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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: I am trying to find the relative valuation of this ETF to its past. It appears to have a PE of about 24. Maybe you see something different. I would assume it is expensive. The holdings consist of very large, high quality companies - a lot of "go-to names". Is there a site or any resource where I can compare today's valuation to other years ? I'm one who hates over-paying for an investment.
Read Answer Asked by James on January 13, 2021
Q: Back on Nov 11, a question was asked which 5 etf’s you would choose for a well diversified portfolio. Do you think this would provide enough diversification or would you rather choose a specific fund(s) for each sector if given the choice? Assuming the answer is yes, which etf’s would you choose today? Thanks for your sage advice!
Read Answer Asked by Sandy on January 13, 2021
Q: 3 grand children and 2 family RESP's. Ages 17 &12 in one RESP and 14 in the other. At present both RESP's invested in VBAL and I am concerned about the higher bond duration vs XSB. Therefore to keep this as simple as possible I am thinking of selling VBAL and putting the entire RESP's into XSB. I would then average into Veqt by reducing the XSB positions. I am still making annual contributions and am ok with the 2% XSB yield. Please give me your comments. Thanks guys.
Read Answer Asked by Richard on January 12, 2021
Q: Hi,
I am currently significantly underweighted in consumer cyclical sector. Can you suggest 2-3 names in U.S.? FTE names in U.S. and International would be great appreciated too. thanks.

Martin
Read Answer Asked by Martin on January 12, 2021
Q: Hi 5i team.
Re ZTL, this long term US Treasury Bonds ETF has been declining since May. With the blue sweep in the US, additional benefit spending to come, possible rate increase and inflation in a year or two, would you recommend to sell this ETF now? What needs to happen to see this ETF reverse the fall? Given the current world economic situation, what other bond etfs would be safer bet? (amount of interest income is not important) Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Willie on January 12, 2021
Q: Hi there,
I see I have quite a backlog of question credits so, I thought I should put some of that to work. I have a general question about rate reset bonds. I have been thinking about reset bonds in etf form if there is such a thing. This would be for using new money to start a small quarter of a position over the coming year. I am closing in on retirement within the next few years and would be interested in hearing your thoughts when compared to preferred shares or laddered bonds. Maybe resets are similar to taking a laddered bond etf - but I am not sure of the merits given the paltry income for bonds. My concern is this market cannot keep up this parabolic growth much longer and the market appears to be pretty frothy right now. As a survivor of the tech wreck, I am worried about what I see as a significant correction (up to 20%) within the next 24 months or so. I am not afraid of risk but I do want to explore a variety of hedging options out there without exiting some of my growth stock positions. Cake and eat it too I expect. I still have about 6 or 7 years in the market. Thanks as always for your thoughts.
Read Answer Asked by Erna on January 12, 2021
Q: If the hoped-for consumer spending rebound happens in say the second half of 2021, which companies ( us or cdn) should benefit the most? Are there ETF's that would cover the category that you would suggest? Many thanks

al
Read Answer Asked by alex on January 12, 2021
Q: Hello 5i team
As a front line (nearly retired) physician, I recently received a Covid 19 immunization. It's difficult to express the REMARKABLE sense of gratitude and euphoria that I observed among everyone involved . Suddenly, we felt liberated from the danger of this scourge that we face daily. Our next exciting job is to immunize our fellow citizens as fast as humanly possible and as we do, this euphoria will spread to society at large.
After my immunization I bought a new car and we're booking our fall and winter travel plans. This manic behaviour, I believe, represents the tip of the iceberg for pent up demand which will be unleashed upon the world.
At the risk of being labelled a mercenary can you identify some sectors which are still beaten up and likely to surge-I'm thinking energy but other suggestions welcome (prefer etf's with a dividend to keep me invested until the recovery occurs-would supplement with high conviction stocks)
Thank you. As always, I value your opinions, Regards gary


Read Answer Asked by Gary on January 12, 2021
Q: Sorry if this question is being asked again. I am not sure if I hit the send button! My son asked me look at his investments. MAW 106 24%,MAW 150 20%,VUS 21%,VEF 18%,,VEE 8 %,ZJG 6 % and XQQ 3%. He is in mid 30's a bit risk adverse but does realize things go up and down.As you can see in he into ETF's and no stocks. Do we have any overlap ? Or are the holdings sufficiently different. Any thoughts appreciated and a Happy New Year.Paul
Read Answer Asked by Paul on January 12, 2021
Q: In a previous answer you suggested GSG for commodities exposure but when I read the entity description I cannot understand what it actually does. I respect your suggestions and would appreciate an explanation of how GSG works. Thanks. Also, any other ETF suggestions for commodities exposure that is a little more understandable for an old timer like myself. All the best

al
Read Answer Asked by alex on January 12, 2021
Q: 50-yr old investing for retirement. Have historically been a dividend fiend but open to juicing the growth side a bit more as a result of the excellent advice I can now obtain from 5i. Considering adding to either my consumer defensive/staples allocation or increasing international exposure (the latter via an ETF). Hoping you might help me deploy a half position in an RSP and jump in one direction from a corner of the fence (and understanding you can't personalize such advice) - considering initiating a position in NWC (CA), PBH (CA), or WMT (US) or adding to an existing position in ZWE (European covered call ETF). My current geographical exposure is 34% US; 33% CA; and 32% International (XEF, ZDI and ZWE). My total covered call ETF exposure is around 8% of my equity portion and geographically diversified. Other suggestions for staples and international ETFs will be appreciated. Thanks for the great service!
Read Answer Asked by Mark on January 12, 2021