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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: Can you give me a brief synopsis. Also would ZSU be comparable to CBO in terms of quality recognising that the former deals in the Canadian market and the ladder in the US Market.
Read Answer Asked by roland on December 24, 2015
Q: Hello and Merry Christmas!

Heading in to 2016 I am concerned about the impact of fx on my US holdings (about 25% of my equity portfolio). I have held the listed stocks in US$ for well over a year. Most are down on the purchase price but overall I am up in Cdn$ on account of the fx. My concern is a reversal in fx essentially wiping out any future gains in the underlying price of stocks like JCI or EMR where the strong US$ is often cited as a negative. As I see it I can: a) Sell and re-invest in an etf like CUD or XQQ that is currency hedged; b) hold and find some way to hedge against gains in the Cdn$ myself (any ideas here?); or c)do nothing . Any suggestions?
Read Answer Asked by Morgan on December 24, 2015
Q: First and foremost I want to wish all of you all the best for Xmas and for the New Year
You provide a great service and I want to thank you for your great advices and recommendations
Would you kindly let me know which Etf you would recommend for a Europe exposure as I think the market should perform better with all the stimulus they will provide thanks
Read Answer Asked by georges on December 24, 2015
Q: Dear Team,

I have a good portion of my portfolio in XTR. Why the sudden drop off in the share price. Shall I continue to hold or sell. Bought at $11.50.
Thank you and Happy Holiday!
Read Answer Asked by Frank on December 24, 2015
Q: Hello Team. I would like to start investing more in Europe and am looking at a few ETFs. Zeq, Ve and Xeu but leaning towards the Zeq as it seems a bit bigger. What is your opinion on this? Do you have another you would recommend instead and would you get a an etf that is hedge to the Cdn $ or non hedged and why?

Thank you and Merry Christmas everyone
Read Answer Asked by pietro on December 24, 2015
Q: A question about Purpose ETF (ex; PDF); in particular the corporate class funds. The implication is that even highly taxed interest income (or foreign dividend) can be distributed as a capital gain (less tax). I was under the impression that this would change and be now off limits ?
Thanks


Read Answer Asked by Martin on December 23, 2015
Q: Hi,

Just wondering if this fund is more favorable during current market conditions this past year(flat)? How would it perform in a very bullish (interest rates rising) market? I'm considering it for a long term hold and for it's distributions. I look forward to your comments, Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Andrew on December 23, 2015
Q: Hello, my friend is starting a tfsa with about $6000. Low tolerance to risk but long term horizon (in her 20s) She was asking me advice and i wanted to run my thoughts by you : 35% zcs, 40% cdz and 25% xei. Is it sound advice ? Is it worthwhile to split the equity portion between those 2 given the amount invested ? Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Pierre on December 23, 2015
Q: Would you or any of your members know how the distributions of XHY are taxed? I haven't been able to find any specific breakdown for income tax reporting purposes. Thank you!
Read Answer Asked by chris on December 22, 2015
Q: I would like clarification on hedging when buying USD securities via a CDN ETF: if the USD is going up and by comparison the loonie going down is it to your advantage to buy a hedged product or not? I am a little confused as I am sure there are times when hedged is good, and others, when it is not? Intuition tells me know is the time for hedged to protect loonie denominated ETF holding USD securities. The ETF XHY holds Us corp.: with interest rates going up in very small increments in the USA this should cause bond yields to go up as people move their money somewhere else - or not?
Read Answer Asked by James on December 22, 2015
Q: For a non hedged etf would VUN be a good choice for USA exposure?
Is there one you would recommend?
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Michael on December 22, 2015
Q: In your response to Marc about the C$, you state ... "If the Canadian dollar rises, you will want to have a C$ hedged ETF". Can you pick a couple of ETF's that could benefit with a bottoming out C$.
Read Answer Asked on December 21, 2015
Q: What is your opininion of this ETF?
As the holdings in this ETF are a broad base of other BMO ETFs,what weighting would you recommend in a diversified income portfolio?

Thank you and I continue to be impressed with the service you provide.
Read Answer Asked by James on December 21, 2015
Q: I want to diversify out of Canada. I'm thinking of an ETF for Europe. Do you have any suggestions?
Read Answer Asked by christianne on December 21, 2015
Q: I am looking for a Canadian ETF that tracks the Nasdaq and one that tracks the Russell 2000. I am looking for a product that is not hedged to the Canadian dollar. From what I gather this is not available.
Read Answer Asked by roland on December 21, 2015
Q: If a person thinks that the Cdn dollar is near the bottom and wants to buy an etf of the S&P would it be wise to buy the un-hedged version? This is in registered account[s].
Read Answer Asked by Marc on December 20, 2015
Q: could you explain the performance gap between XSP and ZSP
for one year time frame.
Both ETF are designed to replicate, to the extent possible ,the performance of the S&P 500 Index.
Thank you so much.
Read Answer Asked by pascal on December 18, 2015
Q: Hello 5i team

Could you give me your opinion on the BMO ultra short bond ETF, ZST. The bonds held all mature in less than a year and yet its distribution yield is 3.96 % It has been distributing at about this rate since it was formed in 2011. I looked at the holdings and I couldn't imagine that these companies would run into trouble in the short period they hold the bonds. ( Of course they will have to be constantly changing their holdings because if the short term nature) It seemed very safe to me but am I missing something? I am 76 years old with a portfolio of about 2.5 M and I am trying to hold enough cash to cover 3+ years of the rent for my wife who has gone into longterm care. I would like to get a little interest for this money and I wonder whether this would be a good candidate for some of these funds.

Ross
Read Answer Asked by Ross on December 18, 2015
Q: I am sitting on dead money in exchange traded funds and gold. Do I sell and lose a lot of money to reinvest or do I attempt to ride it out? My only source of income is my investments.
Read Answer Asked by Neil on December 18, 2015