Q: I have part of my portolio in a self-managed account and another part in wealthsimple's roboadvisor. My fee only Financial planner said that he does not like the bonds in the roboadvisor which has an equal amount of ZFL (long bond) and WSGB (average duration of 5 years). It is not possible to change the percentage of ZFL to WSGB in a roboadvisor. Although I have really appreciated the service from the roboadvisor (I can have phone calls with a wealthsimple advisor) and love their platform, I am considering moving out of the roboadvisor because it is impossible to change the distribution of long to short bonds. In my self-directed account I hold ZAG - an aggregate bond. My question is: how does an equal distribution of ZFL and WSGB compare to an aggregate bond such as ZAG? Am I exposing myself to much longer duration in the roboadvisor compared to the self-directed account?
5i Research Answer:
Currently, ZFL's duration is 16.6 years, WSGB is 5.11, ZAG is 7.1. A simple average of the first two in equal amounts would be 10.9 years. So, the combination ETFs do carry more interest rate risks, but not an overly significant amount. Plus, with the market expectation of lower rates, the combination could perform better anyway.