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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Looking at 3 very different asset classes that offer high yields and would appreciate your help in sorting which ones offer best risk/ reward.
1. Covered calls: NXF, ZWC, ZWU, LIFE, JEPI;
2. Credit - OCSL, ORCC, MAINMAIN
3. Yield - GCOW, EIT-UN.
Questions: 1. What is your comfort level on risk/reward for any or all;
2. Please choose which are investable with short commentary as to rationale and and target buy prices
Read Answer Asked by sam on March 09, 2023
Q: hello 5i:
moving our portfolio more into income producing as we are retired. With that in mind, is JEPI one of your favourite US enhanced income ETFs? I've read the questions on JEPI so am familiar with your answers; just don't want to leave out an ETF that might be "better". Any other suggestions that I should be looking at? Would it be more advantageous to look at something where I don't have to lose income in converting US dollars back to CDN dollars?
thanks
Paul L
Read Answer Asked by Paul on March 07, 2023
Q: Hello, I'm recently retired. I am seeking income generating vehicles for my various, registered plans (RRSP, LIRA, TFSA) to invest in. I'm considering an investment in ZWU. I'm wondering if there might be a similar, utilities based, covered call, ETF available for the American market?

Lastly, if any of these ETFs might also be available without the covered call overlay and if you believe that those versions of the ETFs might provide better, mid-term probability of a greater Total Return; I'd be interested in your opinion, as well.

Thank you!
Read Answer Asked by Richard on November 29, 2022
Q: As STIP and TIP have ceased to pay their previously excellent distributions, I have been looking for alternatives with similar distribution, diversification and volatility characteristics. XHY seems a valid choice; however, can you comment/provide alternatives? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by David on November 23, 2022
Q: Hi
With reference to Brian’s question on October 11th regarding high dividend stocks like these 3 & their safety 5i was OK with these 3.
I accept that nothing is invincible….. But is the risk/ reward on these positive enough to anchor an income on?

I m not greedy and don’t hunger after really big capital gains These would keep me
quite happy.

My plan would be to add other dividend etfs ( XLF etc) and some individual stocks like an ENB, BNS, CM, ABBV….

Thanks for your helpfulness. I
Read Answer Asked by Donald on November 07, 2022
Q: I have all three in my RRSP account. QYLD and XYLD weren't good performers this year and, to add to the misery, they reduced distributions lately. JEPI was performing much better and they kept their distributions virtually unchanged. When we get market recovery, do you expect JEPI to outperform QYLD and XYLD or QYLD and XYLD are likely to outperform JEPI as they dropped more this year? I am considering selling QYLD and XYLD and buying more JEPI. Thoughts?
Read Answer Asked by Michael on October 31, 2022
Q: I’d like to start a position in one or more income funds that offer a very high yield, but I’m not sure which ones to choose. As of Wednesday Oct 5th, these are the indicated yields I’ve found:

CLM 23.92%
PDBC 20.65%
SDIV 15.31%
QYLD 14.19%
RYLD 14.05%
XYLD 13.05%
BIGZ 11.01%
JEPI 10.94%
PDO 10.90%
PDI 10.79%
BXMT 10.38%
MPW 10.17%
STWD 9.84%
EIT.UN 9.42%
IDV 8.15%

Would you recommend any of these or do you have other suggestions? Are any of them too risky if the bear market deteriorates from here, or can they all be held long term? Are some of these yields too good to be true, like CLM and PDBC? Thanks for your thoughts.

Read Answer Asked by Brian on October 11, 2022
Q: I have held JEPI thinking that in a bear market, or any down market, JEPI should do better than SPY or RSP. Is this in fact correct? The decline in JEPI seems about the same as the decline in SPY. I am however not sure. In comparing charts, even premium sources I have access to do not footnote whether or not distributions are taken into account. I also cannot tell from JEPI’s history what portion of distribution is in fact return of capital.
Read Answer Asked by Adam on May 18, 2022
Q: Hello 5i,
I’m helping a conservative investor with a tfsa. Vbal makes up half of the account.
In trying to boost monthly income I’ve come up with the above etfs.
Based on 2020 distributions,how would each of the above etfs be taxed if held in a tfsa?
Also, can you please verify the sector exposure of zup (similar to pff - usd) I thought the financial % was underweight.
Read Answer Asked by Kat on November 04, 2021
Q: I have enjoyed the ride up in the markets over the last year but am now looking to shift a chunk of dollars out of what has been labeled the Cathie Woods stocks. And potentially give up some upside potential for income.

With that in mind I am looking for high dividends with consistent payouts.

Looking at these etfs as a GROUP would they meet this criterion? ie payouts remain relatively stable if the market dips as some are predicting right now.

A drop in share price could be tolerated but the prospect of a significant decrease in the monthly dividend would not.

I guess this is a risk reward kind of question.

THANKS for any guidance you can provide.
Read Answer Asked by Donald on August 31, 2021
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