Investment Q&A

Q: Thanks for all your hard work during this uncertain period.

I'm transferring conservative Mutual fund monies (to get out from under their fees) over to Questrade.

I want to keep that money conservative. I'm not drawing back, but just trying to keep my allocation.

I've read that similar bond ETFs are not the best way to go forward. Some recommend cash, even US cash but this seems too fearful.

Please recommend an ETF option for this situation.

Q: Hi Peter & 5i,
Thank you for all your professional advice with your years of experience and calmness during this market turmoil.
My question is about bonds.
I have a portion of my fixed income in CBO.
Currently a retail investor can pick up some fixed income bond/debenture from the above mentioned banks with longer term maturities (say 2028 to 2030, they are callable between 2024 and 2026) with a 4% interest rate at current valuations (which are below $100). Even if they did get called then you would get the capital gain and the better interest rate for 4 to 6 years.
Do you think it would make sense to sell a bit of CBO and buy a few of these bank instruments in the current environment?
Your opinion is much appreciated. Thank you.

Q: XBB, HFR and FLOT have not held up well during this challenge. Can you suggest some liquid bond ETF's that will simply stay flat and pay a modest dividend?

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I own ZWC and ZRE and am thinking of topping them up. Their share prices have obviously taken a hit and buying more at these lower prices with magnified dividend yields "appears" attractive.

What I am wondering is related to the continuation of the dividend. By my numbers, ZRE is yielding 7.4% and ZWC 10.5% (annual dividend divided by current stock price). Am I correct that the yields are supported by not only the underlying security, but the covered call option? What happens if the underlying security reduces their dividend? I guess my real question is...is there a risk of the ETF dividend being cut?

Thanks...Steve

Q: Which Canadian monthly income ETF would you choose XTR or ZMI? Is there another you think may be better?

thanks,
Paul

Q: Your thoughts on XHY in a RRIF. Would you consider selling and using the cash for something with more upside potential. Thank you Barb

Q: I seem to remember in past recessions that I was able to buy bonds of troubled companies like Air Canada and GM with yields in excess of 12%. I just looked on TD WebBroker and AC bonds are YTM 3.5%! No thanks! Definitely doesn't sound like a good risk reward, and there were many other companies with still 'normal' looking yields. Any thoughts on when bonds will be re-rated (or not)? Even the energy sector at some point should be yielding much much higher, with better risk profile than equities.
Alternatively, I always hear that the bond market is smarter than the equity market. Could this be a sign that equity markets have over-reacted? Thanks for all your good work!

Q: I have few bonds in my RRSP portfolio, one of them is RUSSEL METALS (HY) 6%19APR22. The price for this bond is down significantly in the past 3 weeks even though there is only 2 years to maturity. While my other bonds down 3-5% this one is down almost 20% so I don't think it can be explained by investors selling to free up cash... Is a risk that Russell Metals will go bankrupt in two years or will not be able to pay bond value at maturity? Is there a risk that bond issuer defers payout on maturity date or somehow avoids paying maturing bonds?

Q: Good Morning
I own two Bank of Nova Scotia bonds. The first is issued in Canadian funds and matures in 2021. The second is issued in US funds and matures in 2022.
The Canadian bond has dropped in value by half a percentage point in the last month. The US bond however dropped by more than 4%.
Is there an explanation for the drop of the BNS US bond?
Thanks

Q: Can I please get your opinion on buying the CSU debentures for a juicy yield (7.5%) and safety of capital? Is it an accidental high yielder in a bad market?

Thank you very much.

Q: Good Afternoon
Can you please provide a site where we can get the prices of Corporate Bonds?
Thanks

Q: If a investor is down 20% on his 40% cash position and ironically still has more cash to park --- what would 5iii recommend to do ?
So much for being the conservative investor waiting for a better opportunity .......

Q: Greetings 5i: I have some XLB which I thought would do well when/if interest rates fell. When interest rates plummeted the unit value dropped almost $7. Now I could be wrong (again) but I don't think interest rates are moving up or down any time soon. It's my expectation that when rates do eventually start to go up that XLB may not be something I want to own. I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks. Rick.

Q: Hi Amazing Team,

Don asked a question today about Canadian Western Bank: With Alberta hurting and oil prices crashing would you consider the western bank safe. Your answer began with: We would be cautious on CWB....

My question is please: I have a significant CWB bond maturing Jun 16 2022. It is in the money. Would you be inclined to hold or sell?

Many, many thanks for what you are doing in this time of crisis. Michael

Q: I am wondering about Bond ETFs and why they are dropping when interest rates are at historic lows. Does this have to do with liquidity issues of the etf's, with people trying to sell them so fast that the managers of the ETF cannot sell the underlying assets quick enough? Does that mean that the underlying assets of the ETF are actually much higher than the price to buy the ETFs themselves? As an example I am considering the 9% drop of ZAG that occurred today.

Q: I Have held these bond etfs for a long time and they are down considerably. (-16 & -30% -9.00 % -5.16%)and still counting

My question is :
Do I have any reasonable reasonable expectation of ever recovering the capital if I hold them ?
Or I am reasonably safe in selling them and putting what is left in a better place ?

Q: ..why is HFR falling more than other bond etf's when it was designed not to? do you think it will recover or should i get out?

Q: I know very little about bonds and most ad advisers suggest some bonds for a 73 year old like me. Is this a good time to add bonds to a RRIF? If so, what bonds or bond funds do you recommend?
Thank you for your service.
Don

Q: Dear 5i
With the recent chaos in the markets i had gone to mostly cash but kept the bond ETF`s ( CLF , CBO , XBB , ZAG ) , only to watch them go down quite a bit as well . It's a bit concerning to think that i was well protected to the down side ( at least i thought i was ) , only to see bonds go down . You would think with interest rates going down ( generally good for bonds ) bond yields going down that bond prices typically go up . But such haven`t been the case . In light of all this should i be temporarily reducing my bond exposure or is the worse over do you think for dropping bond prices ?
Would appreciate your insight .
Thanks
Bill C.

Q: XRB is 100% government bonds and is now trading at a substantial discount to NAV. How can this be as the bonds are all government issue and (hopfully) the government is not going to default? Is this another case of dumping anything for cash or is something else happening? Would you enter a small position here as hedge against inflation down the road?