Investment Q&A

Q: Given current market conditions, what would be the major headwinds facing ZCS? It seems fairly resilient during Dow declines. Thanks.

Q: What do you think of the 30 stock holdings in this etf, cover most bases for a good etf holding?
Thanks again

Q: Looking at your income portfolio I see CPD is down ~24% but when I look at the chart it has never been higher, how can that b

Q: Most of my TFSA is in Canadian stocks (plus some US CDRs GOOGL, MSFT, AMZN). Now I'm thinking of adding 2 ETFs to my unregistered account. So far, my first choice is VFV, because I know you like it. But you mentioned another one that broadens out from the S&P 500. Not sure about that one: thoughts? But I want one more, particularly with dividend and some growth. If there is a USA one that, like VFV, trades in Canada TSX but pays dividends in US dollars, that might work nicely. Alternatively, maybe a Canadian one that is not too focused on Financials and Energy, one with which I could get dividend tax credit, may work. Between dividend and growth, I would lean toward growth and sacrifice some dividend. Between Canada and USA, I'd like USA, but only if I can buy on TSX. I'd like to stick to just two, but maybe three would work best? What say you? Thank you, yet again, for such a fabulous service.

Q: If I understand correctly, HHL is a Canadian ETF that holds US or maybe global Health Care stocks, and HHL.U is the same fund in US$.
For US$ Health Care covered call ETF, would you recommend the HHL.U or would some other similar ETF be more suitable?
Thank you
jerry

Q: On Oct 22, concerning ELV's quarterly results, you said, "a key issue was the 'timing mismatch' between Medicaid reimbursement rates and the higher healthcare needs of members" - an issue linked to post-COVID resumption of full-service healthcare.

But isn't this a case of 'one-off' cyclicality in an industry which was assumed to be secular? In which case, doesn't ELV become mis-priced as reimbursements and higher needs fall back into balance?

Finally, to operationalize this strategy, would it be preferable to seek-out the most beaten-down health insurer (perhaps you have suggestions), or to pick something like IHF (ditto)?

Q: Your recent market report suggested US small caps May out perform during the next few years. Can you recommend a couple of ETFs that trade in Cdn $

Q: Hello, last question on bond ETFs: for diversification purposes, having in my RSP individual canadian bonds, it might be interesting to invest in VGAB or VBU for additional money in fixed income products. For a long term investment, which ETF is preferable for the next few years: VGAB or VBU (given the interest rate context, etc.)? Thanks.

Q: What are your favorite ETFs in Utilities sector? In the US and Canada. Also in Europe.
(I have a small position in VPU. Not sure if it meets your approval)
Want to structure an asymmetric barbell, just in case there's more
than expected pullback!
Many thanks in advance.

Q: Retired (70 yrs old), dividend-income investor. Been meaning to ask this question for a long time. We run a concentrated portfolio of roughly 10 ETFs and 10 stocks, plus fixed income on top. Our pro-rated MER for the equity ETFs is 0.64 and for the entire portfolio is 0.38.

I use the ETFs above that are sector ETFs (like HHL, NNRG, XIT) as my proxy for the sector and am ok with the trade off of paying fees for a sector ETF instead of having lots of stocks.

I then add my individual stock selections to achieve my targeted Asset Allocation for the entire portfolio (like AD, BCE, FTS, GSY, RY, NWC, PBH, TRP, WSP, etc). I weight each of these relative to my risk tolerance.

Does this make sense to you? Does my "sector ETF" make sense, especially with a potentially large weighting in one ETF. Virtually all of my ETFs are capped at around 7% of the equity portfolio and the stocks are capped at 5% max.

Your thoughts on my strategy and on my MER....thanks...Steve

Q: Hello,
I’m not sure if this question is out of scope. However my daughter and son in law are moving from Switzerland to Canada in the new year. They have some questions regarding their investments so I thought I would see if your team can help with answers.
- We have UCITS Irish domiciled ETFs so that we don’t have to pay US withholding tax - are these available in Canada?
- If not, are there any options to invest in for example an S&P 500 ETF (or other US ETFs) without having to pay withholding tax?
- do you have a brokerage account that you recommend? We currently use CornerTrader/CornerBank but they are not present in Canada so we have to switch

Q: Would any of these ETF's have year-end distributions?
Is it a good idea to just wait until the new calendar year now, to start a new position in one of these?

Q: Please provide a suggestion for an US ETF that invests in basket of US dividend paying stocks such as PM, BAC, HD, MCD, BLK. Thank you

Q: Hi team, I would like to generate some income in US dollars.

Could you please recommend 2 or 3 dividend paying US stocks, together with a brief explanation as to why you like those companies. I would also be OK with an ETF if you think that is a better way to go.

Thanks as always,
Paula

Q: Could you please give your opinion on ZMID and RBF617 - which would you prefer over the next 5 years. Also, with the Canadian / US $ exchange rate currently being where it is, would this be a good time to use the hedged version of the above or do you prefer the unhedged versions?

Thank you so much!!

Q: Can you provide a synopsis of the above (recently inherited) funds? Are either of these funds pure equity? Would you consider them to be worth keeping or is there an ETF or two that will likely allow for better returns?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: I have cash from a maturing GIC and am looking at options to reinvest it. I am considering evenly investing it in these 4. Time horizon is 2 to 5 years, low to medium risk. I would appreciate your thoughts on these or if there are other ETF's to consider. Thanks!

Q: Do you know if there is a consumer staple etf that trades on the TSX?

Q: May I have your thoughts on 2 or 3 defensive ETFs, US preferred, with growth potential that also pay a moderate dividend.
With thanks.

Q: Barry Ritholtz: Some investors have big, concentrated equity positions that have accrued big gains. Maybe it’s due to employee stock option plans. Perhaps they have some founder stock from a startup. Maybe there was an IPO or a takeover.

But suddenly they find themselves sitting on an uncomfortably large percentage of their portfolio in a single name. The challenge for investors is how can they diversify when selling shares leads to owing big capital gains? What’s an investor to do?

I’m Barry Ritholtz and on today’s edition of at the money we’re going to discuss how to manage concentrated equity positions with an eye towards diversification and managing big capital gains taxes.

To help us unpack all of this and what it means for your portfolio Let’s bring in Meb Faber He’s the founder and chief investment officer of Cambria. The fund runs 15 ETFs and manages nearly 3 billion in assets. Their new ETF is coming out in December 2024: The Cambria TaxAware ETF – symbol TAX – is a solution to address just these challenges of concentrated positions.

The above quote is intriguing. If I understand it correctly It will allow a tax deferred diversification from a single holding with large capital gains. It hardly seems possible. If I read this correctly, will this etf be available for Canadians? How do you view it?
Thanks