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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 Peter, our 13 year old has $40k in her RESP. $20k is ~evenly split between BNS, ESL, and Telus. At this time where would you put the remaining $20k ?
Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on March 31, 2015
Q: Dear Peter and team.

I am switching a $25,000 family plan RESP (for 2 kids ages 6 and 4) to a self-directed account and would like to create a diversified and safe portfolio. I plan on maximizing annual contributions and expect the government top up as well, so will add $6,000 per year. The funds will not be needed for 12 years and I am willing to weather some volatility. Do you think an 8-10 stock portfolio is a good starting point, with the annual lump sum contributions used to add 1 or 2 new positions each year? If so, could you recommend 8-10 stocks to be acquired over the next month or so?

Many thanks for an amazing service!
Read Answer Asked by Arvind on March 23, 2015
Q: You have mentioned in previous answers that stock allocation in an RESP should be independent from other account holdings due to the defined time frame when the money will be used. I have an RESP for my 8 year-old that consists of $10,000 BNS and 10,000 SLF and $6500 cash. I plan to deploy the cash in March. Do you have any recommendations on a single additional stock OR might I be better off to sell BNS and SLF and buy a few ETF's to sufficiently diversify? I still have 9 years until she heads to post-secondary.
Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Robert on February 24, 2015
Q: Hi Peter and team
I hope you can help with this dilemma. I want to open an RESP account for my grandchild and I have like to hold Uas stocks in this account. I have been told by RBC DI that they only set up CAD accounts in RESP's. Do you or any members out there know of what alternatives I have to do this? If there is such a possibility does it qualify for the CESG having USD stocks?
Read Answer Asked by Kathy on February 02, 2015
Q: Reading previous responses, 5i appears to suggest treating all accounts (cash, RRSPs, TFSA) as a whole when considering how diversified a whole portfolio is. There is also a suggestion to place higher risk (growth) names in TFSA accounts because of the potential tax benefits. I agree with this approach and am considering both mine and my spouse's accounts as one large portfolio.

What is the suggestion if I were to setup a new RESP for a young child? For instance, if I initiate $5,000 position in a high growth name such as DHX.B, this may be a small weighting in an overall family portfolio, but now I am basically betting the future child's educational funds in one stock. If the child is very young, high growth is desired, but is this the right approach? Or should I be trying to diversify the $5000 into multiple stocks (perhaps 5 stocks at $1,000 each)? A list of some potential stocks would also be appreciated. Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Mike on January 30, 2015
Q: Hi Peter and Team:
Your service is the best $120 I invest every year!
I would like to select 3 ETFs for my children's RESP. Can you recommend, in your opinion the best:
Canadian Index ETF
US Index ETF
Bond ETF

Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Chad on January 08, 2015
Q: Hello team,

Bad, bdi,byd.un, cgx, esl, lnr, sj, slf, stn are the holdings in my child RESP and would not be needed in the next 3 years (grade 9). We have accumulated enough contribution for a new position, would you suggest buying another new position, adding to the current down ones (equal weighting) or getting an ETF for diversification?
If you suggest a new position or an ETF, could you suggest one or two of each to pick from?

Thanks for the great service.

BK

BK
Read Answer Asked by Bekaye on December 11, 2014
Q: Hi Peter, I have these Mutual Funds in my portfolio and they have done extremely well in this market environment, I wish more people shared they good investments here. While I am at it, would like your opinion of TBE and RMM.un. many thanks, Joe.P Burlington
Read Answer Asked by Joseph on November 23, 2014
Q: Can you please comment on the following group of stocks for an RRSP for a 10 year old and a 7 year old; AYA, ATB.B, T, BNS, SLF, WCP, SJ, STN, ENB, CSU. Also, can you please suggest a US ETF to round out the account. Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Janet on November 13, 2014
Q: Hi Team,

In light of your answers to single stock weighting questions I am wondering if a $30,000 RESP account comprised of 9 to 10 individual stocks would be considered too risky (10-11% weithting/stock). I am fairly comfortable with risk/volatility, but would also want to preserve the funds. They have been recently switched from mutual funds; should I put a portion in ETFs? If yes, what ETFs would you suggest and what percentage.

As always, thanks for the great service.

