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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: Hi there. In August I became nervous about managing the amount of money I had been and got an investment advisor from the Royal Bank. I then invested half of my savings into their mutual funds. A large chunk of it is in the RBC Select Balanced Portfolio. As this is a mutual fund there is a mer of 1.94%. So question # 1 is: is this a reasonable mer?
I have noticed now that this mutual fund invests in 10 other (mostly RBC) mutual funds. So my second question is: how does this work for the other mers? Who is paying these mers? Am I paying 1.94% plus other hidden fees for the mutual funds within the first mutual fund?

Thanks,
Sue
Read Answer Asked by Susan on April 16, 2019
Q: Hello 5i

I am a retired cautious investor who is slowly moving from individual stocks in both my registered and non-registered accounts to Mawer 105.

I do, however, believe in diversification. As I slowly unwind my accounts with their individual diversified holdings would it be wiser to spread my future investments between such products as Mawer 105 and VBal or simply go “all in” with one or the other ... or any other product you would suggest?

Thank you

Peter
Read Answer Asked by Peter on April 15, 2019
Q: We have about $150k in a Family RESP invested in the Fidelity Clearpath 2025 Portfolio Series B ISC target date fund. On the Fidelity fact sheet it says "Series B has the highest combined management and administration fees among the series in the Program". We were put into the fund by our previous financial advisor. Funny how that worked. The current MER is 2.17%. Could you recommend two or three alternative ETF's or funds with more reasonable MER's or even possibly a handful of suitable stocks? The funds won't be needed for another five years. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Bruce on April 11, 2019
Q: CIF 823 is the last remnant from the portfolio of my former financial advisor. How would you assess this mutual fund? Would an ETF (or several) be a preferred replacement?
Your input is always appreciated!
Read Answer Asked by Sigrid on April 10, 2019
Q: Hi Guys just to circle back on a question I answered and you replied in the last day or so. I'm sorry I should of been more specific, I'm looking for a growth mutual fund for a 25 year old that will be adding to often and therefore don't want any trading costs involved with buying ETF's, the 2 that you suggested are XWD and VT. Looking for mutual funds and not ETF.
Thank-you
Read Answer Asked by Chris on April 09, 2019
Q: Hi 5i,
I think there are some very good F-Class mutual funds available but, one can only purchase them through an advisor. How can one become certified as a mutual fund advisor and purchase F-class funds for their own account? I am retired and don't mind taking courses to become certified. Does this makes sense and can you point me to the right web sites to learn more about this?
thanks
Read Answer Asked by Ian on April 09, 2019
Q: Do you have an opinion on pooled wrapped funds? How do you feel about this type of investment vs a mutual fund? It is with cibc.
Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Lois on April 08, 2019
Q: Hi,
I need a bit of help in structuring my Bond component for my RRSP.
I had so far running with PH&N High Yield 5%, ZST 5%, PH&N Total Return Bond 10%, PIMCO Monthly Income Fund 5% and MFT 2.5%, for a total of 27.5%. Given my age (59) and the fact that soon we may enter in a Bear market, I have to increase my Bond allocation. According to some, this should mirror my age, probably close to 60%. My question is: What combination of Funds/ETFs and weight should I use? Is probably not a good idea to invest more than 15% in a fund and probably limit my High Yield exposure to 5%. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Nicolae on March 21, 2019
Q: Hi guys
As you know Elderly Care is expensive..roughly 6 grand a month. Sold the house 5 years ago (big mistake) put the money in a split between GICs & BNS430 . 60% GICS 40% BNS430. This isn't enough Income to stop the Capital Drain. Myself, Im not impressed with the MER or the returns from the Scotia Innova Income Portfolio Series T. Was thinking of switching out of GIC or BNS430 to the MAW105. Would you have any other ideas?. Im a little scared of the Dividend ETFs, BMO dividend ETF got Hammered 30% in 2008....Yikes
thanks Gord ( take a many credits as you like)
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on March 06, 2019
Q: Goodmorning

My Grand Daughter has the following funds in her RESP> She has sufficent funds in each to pay for all costs associated with each of the 3 years of her education. Which would you sell 1st 2nd 3rd over the next 3yrs and would you suggest selling any and if so what would you replace them with?
Thks
Marcel
Plse take 3 credits
Read Answer Asked by Marcel on February 20, 2019
Q: Canadian BT global growth fund is up 11% this year, rose 15% last year, and has beaten the S&P/TSX Composite on an annualized basis since inception in 2006.
What are your thoughts on this fund? How has it performed so well?
E.g. Versus the 5i managed portfolios down by 10+% last year, how did it manage to rise +15% last year?
Read Answer Asked by Curtis on February 19, 2019
Q: Could I get your opinion on the potential for VIGI. I am looking for safety with modest growth in my RIF. Is it dependent on Brexit or mainly just the European economy? I also hold MAW102 and VIG which have both performed better than VIGI. I have considered selling VIGI and investing the proceeds 50/50 in the other two. Comment and suggestions appreciated
Read Answer Asked by Doug on February 13, 2019
Q: Recently, I took over a financial advisor managed portfolio, which included these two mutual funds. Since I prefer ETFs instead, I wonder which ETFs might be most suitable to replace these funds.
Thank you, as always!

EdgepointGlobal EDG100,Capital Group CIF823
Read Answer Asked by Sigrid on February 04, 2019
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