Investment Q&A

Q: Is there an equivalent to ZLU in US Dollars? I would like to invest in ZLU but since it will be in my RRSP i think i should invest in US Dollars if possible. There are many funds that follow the S&P 500 Value Index but ZLU has outperformed those over the last few years.

Q: Is it time to switch from STIP to TLT?

Q: In tuesday's globe and mail, Tom Czitron recommeded buying mid term (5-10 year) federal, provincial government, and corporate bonds because they seem to be in the sweet spot between lower risk and higher opportunity, especially if inflation declines and economic growth wanes.
1. Do you agree?
2. Can you recommend names of bonds that fit this bill?
3. please indicate order of buying (best to worse), if any.
thanks

Q: These two "inflation-protected" bond ETFs turned out to be extremely disappointing investments. I don't know whether it's poor investment strategy or some other factors, but these two ETFs didn't provide any intended inflation protection, they behaved just like all other bond ETFs dropping like a cannonball when FED raises the rates. In response to my question on Sept 23, you mentioned that increased distributions may provide some comfort here, but both ETFs decided to cancel October dividend, so stated yields are completely meaningless now. I hold these two in taxable account, do you suggest to continue holding them hoping for a recovery or just to sell them both for tax loss and replace with some other bond ETFs that have better recovery potential? If it's the latter, what replacement would you suggest for STIP and for TIP. Thanks.

Q: I'm down 35% on ZEM & don't know whether I should sell or hang in there. With the increasing US $ & many emerging countries with debt in US $ will those markets continue to fall. I believe that 30% or so of ZEM is China based with Alibaba & Ten cent being larger %ages. These stocks continue to be out of favour in China & are dropping in New York as well. Your opinions are always appreciated.
Dave

Q: Can you compare and contrast these 2 etfs. I've always leaned towards CDZ on the basis that the research shows dvd growers perform statistically better in the long run and thus also paying the higher MER was worth doing. However it seems VDY is performing as good or better and provides a higher dvd stream. I'm thinking I should swap.

Q: I am looking for an etf that allows me to buy long-dated US Treasuries in canadian dollars. In other words, like TLT but in CAD.

Q: Hello 5i,
How would you compare these two ETF's in terms of overlap in geography and sector allocation? We have both - initially VXUS for International, then adding IDV for both yield and diversification within International. We also hold ZWE, ZWG, and VEE yet we still need to increase our International by about 1.80 %. Yield is very important to us as these will be used for RRIF income in the very immediate future.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, as always!!
Thanks!!
Cheers,
Mike

Q: In response to Jason's question on Oct 25th, you indicated that you like AGG and TLT. can you recommend CAD hedged versions of these?
thanks

Q: What environment would TLT perform the best? If the fed goes on hold will TLT effectively be flat, in other words does it take a decrease in the fed funds rate for TLT to have a significant move? What might it take for TLT to go from current price of $96 say to $125. Is a recession good for TLT?
Thanks
Rob

Q: I need to increase the overall international exposure in my portfolio (currently 15%).
I am considering using VE as a simple way to increase international exposure to 30%.

1) Is VE appropriate for this purpose?
2) What other ETF(s) might be suitable?
3) Given VE is down 20% in the past 12 mos would you make a single large purchase, or several smaller ones over time?
Thanks,
Trevor

Q: I hold both of these and I realize it's difficult to compare an ETF to a single stock I was thinking of selling one and putting it in the other. My thought process was once the war is over the Ukraine will need a lot of help in therefore the ETF. Considering my age being 73 what would you suggest
.

Q: You mentioned in one reply that VFV was CAD hedged. I can't find any reference to it being CAD hedged and I thought it was not hedged. Can you please confirm because I prefer the unhedged fund.

Q: Hello 5i,
Looking at the top ten holdings of XQQ and SPY there appears to be a lot of overlap.
Do you agree? Is it advisable to own both?
Thanks
Dave

Q: Good Evening
Can XDV be used as a proxy for CDZ?
Thanks

Q: hello 5i:
we hold some PFFD, but your system doesn't seem to recognize that ETF.
Question: would you expect TLT and PFFD to track very closely? Their charts look similar on a 5 year scale.
If so, and as the yield on PFFD is much higher than that of TLT, would not PFFD have a signicantly higher total return over almost any time horizon?
thanks
Paul L

Q: Hi Everyone at 5i!
I am a new retiree and hold these three ETFs as part of my income portfolio . They have all dropped in value , due to increased interest rates and the market in general. These are my really long term holds unless you foresee a problem with this idea.
Cheers,
Tamara

Q: Hello, I have asked this question last Thursday morning, so just in case it got lost, here it is: these 2 ETFs seem to be similar, except for the lower MER for LIFE and the higher market cap for HHL, is there something to be aware of if I switch from HHL to LIFE for tax-loss reasons? Any disadvantage in putting money in LIFE? Is The Evolve business solid? Thanks.

Q: HI 5I,

I have been reading, listening to my financial advisor and seeing some answers on your question blog that there may be an opportunity with bonds. I like ETF's the last while, so can you give me your advice on some ETF's that incorporate a high level of bonds that may see some upside if bonds were to have some capital appreciation. Thank-you

Q: I am waiting for an opportunity to buy back into bonds
My preference was tlt as the go to investment.
Recently a new etf has been introduced UTEN which is a 10 yr us t- bill.
It’s present yield is about double that of tlt.
Would you expect both to react the same if and when interest rate increases stop and actually reverse direction