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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 am looking at VGG as a way to use Canadian dollars to acquire a reasonable number (around 70 I believe) of dividend growing US large caps. Do you think this ETF makes sense for US exposure to dividend growers or would you prefer to invest using US dollars and select 5 or 6 dividend growers (any suggestions in that case). Lastly do you consider this a sensible investment strategy for part of a balanced portfolio at this time for a 3 year hold. I appreciate your input as always - Ken
Read Answer Asked by Ken on April 11, 2018
Q: Hello 5i team,
I was wondering if there is an ETF in canada that contains provincial bonds. I am guessing VAB may contain these as well as Canadian bonds.

Also what is the best website that would have breakdowns of what is in canadian ETFs?

Thank You,
Andrew
Read Answer Asked by Andrew on April 11, 2018
Q: Recently the Globe & Mail has an article discussing the merits of using a one-Balanced ETF strategy and recommended the following three ETFs: VBAL, CBD and HRA. What would you consider to be the best one? Also, when I reviewed the information on their respective websites, I can only find Management Fee info as opposed to MER info. Is it because they are all ETFs that are composed of various ETFs. So the ultimate MER of these balanced ETFs would be the sum of the quotes Management Fee plus the MER of the underlying ETFs?
Please deduct as many credits as you see fit.
Read Answer Asked by M on April 11, 2018
Q: To follow-up on Claire's comment, is there an reasoned/optimal % allocation to each FI ETF (i.e. evenly split)? I have: CBO 20%, CPD 12%, HFR 26%, XBB 17%, XHY 12%, LQD 13%. I consider HFR as low-risk cash-like holding.

Thank you again.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on April 11, 2018
Q: Dear sirs,

Looking for your opinion on the Manulife Strategic Income fund, and if you feel its a good complement to PIMCO Monthly Income?
Thank you,
Brad
Read Answer Asked by Brad on April 11, 2018
Q: I can emphasize with Paul in his question on fixed income guaranteed to fall. But,I was not too clear on your answer. You note that we should seek diversification and look over the long and not the short term, saying that the return for products such as xbb will show better if we look five years back. But, doesn't that just beg the question? We are looking five years out and we are thinking that things are not going to be like they were in the past. So, does this new reality not call for another strategy? I am aware that there aren't many alternative stratagies, other than holding more stocks. But, I don;t think looking to the past history helps us here.
thanks
Read Answer Asked by joseph on April 10, 2018
Q: Hi 5i. FI = Fixed Income

My (6) FI holdings with rough total returns (including MER & dividends) for period held (average ~ 1.5 years): CBO -1.3%, CPD +15.0%, HFR +1.7%, XBB -2.2%, XHY+5.5%, LQD -0.6%.

NOTE: LQD not selectable, so picked HYG for question above.

Question: I understand the reasoning behind having the above FI holdings in my portfolio, but holding CBO & XBB seems like a sure way to lose money. So why not move CBO & XBB holdings to HFR (and possibly also XHY) which at least returns me ~ +1.7% pretty reliably? Your opinion on my FI mix would also be appreciated.

Thank you for continued solid wise advice.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on April 10, 2018
Q: Which do you think are the best companies in both Canada and the US to invest in for artificial intelligence and robotics.
Read Answer Asked by Anne on April 09, 2018
Q: Hi team !
I have been holding pjp-n for almost 3 years and it just keep going down.
I am about 24% in the red. I hold in my TFSA and it is 14% of that account.
Any hope for this ETF to recover soon ? Or would you advise to take my lost and invest in something else with a good growth potential ? I already hold SIS-T
Thanks for your help
Jacques
Read Answer Asked by Jacques on April 09, 2018
Q: What are Robo advisers and would you recommend their services and if so, whom? Thanks, Bill
Read Answer Asked by William J on April 06, 2018
Q: I have the above (ZBK, CJP, VEE, XFH) ETF's making up part of my portfolio in order to gain exposure to international markets and US bank growth as a result of tax cuts, rising interest rates and deregulation. I'm wondering whether i should be making any switches to other ETF's that would be giving me a better overall return (given currency, growht profile, MER, concentration etc.)...or would you switch nothing?
Read Answer Asked by Jeff on April 05, 2018
Q: Hi Gang,

I have been holding the above for a while and I'm now underwater and I would like to buy the opposite side (bear) to turn it into a neutral market trade until things calm down a bit, I looked at HIU which is also non leveraged 1/1 but does not seem to match VSP, please advice as to what I can do to neutralize the trade, again thank you for your advice. Anthony
Read Answer Asked by Anthony on April 04, 2018
Q: Hi,
Would you please rate: ZWU XUT ZWC (best first), for a 5 Years hold!
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Fernando on April 04, 2018
Q: I am heavy canada and have decided to diversify globally with ETFs on my own.
Bought some VE and VIG today off the CMS model portfolio list to start on the market dip today. I dont need ANY Canadian exposure so looking at adding positions in VEE, SPY, IWO. Not really interested in ZWU at 0.71 MER. Any preference on which you would add this week? Other options not on CMS portfolio. Balanced growth equity follower. 5+year time frame.
Read Answer Asked by Tom on April 03, 2018
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