Investment Q&A

Q: I own HHL and LIFE (two separate accounts). They aren't looking too healthy lately. What are the likely reasons? Trump, cover calls, interest rates, time of year, etc?
Thank You, Merry Christmas

Q: Could you recommend a few ETFs trading in CAD that would provide exposure to healthcare. A couple of ETFs for growth and a couple for Income using covered calls.

Q: Are there any particular tax implications on the yield for these 2 ETFs ?

Thanks

Q: Retired dividend-income investor with a concentrated portfolio. My main exposure to the Healthcare sector is LIFE. I currently have over 4,800 shares and am contemplating adding another 400+ shares.

I like everything about LIFE, except for the liquidity. It trades, depending on the timeframe, roughly 12,000 to 17,000 shares/day. I understand the market can either make or delete shares as needed.

If I needed to swap out of LIFE, I could purchase HHL which has better liquidity, but a higher MER. However LIFE is held in a Cash account and would generate some capital gains.

I asked this exact same question 1-2 years ago and thought I'd check in to make sure a) you were still a fan of "LIFE", and b) you still agree that, as a long term hold, you are not concerned with the liquidity under my circumstances.

Thanks for your help....Steve

Q: How would you compare HHL and LIFE for income

Q: I am pretty close to full positions on LIFE, XIT and XST. Also, I am sitting on <5% cash, being basically fully invested. Over the next few months I plan to top up these 3 ETFs.

In what order would you add to each of these 3, based on their current valuations, compared to their historic valuations as well as their potential?

My thoughts were LIFE, then XST, then XIT (although I suspect your order would be XIT-LIFE-XST). Please include a brief "why".

Thanks for your help...Steve

Q: Dear 5i team.

Are the holdings in these two different enough to hold both? Is the lower mer of life good enough reason to only own it?
Understanding that they are covered call etfs, which non covered call etf would compliment them best to gain upside to sector rallies?

Thanks for your insights.

Q: Hi 5i, we need to increase our Healthcare allocation.

Currently hold XLV in our non-reg account, and are satisfied with it.

We need to use CA$ funds in our RIF's to increase, and are looking
at HHL, XHC, and LIFE (little unsure with LIFE as their website has faulty info).

We are looking for income plus some growth.

Could you provide some analysis of these 3 options,
and any other suggestions that you might see.

Thanks as always for your assistance. T.

Q: Are these ETFs worth holding for income in a diversified portfolio? I realize that the covered call strategy limits the upside potential.

Q: Would like to get your view on ETFs that use covered call options to enhance returns. As interest rates plateau and eventually begin to fall is there anything 'in general' that we can expect from these ETFs? Will the share price increase, like bonds, to bring yields more inline with expectations or is the share price more influenced by the underlying share prices of the stocks held in the ETFs?

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I have funds available over time to invest in / top-up some of my positions to meet long term asset allocation targets. I plan on continuing to invest these funds over a number of months...as I have been over the past 8 months.

The question is = in what order do I buy the following = XST, XIT (several BNN-ers say to avoid adding to technology at this point), BCE, BNS, LIFE, ZUT.

One method is to wait for these securities to hit my price targets (based on hitting a combination of fundamental and technical targets (a little bit is kind of bottom-feeding).

A 2nd method is looking at setting the order of buying, based on where one thinks each security is relative to their historic value.

Ignore asset allocation...these are smaller amounts and the AA is reasonably good right now.

My suggested order, subject to where each security's price is at (please shoot holes in my plan):
Sept = BNS,
Oct = XST-#1 (in 2 tranches-spread out),
Nov = ZUT-#1 (ditto),
Dec = XIT-#1 (ditto),
Jan = XST-#2,
Feb = ZUT-#2,
Mar = XIT-#2,
As each hits their price target (minor adds) = BCE, LIFE.

Please state your order and why.
Thanks...much appreciated...Steve

Q: hello 5i:
I'm looking for ideas for a covered call health care etf in US dollars. LIFE.B seems to be a little to thinly traded, so something other than this? If choices are very limited, would a general etf like SCHD or DIVO be the next best option?
thanks
Paul L

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. At what point does liquidity become an issue? I currently own 4000+ shares of LIFE and am considering adding another 500 shares. I believe that LIFE trades roughly 9000 shares/day.

LIFE is my proxy for the HC sector and it is my intent to hold for the long term. I know I could buy another HC ETF, like HHL. However I run a concentrated portfolio.

Thoughts? Thanks....Steve

Q: I manage my daughter and her husband's investments. They currently own the above equities (except XST), plus fixed income. I would define them as conservative investors.

Regarding their asset allocation, I am still in the process of building out their portfolio. They are a little light on Consumer Staples. I was trying to find a suitable ETF and came up with XST.

Q#1 = What are your current thoughts on XST? The constituent holdings actually look pretty good. The various rates of return also look good.

Q#2 = Are there other ETFs that I should consider? I couldn't find a BMO version. I have read the past questions on XST and it appears to me that XST is the front runner (compared to VDC and XLP), when looking at past performance.

Thoughts? Agree?
Thanks for your help...much appreciated...Steve

Q: Do you think it worthwhile to buy both of these holdings (i.e. 3-4% each in an otherwise reasonably well-diversified portfolio) for the sake of making the best use of their respective growth/dividend potential? Their high degree of correlation seems the one factor mitigating against this strategy.

Q: Although you refer to LIFE in answer to questions about the ETF I am assuming as usual you prefer the unhedged LIFE.B for the usual reasons

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I hold the Evolve ETF called LIFE. It is my proxy for the Health Care sector and have 7% of my equity portfolio in LIFE.

I just read the April 21/23 question by Michael regarding the Cease Trade Order on 11 Evolve ETFs.

The article did not specifically mention LIFE, but I wanted to check with you that there was 0% chance of a spillover impacting LIFE. In other words, I wouldn't need to flush my LIFE holding and buy a similar product, like HHL.

Thanks for your help...Steve

Q: I have been fortunate to come into a windfall of cash from a relative, and I am interested in taking new positions in the following securities with this new cash. Please note, my existing portfolio is fairly well diversified across all sectors in North America.

Can I please get your long-term opinion on these new securities I wish to invest in. Do you see any issues with respect to these investment choices? I have money to invest and feel the urge to plunge into the market at this time.

CSH.UN, MRC, ALA, MPCT.UN, TRP, CVS, LIFE.U, TEVA

Thanks

George

Q: Hi 5i,
Do you still favour LIFE over DHT.un? And what about holding both in a TFSA?
And what is your opinion of PPL? It never goes up? I also have ENB but they have the underwater pipeline issue. What would be alternatives?
Many thanks for your patience and great suggestions.
Connie

Q: hello 5i:
recently, I asked a question about LIFE; thanks for the quick response. In hindsight, what I should have asked might have been: which covered call ETF, in the health care space, provides the best dividend rate, with the lowest return of capital. As we're dealing in registered accounts, return of capital is not of interest to me.
thanks
Paul L