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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: Thanks 5i Team - what an excellent service!! May I have your comments on my TFSA strategy and an ETF recommendation. My TFSA is almost fully funded and divided into 3 notional "buckets". Roughly 1/3 is comprised of growth securities, selected from the 5i Growth Portfolio, with my current positions being KXS, XBC, WELL and LSPD; Roughly 1/3 is comprised of about 10 Canadian "dividend growers", about half of which are among the 5i Balanced Equity or Income Portfolios such as ENB, EIF, PBH, BIP.UN and BEP.UN and the other half well known blue-chips like T, CNR, CNQ and RY; and the final 1/3 is a single, conservative diversified ETF, currently Vanguard Conservative Portfolio VCNS, which I refer to as the "anchor". I prefer to limit the total number of securities to no more than about 20 (I am a few short of that right now) so I can adequately manage things, and I add to VCNS while awaiting opportunities to purchase positions in the other securities I own, or to sell from if cash is needed so I can continue to hold the individual growth and dividend securities. I am looking for reasonable growth in my TFSA over a 5-10 year period, and I can tolerate some risk but prefer to avoid excessive volatility or risk. My questions are: (1) are these 3 roughly 1/3 buckets a sensible approach for reasonable growth over a 5-10 year horizon or would you recommend different weightings or approaches, (2) could you recommend 1 other diversified ETF that I might consider for the "anchor" portion, and (3) could you recommend 2-3 other securities for the growth portion, to add a bit more diversification. Thanks very much.
Read Answer Asked by Brad on January 20, 2021
Q: Hello 5I Team
The following stocks/ETF makes up less then 5% of my portfolio in the green space theme . I am considering in adding PBW ETF to the group , do you see any concerns in the choices or in the weighting .Would you make any changes .Feel free in deducting additional credit in answering the questions .
Thanks
Claudio
Read Answer Asked by claudio on January 20, 2021
Q: There seems to be many etf / index for the nasdaq 100 in terms of different companies offerings, Canadian / us $ , hedged/ unhedged etc
1 if u were to pick one does it matter in terms of return/ mer if it’s purchased in $us or $ can and can u recommend which one in each currency mentioned
2. In addition to above would you recommend any other nasdaq etf such as qqqj or other or would this be a duplicate?
Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Indra on January 20, 2021
Q: ARKK Would you suggest starting an investment in the se ETF’s at this time?
Read Answer Asked by Rick on January 20, 2021
Q: Hi 5i,
Can you make a few suggestions on EFT’s that could be used in constructing a portfolio for an RDSP investment account covering Canada, US and International with a 20+ year time horizon?
In addition to your individual suggestions what are your thoughts on holding a world ETF like XAW from a tax efficiently perspective within an RDSP account for world exposure?
Thanks,
Read Answer Asked by Bob on January 19, 2021
Q: With the demand most likely increasing for rare earths and other precious metals, especially as more EV production will be coming on line, do you see this ETF as a good way to have some interest in this sector. It seems to have diversified holdings. with approximately 46% of the holdings in the Chinese companies that currently are the dominant market players.. I like that Australian companies are also well represented. Is this a worthwhile, growth oriented investment ?
Read Answer Asked by Maureen on January 19, 2021
Q: I sold DXJ and DXJS a year ago and have had seller’s remorse since the day I sold. Do you think buying these back at their current multiyear highs would be dumb? If you like Japan, would you today buy the same ETFs or do you have other ETFs (trading in US$ only) to suggest for my further study? If buying would you buy hedged or unhedged versions? I would be thankful for whatever number of symbols of Japan ETFs that you think might be fine for 3 to 5 years.
Read Answer Asked by Adam on January 18, 2021
Q: Hello,
I have some holdings in the Sun Life Granite Balanced Growth Portfolio class F as a "steady" fund for a blend of growth and safety. Thoughts on this fund please and any funds in your view that could be better in the space.

Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Chris on January 18, 2021
Q: I currently own ZEM AND ZSP. Is adding XAW good? If one is going to buy US stocks most likely us tech stocks would one need to buy the ETF XQQ?
Thanks
Read Answer Asked on January 18, 2021
Q: For the fixed income portion of the portfolio, do you have any recommendations / suggestions (ETF, private fund, mutual fund, specific bonds). Realistically, hoping for a return between 3 and 6%. I am ok to take some risk. Looking for a decent risk/reward investment. Long term hold.
Read Answer Asked by Pierre on January 18, 2021
Q: Hi guys!

Can you please recommend some alternatives/additionas to XTR? I'm looking for high dividend with also an (as high as possible) degree of diversification. Essentially, a couple choice income picks if I were to only choose 1-3 ETF for an entire dividend-based portfolio. This is in relation to my previous question where I was looking to do something relatively safe with ~60k over 2-3 yrs. Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Andrew on January 18, 2021