Investment Q&A

Q: So a lot of people think that interest rates have peaked and are set to go down, thus the market reacts positively. I believe that interest rates have peaked BUT will remain higher for longer. I anticipate that the market will initially react negatively to this but eventually will settle down to the new reality and continue to react to such metrics as earnings growth etc..
Recognizing that no one really knows the future, what would be the likely scenario ( short and long term ) for each of the sector ETF’s I am invested in : Canadian banks , American tech, American healthcare, Canadian large cap industrials/ utilities. Thanks. Derek.

Q: Do these products match the yields they advertise ? What would the expected result to the etf price and yield in the environment of rate cuts in the new year.
Thx

Q: Peter; In a “cutting rate “ environment which would be the best choice for capital gain? Thanks.
Rod

Q: Could you please give me your thoughts on the following etf's for a RIF that is looking at income? HMAX,UMAX,SMAX and QMAX. Thanks Gary

Q: A little while ago I asked 5i what the current yield was for UMAX and HMAX as I wanted to target the yield for an entry point . Could 5i give me the formula to use so I can do this on my own ? Use HMAX as an example to illustrate using the formula ..... Thanks Garth

Q: I have incorporated these ETF’s into my RRIF with the goal of deferring taking capital from my principal ( mandatory and rising % withdrawal requirements ). They now represent 33% of total portfolio. My TFSA and cash accounts equal my
RRIF and are more growth oriented. The ETF’s give me a high yield, diversified portfolio of solid large cap, primarily low growth companies in Canada and the US. So I ask myself “ Why don’t I have my RRIF be 100% of these 5 ETF’s ? What say you ?

Thanks Derek.

Q: I am an income investor. I believe that umax and zwu are similar.

Would umax (14% yield) not be preferred to zwu at 8.2%

Same for qmax (11.8%) vs. txf at 8.3%

thank you for your comments

Q: I would like to put about 50% of my portfolio into safe, higher yielding (10%+) Canadian focused ETF's or Mutual Funds, and adjust my holdings as needed going forward based on sector performance. I feel that both Banks & Utilities are nearing lows and that a further correction may occur in the general market due to tax loss selling or possibly one more rate hike. Do you feel that the mix of ETF's listed provide a safe way to invest with the goals indicated? What % for each, as part of the 50%, would you recommend as a holding, and how would they be treated for tax purposes? Thanks for the great service and please use as many credits as necessary.

Q: From what I understand from 5i - HCAL should move up much faster than HMAX and ZWU should move up faster than UMAX when the market begins its recovery. Is this a correct analogy? Thx James

Q: In reference to your answer today regarding selling the 4 stocks to replace with UMAX, you state that UMAX is “ fully invested in utilities “. I do not believe this to be true as it holds industrials such as WCN, CP, CN , and pipelines and phone companies, which may have a deep moat but I do not class as utilities. I bought this etf for its selection of solid large cap companies across several sectors. True utilities in this ETF are FTS, EMA, NPI, H, ( 30 % of total etf ). The name of the etf is a bit of a misnomer.
Thanks. Derek.

Q: In my RRIF, where income with some growth is the aim, I am considering replacing one or all of EIF, SPB, PKI, CRR.UN with UMAX ETF. In what order would you sell ( I believe it’s best to spread this out over the next 6 months) ? Is there any stock you would keep or is a definite sell ? This will double the portfolio’s income and offset the rising mandatory withdrawal . This will also increase my portfolio’s composition of large cap industrial and utility companies. Your opinion on this approach is appreciated. Thanks. Derek.

Q: My TD Waterhouse account used to show a calculated yield based on the current price of UMAX and HMAX but for some reason shows no yield for UMAX and 10.8% for HMAX now ...... Yahoo Finance isn't much better . And the Hamilton website shows 13% and 15.5% no matter what the ETF price is ..... So the first question is what is the calculated yield for both at today's price ? And second what would be the unit price for my targeted entry point of both 14% and 14.5% for UMAX { still making up my mind on UMAX entry price } .... and 16.5% for HMAX ? With rising rates hurting utlities and banks in the doghouse I'm inclined to think I might get those entry points .....

Q: If I am strictly interested in income, is there any reason to buy a GIC at 5.75% when I can get 13 to 15% from umax and hmax distributed monthly? Also are these products fairly safe over the long term. Thx, James

Q: I own CP, CNR, ENB, BCE, in my Rif account and was thinking about selling these to buy UMAX to increase income and keep me in these sectors. They are about 17% of that portfolio and I don't think I am adding risk by doing this but I will be increasing income significantly. Does this move make sense? Thanks, James

Q: In an answer to John you stated that you would expect ZWU " would likely retain its' share price better than UMAX " . Though UMAX hasn't been around long enough for a comparison I think one can speculate on what return might be expected as fifty percent of their portfolio are utility stocks with no calls written on them . So I would think the capital gain would be fifty percent of the utilities index. For example if the index returned 8% annually UMAX should return 4% which would reflect the percentage of the portfolio that is stocks { half the portfolio }. I would think that might be a good educated guess ..... ZWU on the other hand has been around for a while. So my question is has ZWU historically beaten fifty percent of the annual return of the utilities index ? And what has their historical annual percentage been compared to the utilities index ? ......
What I am shooting for here is a way to calculate whether the difference between ZWU's return and the utilities index return is enough compensate for a 5.6% lag in yield between it and UMAX ...... Thanks Garth .....

Q: Wow, 13.7 % is almost too good to be true ; is it ?
This would seem ideal for my RRIF ; a very high yield on solid Canadian companies. Will the covered call aspect make distributions fluctuate ?
I need clarification on the last sentence of your response to John today:

“ZWU will likely retain its share price better than UMAX. “

Are you saying ZWU will not go down as much as UMAX or go up as much ( or both ) ?

Thanks . Derek.

Q: Somewhat similar etf's with significantly different yields.

umax at 13.7% and zmu at 8.1%

would umax not be the obvious choice for an income investor?

thankyou

Q: Can you compare these please. umax distribution is much higher and is not leveraged, fewer holdings but includes railroads

Is zwu leveraged, and what does "leaverage" mean

Can't find umax mer

Thank you as always

Q: Just noticed that management fee of HDIV is 0.65, but MER is 2.39. Management fee for HMAX and UMAX is 0.65, but MERs are unstated presumably because it's early days. Do you expect that the MERs of HMAX and UMAX will be over 2%?

Q: I would like your opinion of this new ETF.
I realize it has no history, and is still rather small, but it seems to be in a growing segment, high income ETF's.
I like the equal weight aspect, I like all the companies in it, and I like that there is no leverage involved, and at the money options, seem like a winning formula.
I am looking for income, low volatility, and a little growth would be welcome, but honestly, if the share price is the same in 20 years after distributions, I would still be very happy.
It would make up about 30% of my investments, with HDIV at 20%, and HYLD at 20%, cash at 10%, and an assortment of individual companies, about 7, making up the remainder.

Thank you