Investment Q&A

Q: I am looking to diversify outside of North America. The iShares EEM is an option. Would Vanguard or BMO have a good option as well?

Q: Your thoughts on the etf MTRX.

Q: I have just started an RESP for my grandson and will be contributing the max $2500 per year. What would you recommend as my first stock purchases.
Thank you

Q: ? performance of these 2 etfs.
1. how did each one do during the last major downturns financial crisis A. dot.com B. financial crisis and C covid crisis?
and 2. in general, performance of each over the last 5,10, 15 and 20 years

Q: I recently asked if there was a better replacement. You answered with a US traded ETF. I should of said it needs to be a Canadian ETF.

Thank You

Q: RKNG This brand new Defiance ETF holds some high growth names. Could you examine the current holdings and provide your view on the potential here. Ms Jablonski has some vision so could this be a reasonable high risk small piece of one's portfolio in your view.

Q: I hold shares in MSTY along with other Harvest ETFs. I have received the monthly distributions for all of them except MSTY, even though it was payable on Jan 5. My broker, BMO, says it's because they haven't set the reinvestment price for their DRIP. It's now almost two weeks past when the distribution and DRIP shares normally show up. Does any know if this an issue with Harvest or BMO?

Q: SMHX doesn't come up in your data base. What are your thoughts on it VS the SMH for more focused semi design exposure? How do they compare?

thx, M

Q: What after your top growth picks for base metals? Copper? Uranium? Do these have legs and will they follow the rally that silver and gold are on? How would you rank the commodities? Thanks! Only holding AEM and PHYS currently.

Q: Hi, I was made aware of a gap (The "Korea Gap") in my international ETF strategy based on your ETF Update model portfolios that I believe is worth sharing.

The "Korea Gap" occurs when an investor mixes ETF providers that use different index benchmarks (specifically MSCI and FTSE). Because these two providers categorize South Korea differently, an investor can inadvertently end up with 0% exposure to the world's 10th-largest economy.

MSCI (Used by iShares XEF): Classifies South Korea as an Emerging Market. Therefore, it is excluded from XEF (Developed Markets).

FTSE (Used by Vanguard VEE): Classifies South Korea as a Developed Market. Therefore, it is excluded from VEE (Emerging Markets).

The result is if you hold only XEF and VEE, South Korea effectively disappears from your portfolio!

In 2025, this meant missing out on the massive "HBM (High-Bandwidth Memory) Craze" led by Samsung and SK Hynix, which drove the KOSPI to record highs.

Portfolio Combo | Provider | Where is Korea? | Avg. MER
XEF + VEE | Mixed | Missing (0%) | 0.24%
XEF + XEC | MSCI | XEC (Emerging) | 0.25%
VIU + VEE | FTSE | VIU (Developed) | 0.24%

I'll personally be replacing my VEE with XEC to hold the MSCI Blackrock combination.

In the XEF + XEC combo, South Korea makes up about 12-13% of the Emerging Markets (XEC) slice. In the VIU + VEE combo, it makes up about 5-6% of the Developed (VIU) slice. This means the iShares combo actually gives you a "heavier" bet on Korea.

Q: I am wanting to sell most of our equity exposure in spouse's RSP and my RRIF (a lot of equity exposure in TFSAs and cash accts). Looking at various fixed income/less risky options. Have perused your past income questions. For various reasons I like HUTL, ZWU and XEI for CAD, and ZMI.U for USD. Would prefer another one or two USD options. Could I get your assessment of the options I have indicated, and if you folks have other options (particularly for USD) I would welcome those. TIA.

Q: what is your opinion regarding IEUR? Are there better options out there?

thanks,

J

Q: Hello 5i
Please tell me what you can about the Amplify ETF.
Pros and cons , peers, preference.
Thank you
Dave

Q: I notice that precious metals have taken off, I only own AEM. Is it too late to invest in another stock. WPM is in your balanced portfolio, but looks expensive. What are your recommendations to add to my portfolio now. Would also consider a ETF
Thanks Stephen

Q: Looking for a Canadian based etf that offers exposure to the AI sector. Your thoughts on the above noted one and any better alternatives would be appreciated.

Q: This ETF was mentioned the other day in an answer. My question is in part about it…can you comment on its MER, volatility, liquidity and your overall assessment about it. But also, can you suggest what size market cap you would want to see an ETF have to be comfortable with taking a position of some size? Thanks for your excellent service.

Q: Hello 5i team,
In several recent reports you recommended selling the full position in CPD, noting “better opportunities.” I also noticed that CVD and MFT were removed from your model portfolios earlier.
Given this shift away from preferred-share ETFs, do you think a combination of ZWU, ENCC, ZWB, and HTA would serve as a reasonably balanced substitute for a moderate‑risk, slightly income‑oriented allocation? Or would you suggest broader diversification?
Thank you for your insights!

Q: In one of recent reports you suggested to sell full position of CPD mentioning "better opportunities". I noticed that CVD also disappeared from your Income Portfolio as well (it is more explicable for me). Can you suggest potential alternatives for substitution of CPD / CVD considering relatively high dividends they pay and relatively low volatility? (may you consider ZMO or ZPAY... or something like that - kind of speculations :)). Thank you for great service!

Q: Would you buy into Gold momentum or are we too late. If the answer is that we are not too late, what stocks or ETF would you recommend? Would you recommend KILO?
Thanks for your advice.
Kathy

Q: I was planning on adding some or all of these to an RRSP and /or an RESP.
Any issues or better ideas. I am thinking ETF's and one or two blue chip.Thanks,Paul