Investment Q&A

Q: How would you compare these two, HMAX has a DY 0f 12.57% and ZWB is 5.38%. They have similar MER's. Is HMAX more 'risky?'. They appear to be in similar investments.

Q: I own these in my RRIF for income purposes countered with some leverage for growth. What are some other Canadian issued high yield ( greater than 10% ) having 1.25 x leverage ETF ‘s ? Any sector will do , Canadian or American companies. Any you recommend or stay away from ? Thanks..Derek.

Q: a member asked your about hmax which you seemed ok with,but warned about putting all your money in one yield ETF. So my question is what other yield Canadian ETFs would you recommend along with hmax. dave

Q: I am a retiree in my 70s and my wife and I are considering downsizing to one floor living in a condo. And we might rent a higher end unit vs. buying. To fund the rent I am considering putting a considerable sum - seven figures - into HMAX from the proceeds of the house sale. This is entirely separate from my investment portfolio which is diversified. While you obviously can't comment on such a personal decision what can you tell me about the history of the Hamilton funds and their owners and can you comment on the covered call strategy and Hamilton's abilities to apply it. Any other upsides or downsides are welcome. Thank you.

Q: I seem to recall a question quite a while ago (years?) about the maximum % of your portfolio should be by fund company. If I remember correctly, your suggestion was to cap each fund company exposure to 15%. Am I correct and do you still feel the same?

My BMO ETFs are just over 16%.
My iShares ETFs are just over 15%.
I have smaller exposures to the fund companies holding HMAX, HHL, NNRG (around 5% each).

Please remind me again what the dangers are of exceeding your suggested threshold? For the larger fund companies, is the threshold higher?

Thanks for your help....much appreciated....Steve

Q: Which high yield fund do you prefer between FFN and HMAX?

Q: My financials consist of JPM purchased during the Covid crash for a 3.5% position { currently risen to 11.82% } which I'm considering reducing and IFC a 2.91 % position which I am considering eliminating as it has been on a slow steady slide .... So I am considering adding a bank ETF . The question is where ? Canada , the U.S., or Europe ..... The candidates are three enhanced yield covered call ETF's ..... EBNK, HMAX, and FMAX ..... Could 5i give me the annualized return { including dividends } for each for the last three years { I realize FMAX has only been around for 2 years } ? .... And also which of the three locations 5i believes is the best place to put finance investments going forward ? { and why ? } using these 3 ETF's as the options available ? ..... { This will all be inside a RRIF } ...... Thanks for your terrific service ......

Q: Can you give me the pros/cons of adding any of these to my TFSA. If so, which one(s) would be best if the goal is somewhat secure dividend yield.

Q: It's almost too good to be true. I have owned HMX for 2.5 months and have a 5.82% share price gain on top of the monthly paid12% (annual) dividend. I understand that the underlying sector - financials - has been on a hot roll. Let's assume that banks were suddenly flat. How would that impact the share price performance and their ability to sustain the lofty dividend? i.e. can this potentially be a long term hold or am I just riding a wave?

Secondly how do you feel about the two sister ETFs HDIV and UMAX?

Thank you

Q: There are Covered Call ETFs with mighty high yields: HPYT 18%; SMAX 10%; HMAX 10%; and HDIV 9%. These yiieds are so high that I feel there must be a downside, so my question is, what are my risks in using these ETFs as part of my income portfolio?
Thank you.

Q: I'm thinking to rotate some profits in BNS, MFC, POW & TD into GSY for a long term value/income and BANK or HMAX to add some extra income.

What do you think of the move and how would you rank BNS, MFC, POW & TD, are all worth keeping a position in?

Of BANK/ HMAX which would you prefer or is there a better name for a banking & insurance extra yield ETF.

Q: What are your thoughts on these for a retired investor looking to enhance yield over standard banking and insurance holdings. I'm thinking to swap part of my banking/ insurance holdings over to enhanced yield.

I see from past questions that you're not fans of split shares. What are the risks, when do these stocks work well, when are they at risk, and are there any of these or others that you think can be bought for a partial position in my banking/ insurance portfolio.

Thanks!

Q: Half of my RIF focuses on steady, monthly income and the other half on individual stocks. To balance safety with higher income, I am looking to have equal weight in FIE and HMAX. As I rely on this monthly income, what do you think of this approach for long term holding? Can you suggest better alternatives?

Q: I’m a62 year old retired investor with an excellent DB Pension and I’m working on a supplemental cash flow with my TFSAs,I have held the above stocks for about 4 years all roughly 10-12K in value and have been set up as DRIPs
My question is could you recommend another 8-10 Cdn dividend stocks($ 100K of room) I would add to this account coming from another TFSA,these could possibly have 4-6 % capitol growth and 4-6% dividend yield and in 3 years I would go from a DRIP to monthly or quarterly cash payments,I am medium risk and the sectors would not matter ….Thanks Greg

Q: Could you confirm how one should look at the total return for funds that use leverage to enhance yield? For example, I am showing growth of 13.16% on my initial investment in HMAX and it has a current “yield” of 12.48% so does that mean in the one year I have owned it I am up 25.64%? For HDIV, the numbers are 18.86% share growth and a 9.99% yield for total return of 28.85%? In past discussions of these products it doesn’t seem that what you see is always what you get!

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.

Q: I am an 80 year old value investor. In a diversified portfolio in all sectors, covered call ETF's as per above, make up 10% of my portfolio. I am satisfied with that and all but two are up. 30% of holdings are ETF's including the covered calls.
QUESTION:1. Am I holding too many covered call ETF's? They seem to take the stairs up and the elevator down faster than single stocks. 2. Is it supposed that the covered call ETF's will plunge faster than the single stocks in an expected steep correction?
Thank you

Q: I bought DFN and HMAX a few months ago because of the dividends--today they are 16.85% and 12.76%
but also a pleasant surprise of growth in each of 31% and 34%
So have now added the above stocks
I monitor all of them daily
Would be interested in you comments on this??

Q: I have been asked by a 23 year old to provide suggestions for when she initiates her FHSA.

I immediately thought of the banks , which I believe is the premium Canadian sector for long term growth, growing dividends , and safety. I would also recommend a more Canadian diversified security (UMAX ) for her next purchase. Of the above banking securities ( all owned between my cash, tax free, and registered accounts ), which would you start with ? Would you be comfortable with UMAX as second pick ( admittedly hasn’t done much but provides diversification into large cap companies and a good distribution yield). I am only interested in Canadian securities at this point. Should I be comfortable with this approach? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks. Derek .
Any

Q: HMAX's dividend has been slowly declining since the ETF's inception in 2023. Please offer an explanation for the decline, as well as provide your thoughts on the size of the dividend going forward. This is one of the few investments I hold strictly for the income stream and, if the dividend is likely to continue trending down, I will be moving on. Thank you.

Q: HMAX ETF pays a dividend of 12%, payout ratio of over 200%, reduces the asset value by the overpayment and unit value is also increased. We would apreciate your comments on the prospects of this ETF and their trading history.

Thanks for your valuable insight.

Thomas