Investment Q&A

Q: When you own a money market fund such as tdb8150, do you accrue interest on a daily basis. If I buy Monday and sell Friday , will I receive interest. One does not need to hold for a specific time ?

Q: I purchased ZFL as a hedge against the possbility of a recession. I am now down 8% on this position, interest rates keep going up and there is no recession. Assuming a balanced diversified portfolio, what would you do with ZFL; HOLD, SELL or Add ??
Many Thanks
John

Q: If the scenario plays out of higher interest rates for longer; is it logical to presume Reits, and Preferreds, -both sensitive to interest rates, may continue to soften. I have been buying them as they are going down but wondering if this is a good strategy. Could you comment. Thank you.

Q: So here is an interesting one for you. Recent (early) retiree at age 55. Let's assume I have 2 bond funds - one domiciled offshore and set up as a Trust, and the other a traditional mutual fund domiciled in Canada. Assume both have a similar return and distribution profile, as well as holdings. The offshore one only pays nominal monthly distributions, meaning they essentially go towards increasing one's adjusted cost base ("ACB"). It is not an actual cash distribution. This is good in the sense that, in theory, this reduces your capital gains when one sells. The other one pays the same monthly distribution, but it is cash, and not just nominal. As a retiree looking for cash yield, am I being short-sighted in wanting to stick with the fund that pays the monthly cash distribution, or is there something besides what is noted here that I should be more focused on with the fund that pays the nominal distribution? At this stage, all other things being equal, I am inclined to sell the offshore one and just own the one fund that is domiciled in Canada and take the monthly cash income.

And sorry about the long question. I really did try to keep this short :)

Q: I noticed in your disclosure you have an interest in TLT, I hold ZTL which I assume is comparable?

Horizons Seasonal Rotation ETF as of May 31, 2023 has 75% in 0-3 month T-bills & 6% in 7-10 years with no exposure beyond that.

Could you help me understand the risk/reward difference between the ultra-short term and ultra-long term T-bills and which I would be better with in todays market and assumption interest rates may have peaked, or should I cover both ends?

Q: I was considering investing 300k into 2 or 3 of these picks below for almost guaranteed savings. This would be in a non registered holding company.

1. Horizons Cash Maximizer- HSAV (which you have pointed out is more tax efficient since they don't pay distributions and yield gains are building into escalating price, etc)

2. Horizons High Interest Savings-CASH which is straight up high taxation interest gains

3. Purpose High Interest Savings- PSA which is straight up high taxation interest gains.

Please advise if you have a preference for perhaps two picks at 150K, or all three at 100k for example.

Alternatively, if there is another TSX traded option that you suggest, i would look at that too. To be purchased via CIBC Investors Edge.

Thank you.

Q: I own TDB8150...I use it to park cash within my TD Webbroker accounts...currently pays 4.05%...that rate didnt move higher with latest interest rate hike...believe it didnt move higher on last rate hike either...I go onto TD's website to see mgmt fee but am unable to find details on it...are you able to tell me what the current mgmt fee TD is charging for this investment...please and thank you...and also any suggestions as an alternative place to park cash...take as many credits as you need...and thanks for your insight...Cheers

Q: Today the US Fed announced a pause in its rate hikes however stating the next move will be up. Looking back in history I see that 90% of the time a pause in the fed rate is followed by a reduction in rates and not an increase. If history repeats itself I'm thinking bonds should start to increase in price. To take advantage, if my thinking is correct, should I hold short, medium or long bonds. I have held BLV for some time now and am in a loss position but am thinking of adding a wee bit more.

Appreciate any comments you have.

Q: Based on the current yield curve, what kinds of maturities should I have for my bond allocation? As the yield curve is currently inverted, and if we expect the yield curve to become normal again, then should I have more short-term bonds to benefit from price increases with short-term yields coming down?

Q: In the current environment, when should an investor consider bonds vs. a high yield cash ETF? For example, XSB has a 2.4% yield right now whereas CASH has a 3.9% yield. CASH seems better due to the higher yield and also won't have capital losses whereas the XSB price can change.

Q: Hi 5i,
Horizon's is currently not creating any more units of HSAV.
The approximate HSAV AUM is currently $2.1B.
Is there a risk if an investor were to hold $1M of this ETF?
If yes, can you help explain the risk and a holding size you might
be comfortable with?

Q: Hi 5i, need some help picking and also diversifying in the Senior Loan ETFs space. Can you help with naming a few that are appropriate for someone about to retire.
Many thanks!

Q: Question for the 5i team. I took over our investment accounts about 8 years ago and since then bonds were not particularly attractive. As bonds my be about to have their day in the sun I feel it may be time to consider adding them to our portfolio. I however lack the knowledge and experience to make informed decisions at this time. The first part of the question is, can you recommend any informative reading or sites that would be of benefit to a novice bond investor. The second part would be a quick summary of your outlook for bonds, longterm, short term, etc and opinion as to which bonds, ie treasuries, to junk, would offer high yield without excessive risk for young retirees. Thanks for all your helpful and sage advice.

Q: Can you please help me to understand how safe money market funds are in “black swan” event like 2008? My broker often parks funds in money markets in a Cash account. Is there ever a danger of funds being lost, or simply a potential liquidity issue for a very short time? Are there any CDIC type guarantees up to a certain dollar amount per account?

Q: I have some reservations about buying individual closed-ended funds, in general; however, YYY is interesting due to its ETF Index approach. Is this a valid income instrument from the perspective of ensuring continued payouts and reasonable share price maintenance?

Q: I have some cash in a non-registered account that I will need access to sometime in the next 6-18 months. Given the indeterminate timeline I'm reluctant to lock the funds up in a GIC or term deposit and am looking to put them into a HISA ETF. Aside from slight differences in yield, MER or AUM are there any significant differences between the various HISA ETF's available and which one would you see as preferable? Thanks.

Q: Given the discount to NAV, what would you consider to be the downside risk to this fund? What about upside potential?

Thank you!

Q: with the Treasury Department starting to sell bonds this week, do you expect bond prices to drop? If so, how long in duration should the drop continue? Do you see this as a buying opportunity? if so, can you recommend bonds?

Q: It's not a question but rather a comment to complete your answer for the question asked by Paul on June 05, 2023. You can buy HSAV through CIBC Investor Edge, I had to open an account with them specifically for this purpose.

Q: Hello 5i
We currently hold CBO, CLF & XRB at 25/25/50% all as long term holdings in a slight loss position. I believe we are currently at (or very near) peak interest rates. Do you have any suggestions to bond replacements that might be better positioned to capture rate reductions for these holdings. (not accounting for the bonus of tax loss selling)
Again many thanks
Les