Investment Q&A

Q: I am puzzled about the fact that some mortgage lenders offer as low as 1.9 to 2.1% mortgage rates. Why would someone lend money as such a low rate, when you can get more (and garanteed) investing it with a CDIC backed GIC. If the amount is huge and not covered by a set of CDIC accounts, such a lender could get the same yield from a short-term bond ETF like ZCS. My theory is that those lenders hope that a small percentage of their borrowers fail to carry the mortgage, in which case, they somehow profit from re-possessing a house that has appreciated in price. If that is not something a lender can do, what am I missing? Thank you.

Q: Doc as many questions as required....

I am looking at moving out of a managed portfolio for which I pay about 1.5% management fee plus the fees for the products in the fund ( averages about 0.29% for a net of about 1.79%). The managed fund has not beat its benchmark net of fees in last 5 years so I am giving my manager and the product the boot.

Main reasons are:
1. I am paying for an "actively" managed fund that really is performing like a index fund ( I can buy the fund benchmark as ETFs for %0.23 mer)
2. I dont really need it to be balanced due to my other investments. It was useful when I had less money, less time and less knowledge.
3. I have the time, temperament and knowledge to move it all to be self managed

My plan is:

1. Not have any fixed income holdings as my wife's federal government pension counts for all required fixed income/bond. It is also the anchor that allow me to be more aggressive with our other investments

2. All Canadian exposure will be via stocks loosely following your balanced equity portfolio.

3. For the US-global exposure I am considering adopting the US/global portion of the CME ETF portfolio with the following weighting: 10% VEE, 10% VE, 20% SPY, 25% VIG, 25% IWO, 10% ZWU. ( ie cut out most CAD and bond stuff and kept the same weighting as CMS portfolio for the rest)
4. Simplify the number of products I have across multiple account. In other words balance globally vs balancing within each individual account.

So my questions are:
1. At a high level what if any changes would you suggest to this approach
2. My portfolio is a mess with multiple products across TFSA, RSP, RESP, and unregistered accounts for both me and my wife. Very generally can you remind me which products should be in which account for tax efficiency.
3. Any suggestions on how best to transition...general plan is all new money goes to ETFs, move 1/3 each year out of managed fund to ETF portfolio.

Tom

Q: Hi Great Service With ETF's gaining popularity and taking over from mutual fund investments ,how will they react with a 30 to 35% correction to the market? These investments have not been tested in a mass sell off. Question is about ETF's on the US and Canadian Markets

Q: 5i

I am 75 years old and have $30,000 DOLLARS of cash in both my TFSA and my wife's TFSA. Regardless of sector weighting how would you invest the funds. Great service you provide for both the educated and less educated investors.

W

Q: Hi there, I currently only own Canadian equities and am thinking of investing in a few US companies for diversification. What would be your top 3 ideas from the US that would be good additions to your Balanced Equity portfolio? I am okay with names with a tilt towards growth but not super high risky - probably similar to names to CSU, SHOP, KXS, SIS, NFI, TOY, PBH etc.

Thanks!

Q: I often read about the term "dividend aristocrats" . I am curious to know who publishes the list please?
Thanks Rick

Q: The fourth article ("Dividends for the long run")in the last "5 from 5i" by Michael was kind of thought provoking. There was research by Credit Suisse that found that "Cash Cows" (high CFROI/low growth) and "Dogs" (low CFROI/low growth) had outperformed in cumulative shareholder return going back 4 decades. If I understood correctly the thesis seemed to be that performance is a function of expectations versus what really happens and that for stocks that were "Cows" or "Dogs" expectations tended to be consistently too pessimistic which actually ended up leading to better share performance as expectations were exceeded. Are there any Canadian companies that come to mind that you think fall within those two profiles just to help me relate to some real life examples? Thanks,

Q: It would appear that a 5% exposure to the Oil and Energy Sector is the current recommendation. Should energy midstream and infrastructure companies be included in determining ones exposure?

