Investment Q&A

Q: As retirees we hold XEI and XTR for the Cdn income generation portion of our portfolio . Recently I discovered that there is also XDIV which has a much lower MER. Would you endorse moving completely out of XEI and XTR to XDIV instead?

Q: Hi Peter and Team

I am looking for a growth ETF, 80% stocks and 20% bonds, for my kids RESP, with a 10 year horizon.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Cam

Q: I'm intrigued by these new slightly leveraged ETF's HCAL and HDIV . HDIV has only been around for a few months but HCAL has a year under it's belt going from $15 to $23 . Could 5I give me the percentage of return for each in that time period of HCAL, ZWB, and ZEB { dividend plus capital gain } ? So I can do a little comparing ....And would it be safe to assume any deviation would indicate the effect of the leverage used ? And can I assume that the construction of HDIV { I'm a sucker for high yield } will react similarly ? I am considering what for me would be large positions { 5%-7% } as part of the relatively safe equity income part of my portfolio ? Would you endorse my thesis that they are relatively safe among their unleveraged peers ?

Q: What is your current thinking regarding “clean” energy? Would you go with an ETF like ICLN (or other) or individual stocks that have good long term prospects?

Q: Are there Healthcare ETF's in Canada and in the U.S. that you might recommend? Thank you.

Q: I need to diversify my portfolio. I am too North America centric. What geographic areas and sectors do you like over 3-5 years? I am 72 years old, have a good pension and have medium risk tolerance.

Thank you.

Mike

Q: How should one adapt their portfolio in the face of higher inflation risk that is often mentioned of late?

Do you have any thoughts on this risk?
General portfolio strategy? …ie more materials
Do you have any specific suggestions ie an ETF or a company?

Thanks

Q: Which of QTIPS vs TIPS would you recommend given fees etc and how the US/CAD dollars would likely move in the event of longer term inflation? Any other bond investments that could provide better income and safety if 10-year yield continues to rise?

Q: Hi 5i,
As part of my continuing education could you explain something for me, and also answer a question re ETFs.?
In looking over DOL I notice that in its last 11 quarters it beat expectations 6 times and missed 5 times. Two days after all 6 of those beats the share price fell, sometimes substantially, and two days after all 5 of those misses the share price rose, sometimes substantially. I've also noticed this same dynamic at work with other companies. It seems counter-intuitive to me and I wonder if there's an explanation that's widely applicable for why the share price would move up on a miss and down on a beat. (Maybe it has to do with 2 days after a quarterly report being too short a period to draw any conclusions from, but if that's the case why would the two day movement be recorded and reported in the first place - by CIBC Investor's Edge in this case?)
And second question - could you identify what you think are the best CDN ETFs holding consumer defensive names?
Thanks,
Peter

Q: If you owned Dynamic American 041 would you be inclined to replace it with the ETF equivalent… We understand that Mr Fingold manages an ETF but can’t find an exact proxy …
What do you think of DXF or
DXG

Q: What are your thoughts of ZRR given the current inflation and interest rate environment? Would you invest in it at this time?
Thanks

Q: I would like to invest in US healthcare via a Canadian traded ETF - which ones are available - which would you choose and why - do you like the space over the next 3 years - thank you 5i - Peter really excellent National Post column this Saturday - great context on all the noise out there - Ken

Q: There is some thought that emerging markets might be a good place to invest at this time, especially when compared to USA markets. What is your opinion and why? If you concur, what ETF (s) would you suggest? I have recently come across an ETF with the symbol CIEM; could you factor this ETF into your analysis and opinions please. Thanks

Q: Looking to park cash in a CAD ETF, inside spouse RRSP, until balance gets up to a reasonable enough figure to start buying individual stocks. Recommendations?

Q: Trying to understand your preference for WELL over LIKE. I changed positions for lack of performance about 6 months ago and am very pleased with a LIKE, good yield and performance. At least in resent times. Is it time to change back? Thanks. James

Q: Peter,

Cyber security seems to be a bigger and bigger threat. Is it worth getting involved in this space? If so, is it covered by the big tech names such as Microsoft, Apple etc or is it worth looking at specific ETF such as CYBR? Are there any stocks names that are interesting?

Thank you,

Paul C

Q: About 1 year ago you provided some general guidance on a retirement portfolio and I’m wondering what changes, if any, you might recommend given another year has passed. I’m not looking for specific guidance but rather suggestions for me to investigate further given how the investing landscape has changed this past year. Retirement horizon is 5 years and the portfolio has the following holdings: ZAG(26%), ZSP (3%), CDZ(65%), ZEA(6%). We have a large cash position that we’re ready to deploy. First, what is your take on the viability and allocation of the current holdings? Second, what are some ETF suggestions for the cash - add to existing ETFs or do you have alternative funds you’d recommend for us to investigate. Thanks so much!

Q: Some of our GICS have come due. I went on to buy new ones and was shocked at how low the rates are... 0.8 was the highest I could find for a 1 year. I was thinking about buying the PSA ETF instead until rates go up. It's only slightly less at 0.6 and can be sold at any time . What do you think of this strategy? Any risks with PSA that I'm not aware of?

Q: Is there any difference in performance between between a US listed ETF and the equivalent Canadian TSX listed ETF? Is it best to keep it in Canadian currency?
For example: VOO// VFV/ VSP or QQQ// QQC.F/ QQC
Also what would you recommend for hedged vs non-hedged and also market weight vs equal weight?
Thanks

Q: Are there any tax disadvantages to adding XSP or ZSP to a non-registered account?