Investment Q&A

Q: Hi,
Is there a Canadian economic equivalent for the US IEFA ETF in Canada? Would either XEF or XEF.U qualify?
Thank you, Michael

Q: I want to increase exposure to foreign equities within my RRSP. I currently have US$ in my RRSP account (in the US$ side of the account), as well as an existing position in XEF:CA (in the CA$ side of the same RRSP account), which I want to increase. I noticed that it is possible to buy XEF in US$ (the ticker is XEF.U:CA). Since I already have US$ within my RRSP, it would seem to make sense to buy XEF.U:CA, using my US$, and then after the trade settles, to "journal-entry" these newly acquired XEF.U shares to the Canadian side of the RRSP account (where presumably they would be re-designated as XEF:CA). My goal is to hold the XEF holding in CA$ for the long term, as I will ultimately dispose of these securities in CA$ when I begin to withdraw funds during retirement. Does this strategy for acquiring more shares of XEF make sense to you? Or is there some downside I am not considering? (The obvious upside is to be able to acquire the new position in XEF, using my existing US$ cash position, without a direct currency conversion expense.)

Ted