Investment Q&A

Q: Why are the put write index etfs so far under the radar? In Canada there is only ZPW which has a market cap of 110 million, and in the U.S. there is only HVPW with a market cap of 38 million. There is also ZPW.U which accepts only U.S. funds but it's extremely small at 5 million. The dividends on these etfs are over 7% and they don't seem any more unsafe than a covered call etf, though it is clear that the share prices could deteriorate as much as any etf under certain market conditions.

Q: Hi Peter and team, If interest rates go up in US but down in Canada what is the likely impact on CPD. Also, in a broad market selloff of greater than 10% how strong is the correlation of CPD to the overall market. Thanks

Q: I owned COS from the IPO and was always happy with the yield. Now, of course, I own Suncor and am not happy with the yield. I am thinking of selling SU and buying a preferred share ETF, either ZPR or CPD or perhaps both, for the yield. What do you think? I am retired and living off dividend income.

Q: would like to add a U.S. gold stock or etf to my portfolio...
would appreciate your thoughts!

Q: What do you think of taking a position for a 5 yr hold in either of these? If you would take a position, which would you choose?

Thx, Carl

Q: I am supposed to increase my fixed income exposure via one or more ETFs. I see you usually recommend CBO, but what about VSC. VSC seems to be a better performer over the last 1, 3 and 5 year periods. Which is better in your opinion and why?

I have about $21K in cash in an RRSP to invest in fixed income products. Should I buy two or 3 ETFs, or all in CBO or VSC is sufficient?

Should I buy now, or wait until after the US election, or even after FED meeting in December to see if they increase interest rates? Does it really matter at this time?

p.s. I have been invested in over 90% equities for the last 25 years (now 53 years old) so I am struggling to get myself to buy fixed income products. I am reluctantly buying fixed income products only because I know I am supposed to have better asset allocation and not be so heavily equity focused, but today the returns are so small I wonder if I would just be better off buying stocks like BCE, T, SLF, FTS, IPL, PPL that pay around 4% dividend.

Q: Good Morning: I want to realize some capital losses on the above energy positions (and others) but do not want to lose exposure to the energy asset class in case of a sudden move upwards (even though I don't expect that in the short term.) So, my plan is to sell all or parts of my losers and buy something else that will give me the same effective exposure. My question is as follows: First, what four stocks in the Cdn. energy sector would you recommend for a purchase at this time; and second, would an etf like XEG be an effective alternative for all or part of this strategy. I may even buy back some of the positions I am currently selling after the 30 day wait period has passed. As always, many thanks. Don

Q: If you were asked to create a Canadian dividend Aristocrat ETF what holdings would you include? Would you equal weight the holdings? Would you diversify it across sectors? How would you base your selections against payout ratios or higher dividend payers? How often would you review the selections and how many names would you hold. Why might you want to do this type of ETF over another example such as growth, small cap index, value , GARP, etc.? Also please compare your Model portfolio to such an ETF. What makes the model portfolio different from this approach? Sorry for the longer question. To sum it up I am hoping to get a feeling of your strategies from the answer. Thank You Jeremy

Q: Hi Peter and Team,

In today's Financial Post, there's an interesting article called "Betting on the U.S. election via the ‘Trump ETF’"

If one wanted to "bet" on a Hillary victory, would a small purchase of EWW be a wise move? Any hesitation I have is due to currency risk, but I am unsure.

Thanks for any advice.

Q: I have no exposure to the oil and gas sector. I am thinking of going 3% to 5% and would like your opinion on whether now is a reasonable time to re-enter this market. If so, would looking at the U.S. market be better than the Canadian Mkt. Any suggested companies or ETF's would be appreciated.

Cheers, Bob

Q: I have these prefs in my rrsp,they are down a lot,paying between 5.5 and 6.4%,would I be better off holding them and hope they recover or selling them and buying etfs such as cdp,zdv or cdz.Any suggestion you guys have would be greatly appreciated.

Q: Hi Team

Which of the 2 etfs, zdv or cdz would you recommend for income ,dividend growth and some capital gains. ZDV seems to have a lower MER and higher yield. Thank-you in advance. Sam

Q: I appreciate your comment about the PowerShare s&p 500 low volatile ,one in US dollar and in can. Dollar.Your comment about this ETF,and the pro and cons of having them.Thank you ebrahim

Q: I really enjoyed your presentations at the World Money Show. Many people were talking about ETF's at the show this year. I was thinking about buying a percentage of ETF's in my portfolio. I'm with TD bank and I know they are very new again to this.
I'm a 45 years old and have mostly CDN equities.
I heard that you only need 3 or 4 ETF's to balance out. I would consider putting 20% in ETF's

Thank you

Q: Hello 5i,
I have had a bit of VPL:US for awhile and am just beginning to see the light of day on it. It is not really something that I want to keep, I don<t believe. But, I was wondering whether, after waiting so long for it to come back, whether it might be too early to sell. Also, what would be a good replacement? I already have VWO. I would rather go wider in geography rather than too specific.
thanks

Q: Can you please recommend where I can put some US dollars which will earn some income at little risk? Maybe some US dollar low risk etf or something similar? Thanks

Q: G'Day! RBC GAM recently launched an actively-managed Canadian preferred share ETF. (Symbol RPF). Mgmt fee = 0.53% Do you see this as a suitable product for an over-65 income investor?

Additional comment about RPF is encouraged.

Thank you,
IslandJohn

Q: Good morning,

Could you please offer your comments on this ETF and what appears to be its relative under performance. Is this an out of favour investment style that should be bought or an etf to be eliminated?

thanks
Brad

Q: Your thoughts on a portfolio in a non registered account consisting simply of these 3 etf's (ZRE,ZPR,ZDV) to hold forever. Dividends received put into VIG.US, I'm 45 years old, I have no mortgage and no debts looking to borrow and bring my accounts to 100k for each of these 3 etf's totalling 300k, in retirement will use only dividends. (This would act as my deferred annuity but I get to keep my money) is my thinking clear?

Q: I have no REITS in my portfolio and since I do my own taxes I like to keep things simple and did read that it better to hold REITS in an RRSP account if you don't want to be bother with return on capital, etc. I am wondering if I have no room in my RRSP would it be okay to put in my TFSA? I am looking at ZRE and XRE which one you prefer and CSH.UN or is just one index fund good enough.

Thanks
Dolores