Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Team
Came across this etf on BNN. any thoughts? Would it have a place in a portfolio for this kind of volatile market? Thank-you in advance. Sam

Q: Good afternoon, looking to hold a 20% allocation of the American market through ETFs (CAD dollar preferred). Currently hold VUN, and I am looking to add another ETF to complement it - was thinking ZSP or VGG. Any opinions on either of these or any others? Thanks

Q: I am looking for a gov't bond etf /fund to hedge away some equity risk. Can you recommend a liquid gov't bond etf for US treasuries?

I would also be interested in a similar version for Can gov't bonds, if you thought it would produce similar results.

Currency is not an issue.

Thanks, Greg

Q: For a tfsa, just starting in 2019, what 3 eft would be best?
MJE

Q: In the preferred share space I own both cpd and Ecn.pr.a. I am down a fair amount on both. Does the market really affect prefs that much. I bought because of the reset feature . Assuming higher interest rates the reset rate would be higher. No indication yet of falling rates in which case I would sell CPD and take my losses. On the other hand minimum rate reset preferred guarantees a specific rate protection on falling interest rates while at the same time having a possible increase in the reset rate if interest rates rise. Looks to me the best of both worlds. My investment is for income. Final question , will price go back to par on reset date.
Can one expect the the closer to reset the closer the value will be to par.

Q: Hi 5i Team.

I have positions in the three ETFs listed above representing financial and Canad/US real estate sectors. The ETFs are at a reasonable cost and provide good yields. What is 5i's opinion about these three ETFs.

Thanks

Iqbal

Q: I have a 1/2 position in CPD. Do you think this is a good time to increase to a full position? I hold this in a LIRA and consider it a long term hold. Thanks - Richard.

Q: Good morning,
Both of our family TFSA accounts are currently invested in their entirety with a variety of Mawer Mutual funds (100% Equity). At 70 years old, I would like to reduce the risk profile of our TFSA accounts from 100% Equity to a more classic 60% (equity)/40% (fixed income) balanced portfolio.
Of the five investment options for our two family TFSA accounts which are used as an estate planning tool with the intention of never withdrawing any funds and leaving the proceeds to our grandchildren, which of the following options would you recommend, in what order and why?
Option 1: Staus Quo.
Option 2: Invest all TFSA funds in the Mawer Balanced or Mawer Global Balanced Fund.
Option 3: Invest all of the TFSA funds through a Discretionary Money Manager that currently manages our family RRSP and Non Registered accounts with total management costs of 1.30% (Money management fee, Sub Advisor fees, Custody fee, Transaction fee plus HST). The average long term target rate of return being 4.5% after fees for this balanced portfolio of which 25% of the portfolio is invested in alternative investments to supposedly further reduce volatility.
Option 4: In an effort to further simplify, reduce fees and perhaps improve long term performance of our TFSAs, invest all the TFSA funds directly in the Vanguard Balanced ETF portfolio (VBAL) through our discount brokerage account.
Option 5: Invest all the funds directly through our discount brokerage account in a combination of ETFs that covers 20% Bonds/32% Canada/32% USA/16%Global and if so what would be your preferred ETF recommendation.
I thank you in advance and look forward to hearing your response and recommendations.
Francesco

Q: Hi, are the interest distributions in bond ETF’s like XBB included in the price of the ETF. So when looking at the chart of XBB over time are distributions included in the price? Thanks.

Q: FLOT price unusually / quickly drafted down this past week ?
Any insight would be appreciated.

Q: Lots of questions to 5i on prefs lately. Some possible are explanations are in a recent article by John Heinzl: "Why preferred shares plunged."
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/education/article-why-prefs-plunged-and-the-acbs-of-the-loblaw-deal/
You can add indiscriminate dumping of issues by CPD,ZPR, and HPR on high volume days as they struggle to keep up with net redemptions. The bid/ask spread on these ETFs is far less than most individual issues, so investors look to them for liquidity.

Q: A few days ago I asked a question on MFT and you mentioned that your source says MFT yields approx 5.5%.

Both iTrade and WebBroker show that MFT yield .10 cents per month, which according to them is 7.5%.

Could you please clarify, don't understand the discrepency.

Thanks

Sheldon

Q: Do you have a recommendation for telecommunication ETF (a combination of US + Canadian companies would be ideal. Do you have an overall view on this space Rogers Telus and Verizon have all fared well in the latest downturn so do you consider the space lower risk? Am looking for low risk growth/dividend. Thanks for your help as always

Q: ..HFR is beginning to slide, what do you think about moving out of it and into the above ETF's. in your view, what is the best bond ETF mix to be in for the next 6-12 months. thanks.

Q: This is a follow up question to your answer to John. When I look at the VCN prospectus as (of Oct. 31st) it seems to follow the benchmark pretty much exactly rather than make the adjustments as per your reply there. Am I missing something? Thanks

Q: Good Morning- I am looking for some ETF suggestions for global dividend growth- Is there any one ETF solution in this category? HAZ is one I am aware of ... and I like PDF for North America. Just wondering if there is a global VGG type out there that would include Emerging markets, EU, North America etc?

Thanks for the suggestions and great work following this complex market!

Q: Please help me understand ETF's. If I owned an ETF which holds, say, technology stocks and I wanted to sell it because AAPL is doing poorly presumably I sell it in the market; which means that someone else buys it. That should not affect AAPL or MSFT, ABDE, etc. Does the ETF need to sell those securities?

Q: Hi 5i,

Most of the etfs that I have looked at for the Canadian market are 60-65% in financials and resources which I think is a very large weighting. I understand that the Canadian market is tilted towards these sectors but is there any etf that is more diverse and balanced?

Alternately, is there an etf which would resemble your balanced portfolio (wishful thinking?). I am looking at moving all my stocks to etfs as I don't have the time to manage them.

If there are no etfs that match the above, maybe you could suggest a mix of etfs for different sectors and weighting? Looking for growth, no need for any yield.

Thanks as always. Please deduct as many credits as you see fit.

Q: I wish to iniate a position in gold. What do you believe is the best investment at this time? Would it be Agnico Eagle as you have chosen for your balanced fund or is there a different investment.?Perhaps an ETF OR Franco Nevada. Others?
Thank-you for your appreciated guidance.

Q: What are your views on unhedged etfs to the US $.More to the point are there any Canadian etfs that are similar to VIG & VXUS that are hedged in Cdn. dollars. It appears that the US $ is peaking.Your comments on the above opinions would be appreciated.
Thanks
Dave