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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: I have money parked in a GIC that will expire very soon. Needless to say that the current rate isn't good enough and I'm looking for a higher return without too much risk. As a replacement of my GIC, can you suggest 4 or 5 mutual funds (bond oriented or others - I am open !) that I can rely on for an "adequate" yield ? I am not looking for an homerun with bases loaded. I would be satisfied with a yield of 4-5 % approx. per year. I am not a fan of mutual funds showing yields that vary a lot year after year.

I really appreciate your excellent services !
Read Answer Asked by Stéphane on August 15, 2019
Q: I hold about 12% of our fixed income in ZHY, the balance in ZAG. If we are heading into recession, default rates my rise but interest rates may fall. Does this holding make sense for a balanced (60/40) portfolio, retired investor living off the income. Capital preservation is important but volatility is expected and tolerable. Thanks for the fine service! Jim
Read Answer Asked by Jim on August 15, 2019
Q: Can you explain how an investor can get a negative yield on a bond? For instance German 10 year bonds have a negative yield. Does that mean that there is a premium paid on the price say 102.00 and investor receives 100.00 at maturity. Does the investor receive semi-annual coupons like other bonds? Are the coupons more than 0.00 or are they negative also? Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Robert on August 15, 2019
Q: Gentlemen,
I use Implicity to park money actual interest 2.4%
https://www.implicity.ca/Rates/
Regards
Read Answer Asked by Djamel on August 14, 2019
Q: There are plenty of forecasts telling us that bond yields are declining and may go to zero.
If they continue to decline , what does this mean and how can an investor take advantage of this. Your Asset Allocator tells me I need to move $500,000 into fixed income to balance my portfolio, which is predominantly equities.
Do I go to a bond fund , or actual bonds? If so what would you recommend? If bonds what type and term? I will hold for min 5 - 10 years.

Thanks and take as many credits as you wish.
Read Answer Asked by William on August 12, 2019
Q: Just read the piece on negative interest rates and this question occurred to me. If monetary authorities control interest rates what leverage do bond the "bond vigilantes" have as long as a country doesn't borrow in a foreign currency?
Also, why is it that if rates rise from 1% to3% on a 10 year T-bond you loose 16% but if they rise from -1% to 1% you lose 20%? (see Cullen Roche July 26/19)
Not sure if this is your area of expertise but other members might know.
Thanks
Mike
Read Answer Asked by michael on July 31, 2019
Q: I just noticed that 60% of ZAG’s holdings are other BMO bond ETFs, and the rest are direct bonds. I am wondering about the implications of this of MER, yield, and taxation.

In the BMO documentation for ZAG, they note “as ZAG is a fund of fund, the management fees charged are reduced by those accrued in the underlying funds,” which I find confusing. ZAG’s MER is 0.09%, but the underlying ETFs have MERs ranging from 0.11% to 0.33%. Is the 0.09% MER in addition to the MER paid to the underlying ETFs, or is it just 0.09%?

Does the ‘fund of funds’ characteristic of ZAG mean there are taxation issues in terms of it’s dividends being eligible dividends in Canada?

Are the dividends considered eligible dividends or interest?

Thanks again,

Fed
Read Answer Asked by Federico on July 29, 2019
Q: I am looking to hold some cash for 6-12 months. My broker - RBC Direct Investing - does not allow me to purchase PSA or CSAV. Would you consider HFR to be reasonably safe, or do you have another suggestion? I am somewhat reluctant to change brokers, but maybe I should.
Read Answer Asked by David on July 25, 2019
Q: Ray Dalio and David Rosenberg to opinions i highly respect sure paint a gloomy picture of the next 10-20 years.
Rays suggested Portfolio weightings 7.5% Gold 7.5% other Commodities, 40% Long term bonds and 15% Intermediate bonds 30% stocks and 7.5% other.
My question is on Bonds, Specifically Govt treasuries , this would be the TLT correct?
and wouldn't Govt treasuries be seen as much safer than say the XLB which are municipal bonds, I have heard some fund managers on BNN say they wouldn't touch an Ontario provincial bond because of the provinces Debt. So that being said is there a version of the TLT that is available for me to buy?
Thanks Gord
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on July 23, 2019
Q: how do exchange traded bonds work? do they pay interest semi annually? do they have a maturity date? do they have a credit rating? do you like the ag growth issue or the Cargojet issue? thanks for your input Richard
Read Answer Asked by richard on July 16, 2019
Q: Peter,

Is the rate reset spread on preferreds only good until the reset date? If so, do companies tend to renew at a similar spread or can it vary greatly?

Thank you

Paul
Read Answer Asked by paul on June 28, 2019
Q: Hello,

A recent answer mentioned no-fee GIC's. I'm puzzled. We have several GIC's and with various companies. The yearly statements we now get from our advisor (statements that are supposed to be more transparent about fees) says every one pays a fee to our advisor. The GIC rates are net of these fees of course but, in my opinion, these are fees and all are pretty big percentages when compared against the net GIC pay-out. Your thoughts? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Bill on June 27, 2019
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