Investment Q&A

Q: I noticed that the MER of " funds of funds" ( covered call funds here )was always high,around 2.5%,compared to simple covered call funds from the same Cies ( around 0.8%).Could you explain this difference,is it then justified?

Q: I have a sum of money lying in a savings account earning neglible interest.
I would like to invest this money in some sort of interest bearing etf or portfolio.
My options would be to invest the money in:-
1) 5i Research Income Portfolio.
2) Hamilton ETF's HDIV and HYLD. I would put equal amounts into each ETF My thinking is that HDIV would give the income yield and HYLD would supply the growth.
I already run your 5i research Income Portfolio which I could add to

Q: Did you happen to read the article in today's Globe & Mail "Don’t be seduced by the juicy yields of covered calls " by Dan Hallett?

I have recently invested in HDIV and HYLD just for those juicy yields produced by the covered call stratagey. Now I am second guessing this idea tempting as the yields are.

What are your thoughts?

Thank you as always for your input.

David

Q: Your thoughts on these funds from Hamilton. Would be for an income portfolio. HYLD in an RRSP which will transition to a RRIF in next few years. HDIV would be held in a non-registered acct.
Yield is attractive but are they sustainable? Is a fund of fund and fees for Hamilton are stacked on top of fees for underlying ETFs.

Q: Hello 5i
In one of the recent questions it was said that you do not like covered call etf’s. I didn’t know that was the case. Maybe it isn’t, even i don’t know. I have concentrated my covered calls on American companies that i own. Also many uncovered puts. I have concentrated on the US because the premiums are much higher than on Canadian stocks. I have quite a few Canadian stocks, however. And i hate to see them languishing and unproductive. I have therefore been thinking of a way to make some money on them. The premiums are so low that it doesn’t seem to be worth the effort. But, covered call etf’s would be easier. I don’t know much about them, however. I wonder whether you might provide some information and some pros and cons. Whether you like the idea or not.
Thanks for the excellent service.

Q: Hello
There are Youtube Investment Advisors pushing the theme of income investing. Nothing else matters, just the income. Not taxation nor ETF price action (Capital Value).

Given this ETF Theme of Covered Call Strategy (some leveraged 25%) are paying such a high distribution, in the right set of market events (down excessive period) can this strategy trade itself to zero?

They are certainly not making 15% income from dividends and call writing. So capital erosion must be the outcome in today's market.

I was holding covered call etfs from BMO during Covid crash. The strategy performed worse, even after distributions, than straight equity holdings. It was a terrible experience as there was zero downside protection and the strategy seemed to accentuate the drawdown.

Given the current environment (more downside in my opinion) are these ETFs setting investors up for an ugly awakening? ( distribution cuts, return of capital (One's own money), price decline and slowness to recover when markets come back)

Thoughts

Q: How would you suggest a 70+ participate in this market,if at all?

Q: I am a vlaue investor, 76 years old, good pension. 43 stocks, 16 ETF's including the above covered call ETF's. I do have some growth holdings (IWO, LNF, WSP).All are doing well except ZIM and SYZ (not worried). My question is the covered call holdings are 10% of my portfolio. Is 10% too much? I do enjoy the $650 a month dividends which have been consistent for the past five months.
Thank you
Stanley

Q: Howdy 5i,

My small business has a corporate investment account with funds sitting in cash that I'd like to invest for the next 1 to 3 years. GICs are not an option as I need liquidity if/when recession arrives. Do you have recommendations for relatively stable ETFs/SPDRs with high dividends?

Regards,
Garth

Q: I am a retired income investor who derives all his income from investments. For obvious reasons I am a fan of covered calls and own the various ZWs and HDIV. I also own the canadian banks and ENB. Most of these have held up fairly well in the turmoil. My question is do the covered call ETF administrators try to keep the return % approx level as the ETF value changes. I note that the RBC quoted return for HDIV is noeth of 10% but ZWC is approx 7% which is not much change from where it was in April. Other ZWs are similar. It would seem that BMO manage the return whereas Harvest do not.

Q: Hello 5i
I hold the above covdered call ETF's as well as at least two individual companies from each (from before I bought these). also have over 10 ETF's that are not cover call. I have 51 positions with 49 stocks. These have performed well during this period of unrest. No they do not hit the high notes but not even close to bottom notes either but steadil;y increase in value aside from the dividends. My question is: with these new covered call ETF's at 12% of my investing portfolio (not including GIC's) might this be considered too much? Each is between 1.5% and 2% of the portfolio as are most of my holdings. The dividends are great and have kept up for the last three months. These also hold great companies that I would hold if I had room (and funds to buy them!) as a value investor. Please take as many credits as required.
Thank you
Stanley

Q: Hello 5i,
I am a DIY invesor with ove $1000,000 trading portfolio over 15 years and am up 25% not including dividends on a mix of ETF;s and equities. My expense ratio is ,05% costing $1608. The one standout is HDIV with a cost of 0.65% and an mer of 2.05% probably due to the underlying holdings. Also many of the ETF's are BMO covered calls. I enjoy the monthly dividends. Is all of this reasonable? If not, please suggest improvements.
Thank you
Stanley

Q: A while ago I asked 5I to run the numbers on HCAL as an example of one of Hamilton's new leveraged ETF's comparing both a covered call and similar market ETF and speculate on the return of their other ones ...... Below in quotations is the answer I got .....

" HCAL 1 month 1.7%, three months 0.85%, YTD 34.9%

ZWB 0.9%, 1.65%, 23.7%

ZEB 1.05%, 1.72%, 29.9%

The difference is likely very closely related to the leverage impact. We would not expect HDIV to be different. " .....

Clearly the Hamilton product out performed both the covered call and regular banking market ETF's

Please clarify the following answer given to Craig this morning ? .....

" For a long-term hold, we would side with either VUN or ZWH, as HYLD would cap long-term capital gains due ot the coverd call strategy. We would be fine with the prospects of both ZWH and VUN but side with VUN for a broader exposure to higher growth areas. "

Q: Hi, could you please compare the relative attractiveness of the above 2 ETfs, understanding HDIF is new but the underlying ETFs are not. Is there much difference? I believe the underlying HDIF ETFs are all U.S. whereas some of the HDIV are Cdn which I believe would reduce USD FX exposure? Any advantage of one fund manager over the other (Harvest vs Hamilton)? Thank you.

Q: HYLD will be starting to trade Feb 7 on the TSX and they are planning to offer a huge 10% yield. It will use a similar strategy to HDIV which invests in an equal weight of covered call ETFs and levered 25%. Any thoughts on both for income?

Q: For a consistent and reliable distribution, and some growth, HCAL or HDIV or some of both?

Q: For safety ZWC or HDIV? THX. JAMES

Q: I'm intrigued by these new slightly leveraged ETF's HCAL and HDIV . HDIV has only been around for a few months but HCAL has a year under it's belt going from $15 to $23 . Could 5I give me the percentage of return for each in that time period of HCAL, ZWB, and ZEB { dividend plus capital gain } ? So I can do a little comparing ....And would it be safe to assume any deviation would indicate the effect of the leverage used ? And can I assume that the construction of HDIV { I'm a sucker for high yield } will react similarly ? I am considering what for me would be large positions { 5%-7% } as part of the relatively safe equity income part of my portfolio ? Would you endorse my thesis that they are relatively safe among their unleveraged peers ?

Q: Can I have your thoughts on this new ETF. Would you consider it a good buy, if not, what would be a comparable ETF?