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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: Doing a bit of portfolio clean up, what would be your recommendation (keep, replace with) regarding the following mutual funds in a well diversified portfolio. They represent about 8% of the portfolio.
DYN435 up 40%, DYN9405 up 18%, TML1013 down 6.5%, TML 1018 up 12%, AIM1651 up 9%
Please deduct credits as necessary.Thank you.
Carlos
Read Answer Asked by Carlos on September 14, 2015
Q: Good Morning,
I hold many of the stocks in the 5i Model Equity Portfolio. I would like to diversify my holdings beyond Canada so was thinking of starting a position in MAW150. It has performed well over the past couple of years. What do you think of this fund going forward? Are there others of this genre that you would recommend instead?
Thanks for all your help.

Read Answer Asked by Dennis on August 10, 2015
Q: I am a proxy for a friends account, his advisor was charging him 1 per cent, but in the account were some stocks and 2 mutual funds with a fee of between 1.5 and 2.5 per cent on top of the 1 per cent of money under management not to mention maybe a trailer fee for putting the money in the fund. since you are independent what do you think of this practice and how pervasive is it.dave
Read Answer Asked by david on August 03, 2015
Q: I have two REP funds for my granddaughters (1&3years). Looking for a long term balanced fund in the investors group. What would you suggest?
Read Answer Asked by John on July 30, 2015
Q: In the Globe on Fri., July 17 a writer was commenting on the Orange Balanced Growth Fund & seemed to like its low mer of 1.07%,its diversification with 25% of the fund in Cdn. stocks, 25% in Cdn. bonds, 25% in Us stocks & 25% in international stocks. Is this good for a young person with a 25+ year horizon or would it be better for an older couple with a TFSA. Both the young person & the older couple know very little about the investment world.Thanks as always.
Read Answer Asked by Dave on July 23, 2015
Q: Hello Peter, Saw your recent column on mutual funds. Would you list a few that meet your recommendations? Thanks, Lavern
Read Answer Asked by Lavern on July 22, 2015
Q: Hi team,

You indicated that in the TFSA, there will be a 15% withholding tax on dividends. How does that play if it is a mutual fund (in U.S.$) held in the TFSA ? What are the pros and the cons of holding such a mutual fund in a TFSA ?

Thanks a million,

Jacques
Read Answer Asked by Jacques on July 15, 2015
Q: Hello Peter
I am not sure i should be asking you this question or i should ask the Mawer Funds Company ?
I would like to purchase the Maw150 fund in the future but not sure if they would be closing this fund to new investor .What are some reason they close funds or cap them ?Do you think they would consider closing this Maw150 in the future say in two years what would be your opinion ? I currently have many of the stocks in your Balance and Growth portfolio and i am doing very well .Thank you so much !!
Thanks
Claudio
Read Answer Asked by claudio on June 29, 2015
Q: Further to Peter's article in the Financial Post on June 19, 2015, "5 Things To Look For When Buying A Mutual Fund", he referenced buying a fund whose managers are not allowed to personally own stocks. He also mentioned performance during past tough years. Can you narrow down a fund or fund family that he would identify meeting the criteria. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by stephen on June 23, 2015
Q: Hi Peter, Please clarify: In your response to Phil question today about Mawer funds, you say MAW 150 fees are 1.5%. The fund shows MER @ 1.82% and 1.5% Management fees, which is included in the MER, right? So the investor gets charged 1.82%, right?

With MAW 120, MER is 1.41%, and management fee is 1.15%. Investor gets charged 1.41%, right?

Thank you!

Silvia
Read Answer Asked by Silvia on June 16, 2015
Q: Peter and Team:
I am fairly well diversified in the North American markets, but feel I need more International exposure. You have spoken highly of Mawer Funds in the past (knowing you are not big fans of MF's), and I was wondering if you could provide an opinion on MAW150 and MAW120 as a way of achieving this exposure. Are there ETF's that might be better? Are there any tax differences between international etfs vs MF's if they both trade on the TSX? Also if going with a mutual fund is there any advantage through buying through the fund vs through my discount brokerage? Please dock a couple of question credits for this one to be fair.

Thanks as always.

Phil
Read Answer Asked by Phil on June 15, 2015
Q: Good morning. Unfortunately, I have a large part of my holdings locked into a company RRSP program. There are decent, not great, mutual funds to choose from. I have about 18 years to retirement and am almost 100% in equities. What would your rough advice be for %-age in large cap dividend, midcap, and small cap be? With funds it is tough to get as low a weighting in financials and materials as you recommend. Amy suggestions? Thanks, as always for your excellent service!
Read Answer Asked by Derek on June 15, 2015
Q: At times we want to take money off the field of play and sit it on the sidelines for any number of reasons. I have used money market funds for this purpose in the past. I have been reading that these are not guaranteed even though most people think of them that way. Please give us your take on this and any alternate suggestions for short term sideline holdings. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Douglas on June 15, 2015
Q: Do you have any information about either of these funds?Thanks Paul.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on June 12, 2015
Q: I have a question about mutual funds. I am looking at allocating a small portion of my portfolio to a mutual fund that performed very well in the first 3 months of the year (up 50%) and was at an all time high before pulling back. It is my understanding that annual performance fees are approximately 20% of profits beyond the permanent high-water mark. If I invest in this find today, after it has had its large gain, will I be subject to paying the massive performance fee despite the fact that I did missed the massive move to the upside? And is my understanding correct in that this fund will only take a an annual performance fee if it increases the high-water mark that year? Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Scott on June 03, 2015
Q: Good morning...I am thinking of investing in mutual funds offshore in $US (ie no tax issues to be concerned with)...I have not invested in individual Global stocks(including US)rather focused on Canada. I am now deciding to invest a portion into some form of Global fund or country specifc (Japan)...Do you have any fund you could recommend and any countries you would recommed in addtion to Global...3 to 4 year time frame...growth in mind...also two or three global stocks you would own if you could with no tax issues to be concerend with..

Thanks

Matt
Read Answer Asked by Matthew on May 28, 2015
Q: Hello Peter:
I am starting to look after my Mum's investments. Her guy at Odlum Brown has some of her money in this mutual fund, Frank Bissett Canadian Equity. The MER on it is 2.62%, add that to the 2% OB is charging her to manage her account and to me that's beyond ridiculous. It's heavily weighted to financials(40%) and energy(25%). Can you give me an the name of a Canadian ETF that would be equivalent or perhaps better? Thanks for all your great advice.
Read Answer Asked by Andrew on May 28, 2015
Q: Can I get your opinion on this fund maw150 global small cap for a Tfsa.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on May 26, 2015
Q: I recently read an article about this fund just arriving in Canada, May 6 I believe. What interested was: It is an international fund and it is managed by Joel Tillinghast (SP?) who was mentioned in the article as an excellent manager of this fund. What are your thoughts?
Read Answer Asked by John on May 21, 2015
Q: Is there any way to avoid paying the 1% trailer fee. I have a self directed investment account with TD. I have owned the fund for a number of years and its value is presently at $300m.
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on May 15, 2015
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