Investment Q&A

Q: Hello Peter,

I hold CSU debentures in my income portfolio at a cost of 133 which are trading about 10% below my cost.
Would you prefer to hold them over the top 10 equities in the income portfolio? I generally prefer to have income investments with at least 3% dividend and a 3% growth above and over inflation.
Your comments are appreciated.
Regards
Rajiv

Q: I have a GIC maturing shortly in my RIF. Would like to keep the funds in some type of income/reasonably secure investment, but am having trouble accepting current GIC rates. I have been looking at ZAG, but admit that PAYM has also caught my eye. Could you compare these two and comment on your preference and why (other suggestions are welcome). Also, any comment on where interest rates might be heading over the next or so.

Thank-you

Q: Why do you think the USA is offering double the rate on fixed income government bonds as Canada is?

Q: Hi, I am asking your thoughts on Ninepoint money market ETF NSAV.NE It does not appear to be in your library. How does it compare to HISA's and other money market funds?
Thanks

Q: After going down for a couple of years , the price seems to be roughly flat the past year or so. Is it just the inflation rate that makes the share price more or less appealing to investors or do interest rates affect it too? What would you expect in the next couple of years if inflation stays flat and interest rates drop?

Q: The price of HSAV is the same as 2.5 months ago and the premium shrunk to 0.14%, which seem to be extremely low considering the tax advantage of HSAV. Is it because there are a lot of sellers and nobody wants to keep money in cash these days? Does it have something to do with the CDN$? Or there are other reasons for such a poor performance of this fund lately?

Q: I had a representative from Sun Life approach me with the option of rolling my LIRA/RRIF money into an annuity, providing guaranteed, stable income for life. Would you suggest taking a portion of RRIF funds and putting it into an annuity, or instead relying on a combination of ETFs that provide dividend income and capital appreciation?

Q: I am all equities in my RSP and RIF portfolio. Although a solid blue chip list of Cdn, US, some international, I would like to mitigate risk by adding one or two bond etf's (cdn dollar). These can be Canadian bonds or a combination NA and global. Please offer one or two...and are we looking at shorter duration or longer in light of current interest rate environment/future outlook. Ideally 4%+ yield

Q: Hi,

Can you please comment on this fund and suggest any alternatives in the ETF world with similar exposure but perhaps lower fees? If a similar ETF exists, what would you recommend?

Thank you. Michael

Q: What is the best place to park a sizeable amount of cash for a few weeks? Funds are required for home purchase, so no volatility, please.

Q: Hi,

You have probably answered this before so apologies if you have.

In general, can you please briefly compare and contrast the following fixed income alternatives?

GICs
Directly held bonds (corporate or government)
Bond ETFs
Bond mutual funds

Thank you so much. Michael

Q: Your comments please about this fund for global bond exposure in a diversified portfolio. Are there any ETF's that would be similar in scope and performance.
Thanks, Brian

Q: What ETF would you recommend for a US dollar TFSA that would similar to VUSB?
My understanding is any US interest earned in a non registered account has a 15% withholding tax.

Q: Greetings 5i, I am concerned about the current outlook for preferred shares, say 1 - 3 year horizon. What is your opinion on a switch from preferreds to short - mid term bond etfs over this time period? Thank you.

Q: Generally speaking, within one's bond portfolio what percentages of the portfolio would you allocate to the three ETF's mentioned.

Q: Good morning,

What happens in a rate cut cycle with this ETF.

Beaucoup Thanks for your unique service from a long time subscriber. Didn't think I would make so much money in the market. Time in the market not market timing as you put it.

Q: I have been trimming a few positions in my TFSA as they've gone up quite high and now I have $40,000 USD and $4000 cad. I've been waiting to buy certain stocks on the dip and will DCA some of these funds into market but I was thinking I should put it in some type of interest receiving liquid option in the meantime. What you you recommend? I was thinking Cash.to for canadian dollars? SGOV for USD? I believe Sgov would trigger that 15% dividend withholding tax in the tfsa but it's better than swapping to cad and back to usd cuz my instituation charges i think 1.5% each time. Are there any other options you would recommend? for liquidity I can sell and have access same/ next day? thnks!

Q: Hello 5i Team

I purchased UBIL.U (Global X TSX traded ETF holding US Treasury Bills) in my RRSP as a holding vehicle for my 5 % cash allocation. My purchase price is US$50.01 (resulting from ETF commission) per unit.

I understand UBIL.U trades between US$50.00 and ~ US$50.20 based on interest rates on a monthly basis

In December 2024 Global X declared at non-cash distribution of US$0.70807 per unit. The units were consolidated and now my average cost basis is ~US$50.72.

Therefore when I sell the units of UBIL.U in my RRSP I am incurring a capital loss of between US$0.50 and US$0.70 which I cannot recover (or apply against other capital gains) as the units are held in my RRSP.

Questions

1 - Will other US$ Cash ETFS incur the same non-cash distributions?

2- I could in theory purchase US $ Treasury Bills through my broker (RBCDI), however their fixed income product selection is not great. Any other fixed income suggestions.

3 - Are there are any other products which will not incur the non-cash distributions?

Thanks for all the great services that 5i provides

Q: Can you suggest 3 mechanisms to "park" cash with safe steady income and good tax efficiency?

Q: An analyst made the point that he thinks any foreign bond exposure should be hedged to the Canadian dollar. His point was that fixed income is usually meant to de-risk one’s portfolio and that by taking on foreign exchange risk in this particular asset you are working against yourself. Assuming one doesn’t require the foreign income generated what do you think of his argument?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.