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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 sold some VBAL:CA at a loss to realize some tax losses and would like to repurchase this ETF at a lower entry point. Can I purchase a comparable ETF from another company like XBAL prior to 30 days, or would that be considered a superficial loss for tax purposes? Similarly, would purchasing a different asset mix product from the same company e.g. VGRO:CA or VCNS:CA be considered a superficial loss?
Read Answer Asked by Alan on April 14, 2020
Q: Hi,
If one believes the Canadian dollar will depreciate vs USD, what products/strategies available to hedge ? For example could you suggest unhedged ETF with less volatility tracking some US/International markets ? Thanks a lot
Read Answer Asked by Dineth on April 14, 2020
Q: High yield funds have had a nice run up. Would you consider it too late or too risky to buy either of these funds at today’s prices? Wait for a drop?

Is there another etf that you could suggest in this area?

Thanks.

Read Answer Asked by Donald on April 13, 2020
Q: Good day team, with current environment for context, and looking at tech/big data companies: Are there etfs (Canadian but with CDN/US/Global exposure) that cater to broad based tech. I feel once we are out of this, technology will play an even greater role in our lives and in industry, healthcare, security etc etc
Read Answer Asked by Harry on April 13, 2020
Q: I managed to miss the recent recovery as I was expecting the market to go lower. I'm now considering gold given the high amounts of government spending and possible inflationary pressures. May I have your thoughts on gold as an investment right now? In particular, the GLD etf? Thanks,

Jason
Read Answer Asked by Jason on April 13, 2020
Q: Hi 5i Team. Question(s) for you on the ETF HPR as it relates to taxation. This summary was taken from my recently received T3. On the T3 summary in the first column it indicates, on a monthly basis a total distribution of $352.14. The $352.24 is broken down as follows: 2nd column on the T3, indicates a return of capital or foreign tax paid of $18.81. The 3rd column on the T3 then states the actual non-elig.div or actual elig.div or foreign tax paid of $344.63. Should I assume that the $344.63 is actual elig. div for the Canadian Dividend Tax credit? Please deduct number credits as required. Thx Steve.
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on April 13, 2020
Q: HI, I just recently made the switch from mutual funds to ETF’s and a DIY strategy and am looking to lock down 4 low cost ETF’s that I will invest in for the long term (30 + years) and leaning more toward the aggressive side for these. I am looking to take advantage of some dollar cost averaging to enter the ETF market for some broad market index ETF’s in my TFSA and was looking for you opinion of some that I am trying to choose between.
Canadian Market – I am trying to choose between XIC, VCN & ZCN. They all have significant overlap and same MER so I don’t see a whole lot of difference between the three, although I am leaning towards XIU, thoughts on which one you would choose for your portfolio?
US Market – I am trying to decide between VUN & VFV. The VFV has lower MER than VUN and has outperformed VUN as of late. Smaller and mid-cap companies historically had higher volatility than the large-cap companies found in the S&P 500, and so the trade-off is potentially higher growth, for potentially more volatility if you go with a total market index like what is found in VUN. The S&P 500 has outperformed the total market index as of late so I guess the question is will this continue, I am leaning towards VFV, thoughts on which one you would choose for your portfolio?
International Developed – I am trying to decide between XEF & VIU, both have similar MER, thoughts on which one you would choose for your portfolio?
Emerging Markets – I am trying to decide between XEC & VEE for a small percentage of my portfolio, thoughts on which one you would choose for your portfolio?
These are some ETFs’ I have come across from doing build wealth Canada course and reading other materials and listening to podcasts that seem to fit my long-term outlook. I am by no means experienced in this matter and just looking to hit the ground running so If you have better suggestions for certain markets that I may have missed feel free to outline them.

Thanks
Sean
Read Answer Asked by Sean on April 13, 2020
Q: Hello 5i and I hope you're well.
Under current conditions with interest rates, Feds and bank of Canada injecting so much money into the economy, would you recommend corporate bonds or T-bills ETFs. And, what terms: short/medium or long?
Thank you and be well!
Carlo
Read Answer Asked by Carlo on April 13, 2020
Q: Are there Canadian equivalent to TIP and STIP. I don’t want to add to my risk by not being hedged. I’m looking for a way to protect against inflation at some point. Is there another way besides inflation protected bonds?
Thanks as always for your insight
Read Answer Asked by Bryan on April 09, 2020
Q: Considering a 5 year time frame, what would be your allocation toward cdn oil (xeg), cdn ag (ntr), utilities (zwu), fixed income (hfr) and US (zwa & xqq). Above average risk tolerance seeking yield and capital gain. Are there any other suggestions....LSPD would also be a holding. thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Curtis on April 09, 2020
Q: If I believe that there will debt problems before this is over , does one want to continue to hold HFR. I have held it for a couple of years but would sell it if things go down to add to stocks I like. A couple of weeks ago it went way down when market crashed. I read your answer to stay put as things were a little crazy in bond market. Is it the worry of the bond holders that the companies will go under and in fact this is not a real safe holding right now as I see 1|2 of it's holdings are BBB?
Read Answer Asked by Geoff on April 09, 2020