Investment Q&A

Q: If these two exchange-traded funds (ZDV and ZWC) have essentially the same holdings, but ZWC is a covered call, then can you please explain the difference in the dividend? ZDV has an annual dividend of 4%, while ZWC has an annual dividend of 7%. Can you also explain how the covered call feature works? Thank you.

Q: I am looking for an etf or stock that might run with Biden’s infrastructure deal. I found PAVE but it seems to have already run up a lot. Do you think it has more room to run? Any other suggestions for ETFs or stocks - maybe BIP.un?
Thanks for your great service

Q: I'm seeking an ETF to help with disruptive technologies.

I have mostly banks, REIT's, and other dividend paying stocks. Less in
technology, health care though I have a few ETF's covering the space.

What I don't have are ETF's that would protect against a possible
decline in my positions: such as disruptive financial stocks (such as
ARKF) and emerging internet, cybersecurity for example. I have very
little knowledge ion these areas but they could well be important
going forward, as a minority position (maybe 5 - 10% of my portfolio).

Thoughts?

Q: Thanks for the wonderful work from the team. I am holding BRLXF since past 2 years. Have a good 100% gain. However in past 6 months its down significant from about $40 to $30. Do you still see a good growth potential for the stock or would you recommend something else in this sector. Holding period is long 5+ and comfortable with risk and volatility.
Also any recommendation on any ETF or something else where one can park cash component of the Portfolio. I hold about 10% of portfolio in cash to be deployed at times when market is over sold .

Q: Hi Team,
Can you recommend a ETF that cater to Chinese Electric Automobile industry either in US or Canadian dollars.
Thanks as always,
Tak

Q: Current owner of NPP314 in my TFSA. I've been waiting for the assets under NNRG to get to a reasonable level prior to making the switch. The last time I looked, NPP314 had roughly $400M and NNRG had $1M. Last night I see NPP314 has $385M and NNRG has over $400M.

Does this match your search engine data? That's quite a jump....to go from roughly $400M combined to $800M combined! Would you agree that it now makes sense to make the switch to NNRG, now that it has a critical mass, along with cheaper fees?

Thanks for your help....Steve

Q: Hi folks, I am expecting an inheritance of about $50-70,000. I currently have what I would consider a med-high risk portfolio for retirement. I'm 46 so I am a ways from retiring but would rather put that $50-70,000 in a small number of low-med risk equities or an ETF with a good dividend and just let it grow slowly but surely. Can you provide any recommendations?

Thanks!

Q: Thank-you for your great service. The improvements to the site are excellent.

My wife and I are value/income investors, currently focussed primarily on the Canadian Market. We had started our portfolio in early 2020 - and felt that the exchange rate was prohibitive to buy US stocks. Also, with the “Covid Crash” and trying to “learn the market” (more like drinking from a fire hose) we thought it best to focus on companies we knew (Country bias). We have done very well, in a very large part to the 5i community, and have built up a diversified portfolio of 36 holdings (including 2 ETF’s); paying six figures in dividends.

We are about a year from retirement and we have started to diversify more geographically and are looking primarily at ETF’s to achieve this. While the exchange rate is much better, the US now looks expensive to us, so we are looking to focus on the developed International markets. While ETF’s are lower risk, the broad array of options makes our heads spin. If this question is too long, please feel free to edit/omit the above paragraphs.

We have a few questions around ETF’s. Please deduct as necessary. We have read all the 5i Questions and viewed the “Fact Sheets” with the ETF’s mentioned below, as homework, and would appreciate your advice.

1. I like the idea of utilizing covered call EFT’s to help offset some of the lower yields (and potentially underperformance during a market turndown) in some of our growthier positions. For example we have a 1.5% position in LIFE (Evolve Global Healthcare CC Hedged), to help balance out SIS’s lower dividend. What percentage of a portfolio should be covered calls before it starts adversely impacting portfolio returns?

2. We also hold a 2.25% position in ZWE (BMO Europe High Dividend CC Hedged) and are looking to add either a 2.25% in PID (Purpose International Dividend) or ZDI (BMO International Dividend) which offer a decent dividend, and potentially more growth. PID currently pays a higher dividend, and we like that no one company has no more than a 2% weighting. Which of the two would you recommend, or are there other ETF’s you would suggest?

We have considered the impact to our sector weights with the above (as best we can) and will be upgrading to Portfolio Analytics to better allocate these. As we move to increase our weightings in ETF’s this will be extremely helpful.

Thank-you!

Q: Hello. KRBN
I like the carbon credits area but don’t understand it well, how would this ETF make money for investors.
Any insight is appreciated thankyou

Q: I'm a holder of BUG, Cyber Security ETF which has remained relatively flat. Meanwhile, I see CRWD is a top recommendation of yours and it has done quite well. This week's Economist has a feature on cyber security and I believe one of the key takeaways from the article is that firms are wasting a lot of money on ineffective cyber security providers. I welcome your thoughts on if selling BUG and replacing it with CRWD in a portfolio makes sense (betting on a sole winner rather than the sector as a whole), and if you would buy at this price? (Noting I was eyeing this stock a few weeks ago at $215)

Q: Hi 5i,

Can you recommend a few Dividend & Growth ETF's for Europe and Asia (non-North American) markets.

Q: Many companies started to market actively managed ETF's. TD recently followed the crowd with those above mentioned ETFs. From you experience which companies have the best chance of outperforming? How do you rate TD among the others and if I am looking for growth which actively manged ETF's would you recommend?

Thanks

Q: A bit of USD cash to deploy in an unregistered account. Hit for the average with SPY, pick the safer large cap div payers with VIG or growth is the next big thing with IWO. Not a large sum so just topping up one of my 3 USA focused etfs I already hold. Which is the best buy right now, +5 year hold.

Q: Which Canadian ETF would be the best S&P 500 to buy for a 5-10 year hold and why? Thank-you very much.

Q: I heard an interview with Marin Katusa author of The Rise of America in which he stated companies such as Exxon, Shell, Ford etc. will be forced to buy carbon credits and this presents a huge investment opportunity. I would appreciate your analysis and if you agree how would you take advantage of this opportunity. Thank you for your help.

Q: I would like to purchase an ETF for either Bitcoin or Ethereum.Could you explain the difference between the two

This would be a minimum of a ten year hold

Thank you
Paul W

Q: I’m looking for a US value based ETF that will outperform the overall market if the rotation into value continues, but should just the same be a solid long term (5-10 year) hold regardless of how the growth/value trade plays out in the future. What would be your preference between IWN, IWS, VTWV or is there something else you would suggest?

Q: I have a portfolio weighted to US Tech Growth stocks. About a year ago, I sold some companies and moved 10% of my cash into 1) Gold (HEP) 2) Short term bonds (HFR), and 3) a Banking ETF (ZWB) to diversify. These three have proven to be losers for me. Does it make sense to keep any of these three for continued diversification or are there better ways to round out the portfolio with a bit of a safety net? Thanks!

Q: Portfolio analytics --> I need international exposure.

I'm 44yo with a high risk tolerance and 2 kids, 4 yrs and 7 yrs away from entering post-secondary.

Could you make some recommendations to plug this hole in my portfolio? Individual stocks and an ETF mix would be ideal.

Thank you,
Ian.

Q: What are some of the best crypto ETF’s to invest in at this time?
Thank you