Investment Q&A

Q: Can you please explain why or why not it is important to have bond funds in one's portfolio. I have been reluctant to buy as during COVID market crash my bond funds, did very poorly at a time when I thought they would provide stability. Since my fixed income was supposed to be the worry-free part of my portfolio I have not reentered bond funds and choose GICs for fixed portion. The same happened with preferred shares years ago. Why would one not just buy a bond where your principle is guaranteed if you hold until maturity? Are these bond funds doing what they are supposed to do and what are the benefits of a bond fund as opposed to just buying the bonds outright? Is money earned still taxed as interest in a a bond fund? For someone with no bond fund exposure what would you suggest?

Q: Hello, which fixed income: ETF/Bond/GIC investments would work best under current economic conditions of lower rates coming from the US FEDS and Canada.? And, do you suggest staying short or long? .. Of course the lowest possible risk.
Thanks
Carlo

Q: I would like to get your opinion on BMAX. It's only been in existence sine August 2022, but the returns, including dividends, have been excellant. Dividends are approx 10% and it's diversified geographically in the US, Europe and Canada. Is this a growth or income or both ETF.

Wayne

Q: Several weeks ago one of your members said they were seeking the safety and yield of CASH:CA and another name I can't remember or find again. This to ride out the market turmoil. I remember both names as being stable and having a decent dividend. Can you suggest the forgotten name or other names that are similiar and offer similiar features?

Q: Hello 5i,
In 2024 I sold my full equity position of GSY not at the top but did well for the multi-year hold (thank you 5i). I started watching for a possible rebuy particularly after the 5i report A-. One of my goals was to create a corporate bond holding portfolio vs a bond etf for a portion of my fixed income %. I noticed GSY has a 5-year 6% coupon with a BB- rating bond on the market. GSY does carry a lot of debt thus if an investor is fine with collecting a 6% return with a stepped-up risk protection profile within the bond world does this make sense? I am assuming in a downturn the bonds will trade down as well but since I have a lot of equity risk already would this make sense? I would plan to hold until full maturity and keep this in a registered account so interest tax is not an issue.
CORP GSY 6.0 05/15/30 380355AK3
Security Description
Issue Description CORP, GOEASY LTD, Call May27@103.000
Security Number 0377427
Alternative Sec Id T657E7
Security Description CORP GSY 6.0 05/15/30 380355AK3 (C)
Issuer Full Name GOEASY LTD
Coupon 6.000
Maturity 05/15/2030
Issue Date 11/04/2024
Dated Date 11/04/2024

Q: Hi, I presently have $50000 U.S. in a non reg acct. I do not plan to purchase any stocks in the near future. Would appreciate your thoughts on what my options are to generate some income with it. Thank you.

Q: What will be the impact of the Bank of Canada's likely rate cut from 2.75% to 2% on the ZAG or XBB ETFs?
Is it better to simply buy bonds directly rather than ETFs?

Q: Hi Peter and team,

What would you do with free cash that you have and want to put aside from stocks for the next 12 to 18 months.

Thanks
H

Q: I asked this question on June 1, 2025 but did not get an answer so I am asking again.

What is the difference in underlining risks between ZST and high interest saving ETFs like CASH and HSAV?
What is the difference in yield between them?
I have about $100k in cash to park for 1 year ish so I am looking for a bit of yield during this time.

Q: Where is the best place to park US cash for a month. Thank you, Rose

Q: Do you have any insight into whether ZWU might increase or decrease its dividend going forward please? What factors might influence this, and if able to gauge or guess at it, what timeline might we see for a decision to update it? Thanks!

Q: I’m thinking of switching my cash from CASH and HSAV to ZST. The reason is ZST now has a higher yield than CASH and HSAV (3%+ versus 2.6-2.7%)The intended duration is about 1 year.
What are the risks associated with ZST? Is ZST riskier than CASH and HSAV?

Q: I presently have $50000 U.S. cash that I would like to generate interest on.
No plans to invest it any time soon.
Would appreciate knowing what my options are.
Thanks so much.

Q: Hi, in your opinion is it possible to continue to hold bonds of CIX maturing in september 2027 and bonds of PKI maturing in march 2029 in a registered account even if the Companies are taken private ?thank you

Q: HI there,

I have a bit of cash sitting on the sidelines right now and would like to place it in a cash alternative ETF so that I am not losing money while I wait to invest it within the next few months. Are there any high interest savings ETFs you would recommend? Thank you.

Q: There's been a lot of noise lately about widening bond market spreads and their potential implications. From your perspective, is this a meaningful early signal of broader market stress and if so, how might it impact public equities in the months ahead?

Appreciate your take.

Q: Is TDB8160 as good as these others? What is the advantage or disadvantage to the others, and is one more liquid/safer than the other? Thank you!

Q: Looking for a foreign bond fund to round out my fixed income portfolio. Would PMIF fit the requirement? Thanks Ron

Q: In an effort to balance my portfolio, I’ve invested in both short-term (XBB, currently +0.9%) and long-term (XLB, currently -2.74%) bond ETFs, all held within a registered account. Despite these being commonly recommended by industry analysts for portfolio diversification and stable returns, I’m seeing losses across both and finding it difficult to understand how to generate positive returns from bonds in the current market environment.

Given this, I’d appreciate your guidance. Should I consider:
• Selling XBB and XLB and moving the funds to a high-interest savings account?
• Adding to my bond holdings by including alternatives like XSB or VAB?
• Holding my current positions and staying the course?

I’m open to adjusting my strategy but would value your insight on how best to approach bond investments right now.

Q: Adding fixed income in individual bonds is made complex by bank-owned brokers, for some reason. I finally thought of adding Bond ETFs. Please give your thoughts on the following high yield bond ETFs : FALN, BINC, JBND and USHY. Any that one should stay away from?
Thank you.