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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: Good Morning: I have been raising my cash holdings somewhat in light of a prolonged bull market with high equity valuations and increasing geopolitical risk. I have some of this cash in HISA's with an average yield of about 1.7% or so. However, I am considering putting some of it into a bond etf since I don't feel I have the know how to successfully put together a ladder of actual bonds. What I would like your opinion on is what would be the best 2 or 3 options in Cdn. bond etfs for preservation of capital combined with optimal yield (recognizing that the two are almost always working in opposite directions.) Of course, if you have another option for parking cash, that would also be appreciated. (I do have some preferred share holdings but past experience has taught me that they are not immune to market corrections.) Many thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Donald on June 15, 2017
Q: To add some diversity to my Canadian holdings, over the last 5 years I've held VUS, VFV and VEF. VEF is about 11% of the portfolio. The 2 US ETFs have outperformed VEF almost 2 to 1.
My question is do you think it's necessary to have EAFE exposure? I'm thinking of selling VEF to raise cash so I'm ready for the next dip in north American markets. Thanks for all of your great advice over the years. cheers
Read Answer Asked by Andrew on June 14, 2017
Q: Hi 5i,
Just a comment on Nino’s question and your answer about the choice between paying up for a REIT ETF like ZRE/XRE versus holding 8-12 individual REITs. My choice has been the latter and I have been happy with it. Your answer suggested that rebalancing 12 holdings annually would cost $120 at $10 a pop. My experience has been that the reality is much less than that. Because the REITs tend to move as a group more than their individual movements relative to the group, in holding 8-12 decent quality REITs I haven’t had to do more than 2 or 3 rebalancing transactions in any given year. Except for a couple of extraordinary years my REITs have really been low maintenance holdings. Cheers!
Read Answer Asked by Lance on June 13, 2017
Q: VSB looks to include both government and corporate bonds. Is owning VSB the equivalent to owning CBO and CLF? Looking to reduce number of holdings and the MER on VSB is attractive. Is there something similar that includes corporate and govt short term bonds that you like better? Thank you for all that you do!
Read Answer Asked by Pamela on June 13, 2017
Q: I currently have, in ETFs, 20% in U.S. (VTI) and 10% in international (5% in VEF and 5% in VEE). I'm thinking that long term my U.S. and Int'l should be equal weight as one never knows what countries will perform the best. What are your thoughts on this and recommendations? Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Pamela on June 13, 2017
Q: Greetings, I've always had a bit of a difficult time understanding bond ETF's or more specifically how they may be expected to react to economic events. Some observers interpreted recent comments from the BOC as perhaps indicating they may not be as opposed to a rate hike as they have been for the last 7 years. If rates were hiked even a little in Canada, I assume bond ETF's would react somehow. Does it depend on the nature of the holdings? Or is the underlying reason for the rate hike more important? Could a bond ETF ever respond neutrally (or even positively)? I think I understand how an individual bond reacts, and how if I held it to maturity it really wouldn't matter, but I am thinking specifically of ETF's like VAB and CLF. I would really appreciate your thoughts,
Thanks

Read Answer Asked by Stephen R. on June 13, 2017
Q: I'm holding only ZRE in my TFSA for simplicity and ease, value is approximately $62k. It costs me .62%, wondering if I can buy 8-12 REITS equal weight directly (saving the MER), and have the same or better results as ZRE. Your thoughts and recommendations. I like the simplicity of ZRE, but dislike paying the MER if I can avoid it.
Read Answer Asked by Nino on June 12, 2017
Q: I have held DIS for about 3 years and have a gain of 30% but it has not done much lately and seems to be range bound and having problems in its ESPN division. I'm thinking of switching to QQC to get some exposure to US Tech and hopefully more growth. What is your opinion of this move?
Read Answer Asked by David on June 12, 2017
Q: I am just getting started (complete newb). I listened to the Building wealth interview podcasts. I would like to invest ~$20k now, via TFSA, then perhaps invest a monthly sum (say $1k). With a commission fee of $10 per trade, how would you recommend approaching this? Would you buy 20 different holdings of one of your model portfolios at ~$1000 each? What would you do with the monthly sum? (I was thinking the income portfolio since I may need to redraw the funds in ~5 years to buyout a business partner).

I feel this question should already have an answer somewhere but I can't find it - perhaps you could link the answer?
Read Answer Asked by Helen on June 09, 2017
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