BK
Read Answer Asked by Bekaye on November 04, 2014
Q: Good morning Peter and staff

Since the the market has gone down quire a lot,, can you recommend 2 growth, divided stocks for a 10 year old RESP Portfolio.
Thanks

Read Answer Asked by Jean on November 01, 2014
Q: I am looking at setting up an educational fund for our 1 year old grandson with an initial
5k investment. Are there any tax implications when an RESP is set up by a grandparent and if so, would an investment account in trust be more appropriate?
Either way, which holdings would you suggest I start with.

Thanks for taking the agony out of some these decisions!
Read Answer Asked by Rose on October 29, 2014
Q: Hi,
I am looking at setting up RESPs for both my children (both under 3 years old) and would like to set up the following asset allocation:
Cdn Equity 30% US Equity 30% Int'l Equity 30% and Fixed Income 10%
At 9 years old I would start converting more into fixed income.
No commissions are paid on ETF purchases.
I am comfortable with an aggressive approach.

I have two questions, if I may:
(1) Do you agree with this asset allocation strategy?
(2) Which ETFs (TSX only) would you recommend for each of these categories if you were buying in the next 3 months.
Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Mike on September 25, 2014
Q: Would you suggest an ETF or mutual fund suitable for a RESP for a child in his mid-teens? (Something that could be held at a bank, perhaps so fees could be low.)
Read Answer Asked by Bruce on August 28, 2014
Q: Good morning Peter and Team,

I am holding some cash in my son's RESP and given the sell off today, I thought this might be a good buying opportunity. I have 3 years before I will need to start accessing the funds. The account current holds: DHX,WSP and BXE. My questions to you are - would you buy today or wait a little longer to see how deep this pull off will be and what stocks or sectors would you reccomend. I was looking at CGX, Teck and Surge energy but I am open to other suggestins. I also like bank stocks but they seem expensive.
Thank you for your comments.
maggie
Read Answer Asked by Maggie on July 10, 2014
Q: Looking for comment regarding following RESP allocation, goal is low volatility with solid income and slight growth, withdrawal starts in two years. Thoughts on allocation change before and after withdrawal starts would be greatly appreciated.

HFR = 5%
XHY = 10%
CLF = 5%
CBO = 10%
CPD = 4%
ZRE = 4%

RBF1018 = 28%
VDU = 12%
CIF = 5%
VGH = 8.5%
CUD = 8.5%

Total RESP approx 85K

Wish Peter a speedy recovery, a successful fund raising, smooth bike ride and thanks for doing it for a good cause.
Read Answer Asked by Steve on July 09, 2014
Q: Hi Peter and staff: Something new for us, our 14year old grandson is interested in starting a TFSA with a limited amount of money ($200.) cdn and a stream of future monies from his after school jobs. We had suggested DHX or Surge Energy but thought this would be an opportunity to let him see how a service like 5I works and can help plan long term
Thanks in advance for any suggestions and he and I await your reply


Read Answer Asked by John on July 02, 2014
Q: Hello Peter, First of all, best wishes for your health and get well soon ( i hope that guy's driver license is suspended). question about holdings in my daughter resp, which has another 4 years of contribution time. A fairly conservative and concentrated set up - consisting of CHB, CDZ, ZWB, CNR, MFC, TRP, ENB each at about equal weighting. I keep on adding to these regularly. wish to get your opinion - Shall I continue in these names or you suggest replacement. I am thinking of switching CHB to XHY and ZWB to XFN as these has performed better relatively. Do we need to keep both ENB and TRP. May be sell one of these and buy another of your top pick.Thanks as always for your opinion.
Read Answer Asked by RUPINDER on June 25, 2014
Q: Hi guys, we are about to open an RESP for our 6 weeks old daughter with 5.5k initial investment. What would be your recommendation for long term investment of 16+ years! thanks and have a great weekend.

Richard
Read Answer Asked by Richard on June 23, 2014
Q: With about a 7 year time frame before my grandchildren may need to start drawing money out of the RESP that I have for them, could you please suggest 4 or 5 stocks that don't necessarily need to "shoot the lights" out in performance but that are relatively safe and will provide an average plus return for this time period. Dividend payers/growers are fine with some added capital gains would be ideal.
Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Alan on June 22, 2014