Investment Q&A

Q: Hi 5i team,
Could you please recommend ETFs that invest primarily in US small/mid cap biotech, medical equipment/pharma and digital/IT companies? Thanks.

Q: First, I wanted to thank you for your Canadian portfolio suggestions, especially for the balanced and growth ones. I've been very lucky on timing, still I am extremely happy with the service, advices and the gains this year. On another note, I am looking to allocate 10%-15% of my locked-in RSP in either an international or global well managed portfolio composed of small cap and/or mid cap stocks. Looking for intelligent high risk. I have a long time horizon (I am 30 years old). I would prefer actively managed or an ETF you strongly believe in, diversified and with a strong track record. I had MAW150 in mind, but when I look at the top 10 positions individually... They are pretty much all at their all time high and I'm not sure if they have a lot more room for growth ahead this year or next year factoring all the risk that remains. I know it's almost impossible to time the market, but if I can dodge a speculative correction like there was for tech this week, I would be more than happy. All that said, which one(s) would you recommend considering the most for September 2020 based on your expertise.
Thank you again.

Q: Please suggest a few ETF or actively managed funds for growth over 15 years.

Also, if the horizon is 15 years, will emerging markets like India/ China do better than mature markets.

Q: I’d like to dip my toe into doing a bit of technical trading. Are there signals that you prefer to use, and is there a specific kind of security (maybe an example) that this type of trading might work better on? Also, would this work for ETFs? I’ve been watching VGG using the MACD but I don’t think it’s a good candidate since it tends to trade in a narrow band and the signal seems to be too late getting in and out.

Thanks.

Q: I am biased to see gold continue to move higher as we get closer to the US election. Particularly if Biden wins, since Trump will no doubt contest the results and pretty much do all he can to remain in the White House beyond Inauguration Day, resulting in heightened volatility.

At the same time, I could also see a scenario where the US$ rallies on the back of a FTQ bid amid this volatility.

So does one add to gold exposure with the view that the US$ rallies in the coming months? Or do you think any potential uptick in gold will be mitigated by a stronger US$?

And if you were to be relatively bullish on gold, would you buy, say, XGD, or would you add a company like FNV or ABX?

Thanks in advance.

Q: If you were to start an resp now, would you consider these etfs as suitable or a combination thereof,or do you have alternatives? Thanx.

Q: should these companies do well going forward with their interest in Ant financial and palantir ipos?

Q: Hi 5iTeam,
Please recommend 2 stocks and 2 etfs in each of Canadian and US markets with or without dividend, for a 25 to 30 years hold.
Cheers,

Q: I have some GUSH in my higher risk portfolio expecting it to return somewhat to pre-pandemic levels. What is your outlook on the oil and gas sector over the next year or so?

Q: Which currently available Canadian EFT/s with would you recommend for purchase to increase international companies content in a portfolio?
Thank you,
Miroslaw

Q: REITs are beaten down. For a long term investor who wants real estate exposure, is this a time to get in? Can you suggest (1) two or three REITs or other entities and (2) an ETF for this? Thank you!

Q: Hi Team,
Is there a ETF similar to VGRO but sold in $US without converting to Cdn? I have some cash on the US side of my RRSP and like the set up of VGRO but would rather not convert back to Cdn at this point.

Q: The rise in stock prices of a few mega-caps (Apple, Facebook, Amazon, etc.) has distorted the concept of broad diversification through index investing (S&P 500). While the index rises, many index constituents have performed poorly.

Some ETF providers have created funds that hold a subset of the components of existing indices. Inclusion is based on their concept of company "quality". Presumably this eliminates poor performers and results in a "better" fund.
Examples are: ZUQ, SPHQ, QUAL, ZGQ, ZEQ.

Please comment on this idea of "quality" subsets of existing indexes. Do you consider this to be a useful investing strategy? Would you consider the examples listed to be preferable investments compared to the broader indices?

Thank you.
IslandJohn

Q: I have a TFSA with about $33K that I plan to give to my daughter for graduate school in about 2 years. ZWU looks like a good investment, with YTD return of -14.25% and yield of about 7.95%. Would appreciate your comments on ZWU and any other suggestions you could provide.
Thanks!

Q: One is an ETF while the other used covered calls to enhance dividends. Can you tell me what real difference there is between them aside from the 5% vs 10%+ div. I was thinking of buying XDIV but several of its holdings are the same as DFN which I own. Any point in also owning XDIV?
Thanks very much.

Q: Please, your views on rth-q. VanEck Vectors Retail ETF ? What would you rather buy now in consumer cyclicals ?

Gratefully,

Jacques IDS

Q: Good morning 5i staff
I have been waiting for the turn towards esg etf's. Looking at something like ESGV, do you think it could be seen, say, as an equivalent to voo? there was an artcle in Barron's recently saying that they recently have done as well, or better than regular funds. I believe the managment excpense ratio is .12 Not bad. I hold VOO and have been thinking of selling call options on it and then buying something like esgv, if I am called away. I suppose that approach could not be called radically green maybe more like patiently green:).
thanks

Q: I always avoided HXS because I thought it didn't hold stocks and just had an agreement with NA to deliver the total returns equivalent to S&P500 so there was a significant counterparty risk. The risk may not be much but didn't want to tolerate this risk just to avoid 15% Dividend Tax Withholding. Recently I got to know that HXS has changed its structure from Total Returns Swap to Corporate Class. Does it mean that it now holds stocks (like ZSP or SPY) .. is HXS still any more risky than ZSP or SPY.

Q: I would like to invest into the future health care in North America. What do you think of LIFE ETF?

Q: I have some US GIC's that have matured and my advisor at RBC is recommending the RBC US Short-term Corporate Bond Fund as interest rates have declined so much for GIC's.
Would you consider this to be a good move or is there something else I should be considering.