Investment Q&A

Q: Am considering an investment in commodities and wanted your opinion on this soybean ETF.

Q: I use the SSO ETF for trading in my US investment account. The ProShares Ultra S&P 500 ETF provides 2x leveraged exposure to a market-cap-weighted index of 500 large- and mid-cap US companies selected by S&P. As a levered product, SSO is not a buy-and-hold ETF; it’s a short-term tactical instrument. The 500 underlying companies are some of the most well-known firms in the world. As a short-term instrument, the total cost of owning SSO is more dependent on liquidity than management costs. Fortunately, the fund is extremely liquid with hefty daily volume and very tight spreads. Ultimately, SSO’s liquidity makes it one of the best ETFs for leveraged exposure to the S&P 500.
What are some similar leveraged Canadian ETF's mirroring large and mid-cap CDN companies.
Thanks

Q: I need to add some ETF's for yield, what would be a coupe you recommend at the moment?

Q: Hi 5i, In a previous Q/A you said "covered call ETFs can underperform in a bull market" can you please elaborate on this?.
Would you please rate: ZWU XUT ZWC (best first)
I own ZWU, but down 10%.
Thanks

Q: Gentlemen,
In the case of a recession or bear market, how covered call or buy-write ETFs will act on capital & income ?
Thanks
Best regards.

Q: Hi 5i team,
What are the equivalents to VEE in the Canadian ETF landscape?

Are there others that pay a better dividend?

Thanks,
Andrew

Q: Would now be a good time to take a long term position in ZWU for the covered call yield and some safety? Or does the sector rotation, rising interest rate potential and this news on MLP pipelines I don't fully understand mean perhaps wait a week or two as it might soften more?

Q: Could you suggest a way to short FAANG stocks with a 1 to 2 year time frame?
Thank you.

John

Q: Gentlemen,
Can you please explain the swap fee on HXS (no more than 0.30%), in which situation this fee will be added.
Thanks
Best regards

Q: Hi 5i thanks for the great service. I am thinking about a long term play on water and would like you opinion on some ways to play it? Some company suggestions would be nice and what do you think of this iShares etf?

Thanks for the great service

Q: I read in a previous post that you favored HPR and ZPR over CPD (Sept 18, 2017) because of the rate reset. I am currently adding to my fixed income and would it be a good strategy to add 50 / 50 ZPR and CPD for the preferred portion ?
(I also own a larger position in CBO).

Also, do you recommend adding a convertible bond etf (CVD or other) for diversification purposes ? Thank you for your comments.

Q: I'm looking for a place to park cash and have iniated a small position in the Horizon ETF. I like the idea of floating rate bonds because interest rates seem to be on the rise. Just wondering if there might be similar products that I could investigate. I know about FLOT but would prefer the investment be in Canadian dollars. Thanks in advance for your guidance.

Q: In my portfolio I selected CLF for a significant amount of the fixed income portion of my accounts (in both RRSP and non reg accounts). A the time (almost 2 years ago) I thought it would be the safest since it is a government bond index. However, am down by almost 6% since purchasing. My priority for fixed income is to not lose capital. Do you have another suggestion? Perhaps GICs make more sense? Are there worries in the market regarding Canadian government debt (i.e considering escalating debt levels at the federal level as well as some provinces - like Ontario and Alberta).

Q: Is this ETF hedged, and does it require the CRA T1135 form if invested in non-registered accounts?

Thanks in advance.
Ed

Q: Hi,
I am wanting exposure to US financials and I am wondering if there is an ETF in Canada that tracks XLF. Of the three listed names could you give me your opinion on how they rank. XLF is one that has Berkshire stock, which I would like some exposure to.
Thanks,
Gwen

Q: I have been happily and successfully managing my own investments for 15 years primarily with the help of independent analyst services such as 5i (Thank You). I have always dedicated 5 - 10% of my portfolio to small and micro cap investments and met with great success until recently. The last two years I have seen really poor results from my small/micro cap investments with several big losers and none of the big 2, 3 or 5x winners. IOM is the latest kick in the head for me. I am finding that these sudden big losses stick with me emotionally more than they used too, probably because I am now fully retired and the absence of earned income is pushing me to a more conservative approach. Accordingly I am considering revising my strategy away from individual company investments and simply buying a good small cap and/or micro cap fund or ETF. Could you please comment generally on my strategic thinking here and also suggest some ETF or funds I might want to consider. Low Management expenses preferred of course.

Q: My question is about how to manage the bond/ fixed income part of a portfolio. I have read that bonds etf are not as effective as stocks etf.
For a 5-10 year time frame, would you either invest in a mix of bond/pref etf (CBO/XBB/CPD) or in a actively managed fund (for example a pimco product) ? I was considering mixing the 3 etf + PIMF (a pimco etf). PIMF seems to expose the portfolio to products that are not available in the other ETF (like mortgage based security). Could you comment on a strategy?

I found bond investment way more complicated to understand than for stocks (yield curve, increasing interest rates, variety of products that are available). I'm also a member of your ETF newsletter. Any other comments or references you could suggest,

Q: Hello -

I'm interested in buying this ETF, but am unsure which account I should purchase it in. It appears to priced in CAD, so this would eliminate my U.S. accounts as options. The ETF pays a small dividend. Even though this dividend is paid in CAD I'm still assuming there is no preferential tax treatment since this a foreign ETF.

Is all this correct?
If so, would it make the most sense to make the investment in my (CAD) RRSP, or perhaps my (CAD) TFSA ?

Thanks.
Jim

Q: Hi Peter & Team,
Would this be a good portfolio of Mawer Funds for a time frame of at least 15 years, or is there something I am missing or could be improved upon.
Thanks for your input
Ivan

Q: Opinion on buying ZUB or ZBK. Assuming the c$ is at current level or lower. I currently have a small position in ZUB.