Investment Q&A

Q: Follow up on a recent question on FCCM and WXM. FCCM has the lower MER. Other differences I see in a simple comparison from my online broker: FCCM is large cap while WXM is mid cap. 5 year returns for WXM is higher, but 3 year, 1 year, and less favor FCCM. Dividend from FCCM is 0.64% paid annually and WXM is 1.26% paid quarterly.

I own WXM in my TFSA (up 55%) along with a selection of stocks from your portfolios. I also own VMO in another account.

How do you view these investment style ETFs (growth, dividend, value, momentum) vs geographic ETFs vs sector ETFs vs others for DIY investors trying to diversify within an account?

Q: Dear Peter et al:

I enjoyed your article , "This December, free up some time by ignoring these investing issues". A timely article. Well written. As a long term subscriber, I know that you live by these "principles" even when we pepper you with questions on target prices! :)

You didn't mention about what would make you "sell"! In other words, what are your exit strategies other than trimming your position sizes in those multi baggers!

I ask this b/c of my experience with Knight therapeutics, Payfare and a few others. Do you look at "opportunity costs" in your portfolio construction?

I value your words of wisdom, always!

Q: I would consider myself a long term investor tilted toward growth. For such an investor, what is your overall opinion of selling covered calls on long positions. I have dabbled in the past, but in the end I find that I do not enjoy the potential risk of giving away opportunities for growth just for the sake of earning some cash. It seems to me to be a short term gain, but a potential long term loss. Your thoughts on my perspective?
Thank you for your excellent service.
Cal

Q: Hi team,
Is CLS plummeting on Avgo results? Also why the negative reaction on Avgo with the earnings beat? I am not liking this market particularly tech. Any reason to sell off growth names right now it seems to happen with very little new catalysts in sight. Is it time to diversify away from tech with the portfolio already down approx 12% from highs. Or just ride out these growth names as usual? Thx

Shane

Q: Hi 5I team: We plan to buy QQQ and Google shares for my son's RRSP. given the US drop in interest rate and what may come given Trump's influence, would you recommend that we exchange the Canadian $ into US $ and buy in US? Thx

Q: Following from Matt’s questions….

What is the forecasted revenue source for AI companies?

How do you see the service offerings between consumer and business?

Q: As I muddle my way through determining which holdings to purchase or add to and which to reduce or sell outright, I can't seem to ignore the backdrop of tariffs and an unpredictable Trump. If CUSMA goes down the toilet and duties are applied to almost all goods I can't see how there wouldn't be cataclysmic damage to our country. I am increasingly worried that as an investor I am not discounting the likelihood of this accurately. I am wondering if you could comment on this and discuss what your thoughts are. I would like to be able to better formulate my own opinion as to the risk I am taking with equities and your input would be valuable.

Q: We're approaching January, many of which have a lot of turbulence as fund managers sell winning stocks/sectors from this year to buy into what they think will be the winning stocks/sectors for 2026. Do you have any insight on what we should expect from them this time around? Canadian banking has been insanely good this year. Will they bet on that continuing or sell off to buy tech? Or will they go for gold or the long neglected healthcare or real estate sectors?

I presume there will also be a lot of retail selling of winners this year from people who put it off so the taxes would be delayed. Though I'm not sure how much retail moves the needle compared to funds.

Q: Hi Peter
I'm curious if you recall your days at Sprott and before, specifically late 1999 and then 2007-2008. Did you get a feeling that the markets were overvalued (or had gone up too much too fast)? Did you make any defensive moves by taking profits, going to more conservative holdings, using options to protect downside, etc?
To me it looks like the conditions are ripe for similar declines.
Thanks, Greg

Q: Everyone, in today’s environment of instant information and volume of information how far back in time should you use information for decision making (with the exception of financial data)? 3 months, 6 months? Clayton

Q: RE: 2025-03-07: Geographic - Diversification - For now, we would still favour the US, with a general suggested 50%, 30%, 20% (USA, CAN, INT). International could be 10% to 20% depending on the investor.

