Investment Q&A

Q: I am 65 and retired with about $150,000 invested in the Mawer Balanced Fund for the long term. I redeem about $700 each month to supplement my company pension. Is this a good vehicle for the purpose Or is something else more suitable?

Q: My daughter has been sold this fund (agf elements bal portfolio fe,483) by her advisor a few years ago. She seems to feel she is locked in, although I doubt that. I suggested a switch to maw 104 since she seems apprehensive about VBAL with it's shorter history. I would appreciate your wisdom. Thanks

Q: Hello,
Do you guys have Flow thru share LP's that you recommend?
thanks

Q: How safe would it be to invest in 370 shares of TDB3091 for a 3 month period in US funds?
Thanks for your usual quick reply.

Q: Just like to bring to the attention of Sam who was asking about TDB220. Discount brokers now have a D series for many of the mutual funds. This series is for the self directed investors with lower fees. For example TDB220 has a D series equivalent (TDB3011) with MER of 1.66%. Still too high but better than 2.4%.

Q: Hi Team, came across this Mutual Fund (TDB220 T.D. U.S. BLUE CHIP EQUITY FUND).
With the tools available to me through my discount broker and other charting sites, I ran a comparison, using SPY, VTI, IWF and MAW108 as references, TD references this fund to the Russell 1000 growth index. It clearly shows it has out performed the other names. At 2.40% M.E.R is this fund worth considering as part of an overall strategy? Is there something I'm missing when looking at the results of the comparisons? Thank-you in advance. Sam

Q: Would like your opinion on Connor, Clark & Lunn Global Alpha funds - are they a good investment? ccl450 is the class A with a much higher mer than the class f ccl451.

Q: Hi Peter/Ryan,

I would like to get your opinion on TDF(Templeton Dragon Fund) a closed end fund yielding 8.4%. Bill Gates recently disclosed a 5% position in TDF. About 80% of TDF investments are in Chinese FANG stocks which are at a good valuation currently. What are your thoughts about TDF and are there any disadvantages of investing in a CEF. There could be further correction in chinese stock markets because of the trade war. Is this the right time to invest in emerging/chinese markets and which alternate ETF would you recommend.

Appreciate your expertise
Thanks
Ninad

Q: Hi Peter/Ryan,

Vanguard PRIMECAP Inv is a closed US mutual fund and it has beat the S&P 500 index since inception 1985. Fees are 0.39%. Much appreciate your comments for long term investments.
Thanks
Ninad

Q: I hold roughly full positions ing MAW102 and VIGI which is my full exposure to the international market. I have done quite well with MAW102 in the past. Can you suggest a better mix or alternatives to the International markets?
Thanks for your help, I will definitely renew my subscription.
Doug

Q: For better returns compared to individual stocks, my investment advisor recommended the above mentioned mutual funds. I would appreciate your assessment. In addition, I wonder if these funds are better investments than ETFs and if so, which ones would you suggest.
Thank you as always!

Q: What do you think of this fund as part of an income portfolio? RBF578

Q: What do you think about a young investor (aged 25) starting to invest for their retirement future by investing in TD e-series mutual funds, specifically the Cdn Index (TDB900) and the DJIA (TDB903 or TDB953)? For the DJIA would you recommend TDB903 which is in Cdn $ or TDB953 which is in US $?

Q: Just recently discovered that my daughter (30 years of age) has been investing in this company through mutual funds. Could you please do a thorough review and advise which of the funds that they offer are best for a long strong solid growth vehicle and taking also into consideration the least cost in management fees(mer's).
Many thanks.

S.

Q: I have about 20% of my investments in an rrsp in the following mutual funds: Franklin bissett equity, Franklin bissett microcap and Franklin global growth. It had done well in the past however not so impressive lately. Can you please give me your opinion on these funds and perhaps offer an alternative fund. Good for 8+ years. I do not wish to put into individual shares. Thank you for your opinion.

Q: Hello. My parents are elderly, and we have taken over managing their financial affairs. Although difficult to predict, I expect my mother will still be alive for another 3-4 years, so that is the time horizon we are working with. They have total savings of about $2.5 million, which we are amalgamating from various mutual funds and from the sale of their house, etc. We are considering using the wealth management services of BMO. We have told them that we are primarily interested in capital preservation. My father has a pension, so their monthly income needs are met. The representative recommended the PIMCO Monthly Income Fund (Canada). I'm not sure if it the same one as has been discussed here before. The identifier on the sheet is "Series F fund code PMO205", described as a Global Fixed Income fund. In any event, they were recommending 65-70% in the above fund, and 30-35% in a "Dividend and Income Guided Portfolio" which consists of 25 blue chip Canadian and US stocks (I won't bother you with their stock selection; it looked okay to me). They said they would gradually move money from the income fund to the stock fund during market drawdowns.

My question is, what do you think of this PIMCO fund? One of my concerns is protecting their money in a market correction. Would this fund be okay? Also, are the bonds in general of high enough quality that they would not be downgraded into the high yield category if things really get ugly? Has it had any negative years?

Thanks for your help.

Q: Hi Ryan and Peter
which of the two funds would you choose for a long term hold (10 years) for my 21 year old son?
RBF 1030 RBC Life Science and Technology Fund Series D MER 1.21%
or
RBF 1042 RBC Global Technology Fund Series D MER 1.27%
or
any other funds that you would pick would be appreciated.
Thank you for all you do for investors
Ron

Q: I have a financial advisory is recommending this fund as a 40-50% portion of a retirement portfolio. After looking at the fund facts it seems to be investing in companies with no rated credit quality. Would you consider this fund high risk?

Q: Can you provide the name of a good/liquid Canadian and US money market fund? I am looking for a place to park cash.

Thanks in advance.

DON

Q: I have a friend, retired as I am, who's entire LIF is invested in one mutual fund with RBC. The fund code is RBF461with an MER of 1.84%. From the research that I have done, this fund is rated as low risk with below average returns. When I look at a chart history of this fund, it does not even achieve the category average over the last 5 years at least. I own MAW104 or105 in this category but these would be unavailable to my friend as RBC does not offer Mawer funds for sale. Could you suggest any alternative mutual funds, ETF's or any other low risk strategy you demm appropriate. Thank you for your service.