Q: Hi Peter and Team - Although nobody can predict the future prices of resources, with the knowledge and experience you have do you think we are in a long term bear market for oil and gas. Besides the effects of the supply side, is it possible that the investment in green energy and resulting increased production in those fields could work also on the demand side to keep the prices of oil and gas down at some point. With all this in mind, do you think it advisable for me to substantially reduce my holdings in oil and gas stocks. I am not really overweight in this area, probably in the 5 to 8% range.
Thanks.

Q: Dear 5i,

Please critique the following proposed index ETF portfolios (only equity portion provided, fixed income allocation will be identical in each)

1.
20% VCN
20% ZLB
40% VFV
10% VIU
10% ZLI

2.
20% XIC
20% ZLB
20% XUU
20% ZLU
10% XEF
10% ZLI

3.
40% XMV
40% XMU
15% XMI
5% XMM

With these portfolios, I am attempting to achieve greater sector diversification than if I went with strictly broad-market indices, with a defensive tilt. Which do you think is best (in terms of long-term, risk-adjusted total return potential) for long-term hold/accumulation with annual rebalance to initial weights, and what changes would you suggest (if any)?

Thank you.

Q: Diversification is my concern, but to have a good picture of my portfolio, where do I put (in which sector) ETFs such as hxx, vee, iwo, smin ?

Thanks for your help,

Jacques

Q: Morning Peter,
While the declines in oil prices are well assessed, whats the reason that other commodities like Coffee are hitting long term lows even though demand is high ? Is it also over supply ?

Q: My wife and I are voting these days on a number of proxy votes. My questions are about directors:
-- For some companies, particularly oil and gas companies, the proposed directors sometimes seem to be affiliated (director or executive) with a competitor. Is it reasonable that directors are affiliated with competitors?
-- Some directors who are a Chairman or CEO of one company are also directors of multiple other companies. How can they have the time to do this? How many outside directorships is it reasonable for a Chairman or CEO to have?

Q: OIL: it's seems to be in a downward spiral. What is your outlook for it, short and long term? Is it a commodity that one doesn't need much of in their portfolio?

Q: Hi.
Anecdotal?
During the past 5 months, my computer screen did not contain enough space (I had to scroll down) for all the new 52 weeks highs that came furiously
Just noticed over the past week my computer screen did not contain enough space (Ihad to scroll down) for all the new 52 weeks LOWS.
My personal A/D line.
CDJ

Q: Hello Peter,

I am planning on making a 30% capital contribution to my stock portfolio. With my holdings predominately being the Balanced Equity Portfolio, which stocks are OK to add to given the latest market activity and specific company outlook, regardless of weighting?

Thanks,
Angelo

Q: Could you confirm that dividends of companies domiciled in Canada, regardless of the exchange they are listed on, and paid and received in US dollars still qualify for the Canadian dividend tax credit? As such, I assume that there would not be any US withholding tax (non-reg accounts). It would only be the US dividends from US corporations that would have 15% withheld?

Thank you.

Paul F.

Q: Thanks for your reply to my fixed income question re: BCE and HR.UN. I was also looking for an opinion on my present holdings which are HOT.UN, FC, ECN.PR.C and KWH.UN. Are they good choices and can you rank the six stocks mentioned?
Thank you.

Q: Just a suggestion - we often see new members join, buy a portion of the portfolio and then are disappointed by the short term results. It may be helpful if you provided new members an overview of your philosophy, the portfolios, and the 'portfolio' approach to investing. i know this would have been helpful when i first joined.post if you wish!

Cheers

Q: I hold the following ETF’s in a Non-Registered account. It is sort of a general purpose portfolio with a bit of emphasis on the health care sector (just because I think it is coming due). My question is with additional cash to add should I look for another ETF or add to the existing ones? I guess I am saying do I need more diversification or is there another particular sector I could emphasize?

Canada
iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index Fund

US
Vanguard US Total Mkt Ind ETF
AdvisorShares Focused Equity

Europe
Vangrd FTSE Dev Europe All Cap

Health Care
BMO EqWt US HthCare Hedged CAD
iShares Global Healthcare ETF

Emerging Markets
BMO India Equity Index ETF
Fairfax India Holdings
Fairfax Africa Holdings