am concerned that upon my passing some or all of these US stocks may be vulnerable to US Estate Tax.
I know that there are various tax treaties between the US and Canada that might impact some or all of these holdings, but I am unclear on the details.
Can you tell me if either or both the TFSA and RRIF are exempt?
Can you provide references that would cover these questions?
Can you recommend CANADIAN-based ETFs that hold Mag. 7 and/or other popular US stocks?
Thanks again.

Q: Please provide your comments on the risk for the above ETFs (low to high) and rank them for potential growth. Are there Canadian equivalents to the US ETFs? Would it be a good idea to purchase the US ETFs in a TFSA? Would these ETFs currently be considered to be a buy, hold or sell?
Thank you

Q: Could you please suggest a mirror ETFs from the listing below in Canadian dollar?

VOO
VGT
QQQ
PSA

thanks,

Q: ETF to invest in AI in Canada .

Q: I would like to dip my toe into the AI waters using an ETF several of which you have mentioned. Unfortunately they are all on the NYSE.Am I wrong, as a Canadian, in avoiding the NYSE for fear of endless red tape and possible US taxes? I assume that there are no AI ETFs on the TSX or you would have mentioned them, I may have missed them.Thanks in advance and for all your great work.Rick

Q: Could you pls provide ETFs for dividend and capital growth over the next 12 months for each of:
Communications Services, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Financial, Health Care, Industrials, Information Technology, Materials, Real Estate, and Utilities?

Q: two questions - for CDN. investor with CDN dollars what ETFs do you recommend for the semi-conductor space and us technology - thanks

Q: I am currently down on the following stocks and etf's and am considering buying more in order to average down. Are there any of the following that you would not purchase at this time?

Q: Just curious your thoughts on getting tech exposure. Could you please provide your preference (not individual names) on a basic etf like TEC or the covered call strategy? Pros and Cons of each one if you could please.

Q: My 25 years old son is starting a portfolio by buying all equity ETFs XSP (30%), TEC (30%), and XWD (40%) in Canadian dollars, which he intends to hold for a long time. 1. Is the selection of ETFs OK ? 2. Are there better alternatives in performance and fees? 3. Is the allocation OK? 4. Do you have any suggestion? Thanks.

Q: Dear 5i,
Is TEC ETF CAD hedged?
Does TEC ETF hold all stocks directly?
The MER for TEC is 0.39 and the MER for QQC.F is 0.26.
If one already owned 8% VFV and 10% VVL in an RRSP and wanted to increase technology exposure by 2% which one would you choose?

thanks

Q: Do Canadian ETFs that track US tech firms underperform? I was looking at these and a few others on the G&W and the Canadian ETFs with the exception of HTA and HTA.B (up 35%ytd) seem to have significantly lower returns. And I think HTA uses covered calls.

XLK is up 32% ytd, IYW 35%, IGN 31%. The most popular Canadian ETFS seem to be ZQQ(ZQN) 26%, XQQ and HQQ 26% and TEC 25%. Some of this is due to currency moves, but the hedging costs of the hedged ETFs surely aren't that large. Is it better to just buy XLK or are HTA/HTA.B a better alternative?