Investment Q&A

Q: I have decided to move my investments from a portfolio manager to TD direct investing. I have a Cad and and Usd cash account and a tfsa. They have invested 50% of my money in mutual funds (mostly Dynamic Funds) and I'm tired of paying high fees with little or no active management. . They have told me they can transfer, in kind, the single stocks but must sell all the mutual funds before closing my account because they are F series. Does this sound right to you? Is there a way around this?

Q: Would like a current opinion on this mutual fund?
Is the fees worth the returns or would a global ETF perform better?
Greatly appreciate your opinion.

Q: I am looking to simplify my non-registered investment portfolio for my retirement, which is now only 9 months away. I am looking to protect capital and create income. I am looking at one ETF and one fund as possible landing spots for my capital: XSP. And FID282.
Can you please compare and contrast these two funds for me? Are the different enough to warrant owning both? Is there anything else I should be considering?

Thanks in advance
DON

Q: In my savings plan through work I have limited voices all TD Asset Management mutual funds very low cost because of a volume discount through the employer I have the following
CDN Index 53K
IMO shares 36K
CDN. one Index 24K
INTL Index 21K
US Index 18 K(was 40 K it I trimmed)
TD Money Market Fund 109 K
I can retire anytime in the next 1-3 years my question is would you reshuffle this in any way and also if rates go to 4-5 % typically what could I expect from that MMF …. Thanks

Q: What is your impression of these Manulife Funds and in which order would you choose? MPS4697, MPS4619, MPS4953

Q: I own both MAWER New Canada-MAW107 (since 2004!!) and Mawer Global Smallcap-MAW150 (since 2011) in a taxable account. Both funds declared very large capital gain distributions in 2021, much more then I experienced in the last years.. Are the capital gains really from 2021 -not the best year for MAW150 ?

I’m probably dead wrong but is it possible that after many years of good performance (let’s say 10 years), the mutual funds are required to distribute some capital gains, so that investors do not cling to them forever, and make CRA happy ?

Thank you.

Q: Hi Peter, can you please provide your view on the Ninepoint Energy Fund? I think it is managed by a former Sprott PM unless I'm mistaken.

Thanks,

Chris

Q: This fund which was a great fund years ago will shortly be converted into a lower MER fund which I appreciate. However, this got me to look closer at recent performance which I don't think has been very good. I am considering switching it to something else. Can you recommend an ETF or another fund that would be a good replacement. We don't have a lot of foreign exposure other than this fund and a Mawer fund (MAW102) but we are otherwise very diversified in individual stocks.

Q: Hi 5i Team, and with income tax season upon us, if a mutual fund company chooses at their convenience to consolidate their (Dividend) Fund A into their (Dividend) Fund B going forward, does it create a reportable taxable capital gain for the holders of Fund A? In this case, the statements show Fund A as a "redemption" (for the fund that is being closed at their convenience) and Fund B as a "purchase" (for the larger fund that is going forward), on the identical trade date (i.e., there is no order date and no later settlement date, but the redemption and purchase occur on the same calendar date as in a substitution of fund products). In this case Fund Company A was acquired by Fund Company B, and presumably the funds overlapped, and the mutual fund company chose to consolidate the two overlapping funds into one larger fund going forward . Since this was initiated at the convenience of the mutual fund company and with no action initiated on the part of the taxpayer, and essentially the product that the taxpayer is holding is unchanged (i.e, Dividend Fund A replaced with Dividend Fund B from the same mutual fund company), would this be a reportable capital gain, or otherwise the taxpayer within their right to choose not to report in the year 2021 taxation year and retain the ACB of Fund A and declare the capital gain when Fund B is sold? It does appear on the T5008 form issued by the brokerage. Thanks to all your Team from an appreciative member.

Q: I am interest in buying Maw107. When I look at the fund It seems to me there is no bid and ask and no daily volume (from TD waterhouse mutual fund section).How they determine daily price change?

Q: Hi 5i, I own some D-Serie funds in my BMO InvestorLine account. I was told that, by law, the D funds will not be allowed anymore in self-directed accounts and will be converted to F-series very soon. Do you -or your readers- know where this directive comes from? And will this conversion be tax-free? Thanks.

Q: Nine Point has an Mutual Fund and a ETF version of their energy fund:
Do they hold the same companies?
If so - why would one buy the more expensive MF over the cheaper fee ETF?
Also - could you detail the fees for each version.
Thanks

Q: Hello,

What are your thoughts on the Canso Corporate Value Fund - Series F as a fixed income option?

Thank you,

Glen

Q: I have friends that have sold mutual funds and wondered why the final proceeds seem so much less than they expected based on recent monthly statement values (i.e. they've sold a day after the their last statement in an up market). Why do mutual funds valuations seem a bit contrived? Are there hidden fees deducted from the sale proceeds in general? If so, what % are they typically?

Q: For a mutual fund, do you think the CIBC balance index fund managed by Jacques Prevost is a good overall fund for a conservative investor? Reported returns of 6.7% for 5 and 10 years. Mer of 1.22%. I noted 25% allocation to financials. It’s in my wife portfolio and she was looking for advice. Any comments would be appreciated. Thank you!

Q: Hi, Thanks for all the great advice. What would happen if an ETF or mutual fund (or the organization) becomes insolvent? Would the investor's holdings segregated in some way? Would it be safer to hold the actual securities in a CIPF covered brokerage account rather than an ETF of stocks or bonds?

Q: Hello 5i,
These three make up the fund portion of a senior's portfolio. All of these have a US focus. Can you suggest 1-2 ETF's that would compliment these three with more diversification and some balance. Nothing risky; 5-year horizon.

And should the TD mutual fund be replaced with an ETF with lower fees?

Thanks for your guidance.

Q: Peter,

I had read that mutual funds could no longer charge DSC fees. I didn't realize that trailers were also being outlawed.

Were trailing fees a major cash cow for them or something smaller?

How do you envision the fund companies making up for the loss of fees?

Thank you

Paul

Q: I would like an ETF to take advantage of the pull back in tech stocks. I generally like the holdings of XIT except for the huge position in CSU (I bought some anyway because I've always been wrong on CSU). Its a small position which I would like to build on but I would also like to add some US exposure - preferably CAD since I don't feel like exchanging more funds right now. Suggestions?

Also, what is your current opinion of PTF? I only recognize a few of their holdings and have no idea how to assess, apart from noting their reasonably good history.

Q: MAW102 has under-performed recently; methinks because it excludes the Canadian and US markets.

Should I continue to hold?

Thanks, Gary