Q: Good afternoon 5i;

I have been a holder of the TLT ETF for some time; only a very short period was it in the green. While the yield has been decent, I am now down 14% as the Jerome Powell cage gets rattled.

My question is simply, are the Trumpian risks becoming too much to hold this ETF? I believe he is radical enough to remove Powell, but likely won't and will just continue to make noise. Even the noise is having impact.

If yes, do you have a Canadian Bond Fund you might recommend of similar characteristics?

Q: Dear 5i team.
The following was your response to a bond question I asked in '24.

"Nothing is guaranteed, but bonds' leverage is highly correlated to their maturity. CLF has a relatively low duration of 2.8 years, whereas XLB is 15 years. As a general rule, for every 1% increase or decrease in interest rates, a bond's price will change approximately 1% in the opposite direction for every year of duration. With a bond ETF in theory the move should be similar, and thus XLB in theory should see a much larger move than CLF when rates move (either way). In reality it is not so concrete, and depends on variables in the yield curve and other factors (supply/demand). But we would be very confident in saying that if rates move lower XLB's bond portfolio should do significantly better than CLF. Owning XLB is essentially a 'bet' that rates will drop. As such, we would be fine owning both XBB and XLB for a bit more diversification of bonds. XBB's duration is 7.5 years so a good middle ground between CLF and XLB."

Been watching XLB/XBB for some time now, and both appear to be in downward trends in terms of share price, and close on yields. Rates have been steady, or in decline, so I'm completely confused.
Please take a look and try to make sense of this for me?

Many thanks for your help.

Q: In an effort to balance my portfolio, I’ve invested in both short-term (XBB, currently +0.9%) and long-term (XLB, currently -2.74%) bond ETFs, all held within a registered account. Despite these being commonly recommended by industry analysts for portfolio diversification and stable returns, I’m seeing losses across both and finding it difficult to understand how to generate positive returns from bonds in the current market environment.

Given this, I’d appreciate your guidance. Should I consider:
• Selling XBB and XLB and moving the funds to a high-interest savings account?
• Adding to my bond holdings by including alternatives like XSB or VAB?
• Holding my current positions and staying the course?

I’m open to adjusting my strategy but would value your insight on how best to approach bond investments right now.