Investment Q&A

Q: This short term bond ETF has declined significantly in the past three days. Any idea what is going on, and if it will continue. I have cash parked in this ETF. Should I sell, or perhaps buy more?

Q: Hello 5i,
What do you think of REM as an income stock for a retired person?
Thank you.
Lisa

Q: I am surprised that the CBO etf is down almost 8% over the past few weeks. With rates decreasing I would have thought the fund would hold up better. Is the eft down as a result of credit/default risk? Is this fear justified? Are the holding of high quality or risky? Thanks for your insight.

Q: There were a couple of questions today on BMO's ZCS. Both your replies suggested not too much concern holding the short term corporates over a longer period of time. Do you have differing thoughts on ZCM and ZLC? BBB rated bonds in ZCS, ZCM, ZLC are 36%, 58%, and 39% respectively.

Also of note all three seem to have a large discount to NAV. Yesterday between 4.3 to 5.5% (ZLC being the highest). Not sure that is normal, or not, as I don't look that closely and BMO doesn't appear to post the info.

Thanks

Q: I park my cash in PSA in Canada. Do you have a recommendation where to hold short term US $$-is there a PSA equivalent I can put my US $$ into? Thank you, Bill.

Q: Interest rates are dropping but bond funds are getting clobbered - they normally would go up - is there fear that huge numbers of companies are going bankrupt such that bonds will not be repaid? It doesn't seem to matter whether short term or long term bonds - they are going down. XBB down 3%, ZAG down 3%, ZCS down 4% today so far. This seems crazy. Is this a buy opportunity for corporate bond funds or is the great depression about to happen and everything should be sold into cash?

Q: Hi, I am surprised bond index funds have not performed great at this time either? Which ones are doing well? Today is another bad day...investors brought to their knees..I personally have several lessons learned..One of them being never feel shy to take profits off the table due to tax consequences. .The second one being, the day you feel like selling your bond fund in order to purchase more equities ( while assuming that this would be for the short term)..is the day you should be selling more equities.. cheers,

Shyam

Q: If you were holding a Real Return Bond here, would you convert to a regular Bond fund? Or are bonds also not safe in the current environment? They also have been negative in the last week which is puzzling. This is for a company pension so my options are limited to funds - or daily interest savings.

Q: I have both CLF and ZAG in my bond portfolio. CLF continues to go up as interest rates come down. ZAG was doing the same until the last two days. Do you think the drop in ZAG is due to the industrial bond component and business credit risk? If there is fear that businesses will default on their bonds, it might be appropriate to take profits in this fund.

Q: Do you see more downside to ZCS? And why ? It seems very safe in this environment but I want to make sure I understand the risks. Thank you!

Q: I have these 3 ETFs in my RRSP for fixed income exposure. I am strongly considering selling CBO and CLF, down approximately 3% each, to raise funds to buy stocks that are, in my opinion, getting to really attractive valuations today. I'll keep XHY because it is down a bit more (11%) and will likely recover as things improve. Is this an acceptable strategy in times like these. 25+ years until retirement.

Thanks,
Jason

Q: In my RRSP accounts I have built up a laddered GIC portfolio in addition to a variety of stocks and equity etfs, taking the income generated by the portfolio and adding to the ladder. Given the low rates for 5 yr GIC, under 2%, I’m thinking of taking this years income and purchasing CVD, which has a lower payout but more stability than the above mentioned Preferred share ETFs.
I may split my purchase between CVD and one of the above Preferred Share ETFs and am leaning towards ZPR as performance and MER of the 3 is similar but ZPR has a higher dividend payout.
In addition to better income, interest rates should be close to bottoming and if I stage my purchases over the next 3 months I will benefit from unit price appreciation when rates start going up and will have locked in a 5-6% return.
Your thoughts please.

Q: I always thought that it is wrong to regard bond etf's as fixed income. With all the equity carnage I also suffered a 4.46% draw down on XBB today. Individual bonds have a maturity date at which time your principle is returned; not so with XBB. Can you explain the reason for XBB falling off a cliff today. Thank you

Q: 5i
Being retired with~40 % in bond ETF`s as my fixed income and thus part of my relatively safe part of the portfolio , i was quite surprised when equities dropped so much today , that the bond ETF`s dropped considerably as well ie CBO , ZAG and XBB . They all dropped ~4% .
Can you help me to understand why bonds would drop so much under this scenario ? If investors are fleeing to safe havens such as treasuries and bonds and out of equities why do bond prices drop particularly as much as it did today ?
Thanks
Bill C.

Q: I am looking to invest in very safe very short term fixed income. I currently own PSA and CSAV in a non-registered account.
I am thinking of buying HSAV for an RRSP account and perhaps for a non-registered account. Your opinion please on HSAV - is it safe, has it been around long enough for liquidity purposes? Any comments on whether there is any preference or difference in owning this etf in either a registered versus a non-registered account? Thanks.

Q: In February, I was adding to my fixed income and believing that interest rates would not go any lower, purchased ZFH. It, like so many other holdings, has been hammered. It now looks to me that rates probably are not going up, for an extended time. If that is correct, is there any chance that ZFH will recover when the market calms down and equity prices begin to improve? Thanks for your excellent service.

Q: Why has this ETF doNe poorly during the correction? As yields drop, treasury prices should increase? Is there fear of bankruptcy from oil company debt?

Jason

Q: Hi, the big us banks have all come down significantly lately and some hitting multi years lows. What is your opinion about the situation and would it be a buying opportunity ? Can you explain why they fell down so much. I know that Warren Buffet loves them a lot for many decades. Which one is your number one pick ? Thanks

Q: I have held TLT prior to the market mayhem . Is it too late add more or should I be trimming? Educated guess please. Thanks
Tom

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan, and Team,

Motive Financial, a division of Canadian Western Bank, is currently paying 2.8% on their high-interest savings account. In this lower interest environment, I'm wondering how the smaller operators can 'afford' this. Your insight is always appreciated.