I'm currently converting my 25 stock portfolio to just two Balanced All-In-One ETFs: XBAL and AOM. I've determined the GEO distribution is: XBAL (45%, 25%, 29%) and AOM (62%, 3%, 34%). A mix of XBAL and AOM will leave my portfolio with ~ 30% International exposure -higher than 5i suggests above.

I googled this to try to figure out why these Balanced All-In-One funds have 'higher' international exposure:

"J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Long-Term Capital Market Assumptions suggest developed international stocks may produce better annual returns than U.S. equities over the next 10 to 15 years. The expected difference is about 1.4% annually – specifically, 8.1% for EAFE stocks (Europe, Australasia, Far East) versus 6.7% for U.S. stocks."


Your comments on this difference in international exposure would be most appreciated. Thank you.

Q: Greetings 5i,

We are possibly entering a period of change in the direction of interest rates. Canada and the US could be heading in different interest rate directions. Up for debate I suppose.

Could 5i provide a quick refresher on sectors and possibly companies that do well with rising interest rates and those that do poorly. A broad explanation would be appreciated as well as your thoughts on the direction of rates today.

Cheers!

Q: I am setting up a retirement portfolio. i know that in your view allocations are personal but if you were setting up your retirement portfolio what would be your highest ZUT allocation that you would be comfortable with? what would be your allocation per dividend/conservative non-overlapping ETFs? what would be your top 5-6 ETFs for such a portfolio?

Q: What do you think about the recent insider tech sell off by Peter Thiel, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, and others? Is this a signal of an incoming tech and general market crash?

Q: Can you elaborate a bit on your philosophy “Letting Winners ride”? Very difficult to do so when consistently managing position sizing. I own companies you have serious conviction in (BN, CSU, CLS, GOOG) that are becoming larger allocations in my portfolio. They feel like “Winners”, so why trim?

Can you provide an example or two that you personally have let winners run? And maybe a reason why you chose not to trim?

Thank you

Q: I am looking at taking some profits and rebalancing my portfolio heading into the end of year, I have historic tax losses that will allow this without issue…
I am currently at approximately 70/30 (Stocks/Fixed Income, Cash) , looking to move closer to 60/40. Do you think this is being too conservative heading into the end of the year?

Thanks
Tim

Q: Hi 5i team,

With the Fed now ending quantitative tightening (QT) and possibly cutting rates, I'm wondering what the combination means for the market from your perspective.

1. How do you think the end of QT might affect U.S. and Canadian stocks in the short term and long term? Are there certain sectors or styles (growth vs value, cyclicals vs defensives) that you’d expect to benefit more? How about Crypto?

2. Some people are saying that stopping QT is almost like getting an extra rate cut in terms of liquidity. Do you agree, or is that overstated?


Thanks,
Matt

Q: I am 70 year-old value investor who is reluctant to invest further in the current overvalued equity market. Our new portfolio manager is recommending the AQR Apex Strategy Fund as an alternative investment. I am reluctant to invest in something I don't understand. Can you please tell me more about the AQR Apex Strategy Fund?
Thanks!

Q: Hey 5i, I would like your suggestions on portfolio construction for a retired individual. Basically I would like your suggestions for percentage breakdown between Canada, US, and international. My plans for international is just buying VXUS and calling it a day. For Canada I’m buying ETFs XDIV and CDZ. For the US I’m going to buy the 11 sectors (including REITS) through ETFs, either Vanguards or ishares. So I would like your suggestions on percentages put to the 11 sectors in the US for a retired individual. Thanks so much and what a great service you have!

Q: Similar to how you don't like giving price targets, isn't having a "starter" position a similar sin? Like how lump sum is better than DCA, wouldn't it makes sense to just go all in (to the goal % of portfolio you'd like to have).