Investment Q&A

Q: Hi,

If you had to bet on one of these solar stocks/etfs for a long term hold, which is the better bet- CSIQ, TAN or KWT? Or is there a better/safer solar alternative?

Q: What advise can you give to a person that just changed careers and their pension had to be moved to defined contribution plan with Sunlife Financial as to the type of products, ie ETFs,mutual funds,etc. and the weightings? time frame 20 years and very little investing knowledge.


thanks and we still consider5i as one of our top investments ever

Q: We learn this morning that the ECE cut its interest rates to 0.05%. It seems a good bet to add to my european assets using the ETF XEH. What do you think? Also, would you go with ZEQ instead of XEH or are those two pretty much the same?

Q: Morning 5i,

My question pertains to the Cash Distributions (CD) paid per unit on iShares ETF's. If the previous year a particular ETF was paid a high CD per unit does that mean we could expect the same this year? Or do these CD's change drastically from year to year, and if so then what drives the amount of the CD? An example would be iShares Alternatives Completion Portfolio Builder Fund, symbol XAL. 2013 CD was $0.63777/unit paid.

Q: Hi.

Though the valuations are reasonable and I'm still invested in many 5i stocks, I foresee a correction coming some time in ~ 2015. To mitigate this, I plan on moving 'a bit' of my equities into Vanguard Total Stock Market (VT) - the ETF of everything I call it ... My thinking is that North America (TSX) will be hit a little harder than the world in general when this occurs. When it does, and it will, I will sell VT and buy 5i stocks back at a discount. I know you can't time the market, and this is a bit crystal ball-ish - but the downside of doing so seems low ... Any advise or comment? Many thanks.

Q: I saw you commented on VTSMX in an earlier question. VTI is a vanguard fund with the same title "Vanguard Total Stock Market". Is there an advantage of going with one over the other?

Q: Hi Peter/Team,

Good luck on your ride Peter. Come back safely - we really need you here! ;-)

I have a question about some US funds I read about on Seeking Alpha. I know you focus on Canada but would appreciate any general or specific comments about these funds.

I paraphrase the description by a poster: "...funds are around half US stocks and around half foreign stocks, and write covered calls against some of the shares in the portfolio and have payouts over 8-9%."

Here is the list:

EXG.US Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Global Diversified Equity Income Fund
IGA.US Voya Global Advantage and Premium Opportunity Fund
IGD.US Voya Global Equity Dividend and Premium Opportunity Fund
IDE.US Voya Infrastructure Industrials and Materials Fund
BOE.US BlackRock Global Opportunities Equity Trust

The poster also mentioned the following fund that "...writes call options against some of the shares in the portfolio."

GNT.US GAMCO Natural Resources Gold & Income Trust

Any thoughts or advice you may have would be greatly appreciated. I am looking for long term income with low to moderate risk. I suspect these are high risk though.

All the best, Michael.

Q: Hi Guys,

Can you suggest a Technology ETF. I would assume to hold Google, Amazon, and those types it would have to be American.

Thanks,
Charlie

Q: In the latest email from 5I, I was reading about ETFs and saw the symbol VTSMX as a suggested Vanguard fund ; however, when I looked it up no results were found .I rechecked and had copied it correctly but once again no results . Could you give your comments on this fund? Thanks, Dave

Q: Would you suggest an ETF or mutual fund suitable for a RESP for a child in his mid-teens? (Something that could be held at a bank, perhaps so fees could be low.)

Q: Hi Team,

I have a number of quality US$ equities in my portfolio. I would prefer to hedge the US$ exposure if I could find an affordable way to do so. I tried a 2X leveraged ETF a few years ago but it had a 2.5% MER and I seem to recall that the leverage doesn't work well with volatility. Do you have any suggestions on how I can hedge the exposure? Thanks

Q: I am interested in your opinion on the two ETFs DIV and SDIV. DIV is a so-called "US super-dividend" ETF and pays dividends of about 5.3% per month with a management fee of 0.45%. SDIV is a so-called "global super-dividend" ETF paying 5.6-5.9% with a management fee of 0.58%. They appear to provide very good international diversification and excellent yield. Do you seek any downsides here?

Q: hello,

I'm interested in buying an industrial stock or etf to fill a hole in my portfolio. I was considering Honeywell or Trinity Industries. What do you think of them as a long term hold or is there another stock/etf that you prefer? Or a Canadian one?

Thanks for the great work,

Gtaeme

Q: Good morning 5i, in April last year you liked REM, ETF holding mortgage companies. It suffered a large drop in the second half of 2013, what is your current opinion? Is it fairly safe for income? Thank you

Q: Peter and Team. Love this service and recommend it as often as I can.

Do you have a preference re IGV.US verses XLK.US ? I am a well diversified investor with the exception of tech and don't want to be a stock picker in this segment. An ETF seems the best way to play tech for me.

Many thanks, Nancy

Q: Sentry Infrastructure Series X(NCE1030): I want to sell because of high fees. Are you able to suggest an infrastructure ETF ? Global one would be fine , as would a broad North American infrastructure ETF. Thanks, Adam Okhai

Q: Sentry Energy Growth and Income Series X(NCE1029):
I would like to sell this high fee fund and replace with an ETF. Any suggestions? Thank you.

Adam

Q: I am thinking of investing in a European ETF for added diversification. The Vanguard FTSE (VGK) and the iShares MSCI (IEUR) look like good options to me. What do you think?

Q: With regard to Mark's question about BMO's covered call bank etf (ZWB) compared to individual bank stocks. I feel these covered call bank etf's are the biggest pieces of garbage you can buy. Take a look at their distributions from a historical perspective and you can see how their monthly distributions have gone from roughly 12 cents per month to currently under 7 cents a month. Compare that to the banks continually increasing dividend and the better investment, in my mind, is a no brainer. If you've held any of the Canadian banks for any length of time you're probably generating above a 5% yield and each time the banks' raise their dividend that yield climbs higher. Its a beautiful thing.

Apologies for the mini rant but I think its important to look at these two investments from a historical perspective, especially with regard to the distribution/dividend and yield.

Q: Hello
My broker once said to me something like 'most Canadians who hold our banks, intend to hold them throughout their lifetime, so if you intend to hold them that long, you may as well own BMO's Bank Covered Call ETF. Yes you give up some upside capital appreciation, but you get increased income and some downside protection as a result o writing the call option'. What do you think??