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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'm interested in an ETF - BANK-T - that holds mostly Canadian banks and major financial companies. I'm surprised that it's yield is about 14%+, and pays out monthly too. That seems to be too good to be true.

My question is how can BANK-T do it, consider the ETFs can only get cash from two sources - dividends from the stocks they hold and from trading gains of those stocks.

Kindly enlighten us on how they can afford to pay such hefty monthly payout? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Victor on November 25, 2024
Q: On November 14 , a question asked by Trevor 5i said that IUSG could be a buy and forget ETF .Is this etf also in Canadian currency and if not what would you recommend as alternative?
Thank you
Read Answer Asked by claudio on November 25, 2024
Q: Good afternoon 5i staff
To a question concerning the possibility of inflation and David Rosenberg’s reaction to that, you said:

For Canada, we like XSB, and for the US we like SHY.

I hope I am not quoting you out of context here. But, I was wondering whether you were saying that ´supposing ‘ an inflationary environment, we would choose these. Or, whether you meant that we would be facing an inflationary environment and these would be the best choice. In other words, in your opinion, which would be the best choice for today for a permanent allotment to bond funds, short term or longer, such as xsb and agg.?
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by joseph on November 22, 2024
Q: For my TFSA, I am hesitating between VBAL and XBAL. Which one do you prefer? Because of the U.S. and international component of these ETFs, will there be withholding taxes in a TFSA or other tax considerations we should know about? Thank you for your guidance
Read Answer Asked by Gervais on November 21, 2024
Q: I am concerned about the height of the stock markets and am in the process of reducing my equity holdings. If there is a correction or bear market next year, then I would want to be able to invest again at some point.

With the cash that becomes available from the sale of equities, what would you recommend as an investment? I am looking for something that is extremely safe, can be sold at any time (which eliminates a GIC for consideration) and gives me a bit of yield/gain. Are there any ETFs which fit this bill?

Thank you for this wonderful service.
Read Answer Asked by Dale on November 21, 2024
Q: The US versions of these ETFs have high yields. I am selling some of my more volatile RRSP holdings and want to move the funds into ETFs that add stability and a return of 8-10% with dividend/growth. Are these ETF's considered relatively stable. and is there a point that they should be considered less stable, for example, if interest rates rise. The Cdn equiv show no dividend. Is there a reason for this?
Read Answer Asked by Kim on November 21, 2024
Q: My portfolio is now heavily weighted to the US.

Can you recommend an ETF or 2 that would compliment my existing investments?

Thanks
Mark
Read Answer Asked by Mark on November 21, 2024
Q: I am nearing retirement and planning to rebalance my taxable portfolio towards Canadian dividend stocks and ETFs, so that I can live off CPP and eligible dividends in retirement. What are your favorite Canadian ETFs where all distributions are treated as eligible dividends? You recommended CDZ many times, is it still your favorite?
Read Answer Asked by Tim on November 20, 2024
Q: Planning to consolidate Utility sector in RIF. Current holdings include: ZWU, H, XUT, XLU. Which one would you keep ? Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Hali on November 20, 2024
Q: This is a follow-up question to one I asked a few days ago regarding increasing Int’l exposure to my TFSA. Would the structure of the Global X Corporate class ETFs, eg. HXDM, HXS, HXEM, eliminate the drag of withholding taxes on the portfolio?
Read Answer Asked by Bruce on November 20, 2024
Q: Looking to park cash for 2 to 3 years in a low volatility etf with a decent distribution. I am looking at above mentioned etf and would appreciate your analysis or do you have other recommendations? Thanx.
Read Answer Asked by Steve on November 20, 2024
Q: I’m wondering which type of account would be best for these ETFs. I assume they would not all be best in the same account. The choices of accounts would be personal taxable, RRSP, TFSA, and corporate.

Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Federico on November 20, 2024