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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: Hello 5i team,
Much is being said about protecting one's portfolio in the event of a correction; here is what I think.

Let’s assume that my portfolio is worth 100k, 5k of which is in gold (5% as you suggest).

If the market corrects by 10% and gold appreciates by 10%, the value of my portfolio would drop to 91k (85.5k equity, 5.5k gold); If I did not hold any gold, my portfolio would have dropped to 90k (or 1k less).

If the market corrects and gold appreciates by 20%, the value of the portfolio would drop to respectively 83k and 80k (or 3k less).

If the market corrects and gold appreciates by 40%, the value of the portfolio would drop to respectively 64k and 60k (or 4k less).

I conclude that holding 5% of my portfolio in gold does not provide materially significant protection in any of the above scenarios.

If one desires real protection in any of the above scenarios, 50% of the portfolio should be in gold; only then would the value of the portfolio remain intact.

Your comments are most appreciated,

Antoine
Read Answer Asked by Antoine on February 24, 2017
Q: You talk about sector and asset weighting based on an entire portfolio. If one's portfolio is say $50,000 and a 9% stock weighting is $4,500 is it worth the fees to sell and re-balance? Does the answer change if it's a long term holding? What if the individual is making regular contributions of $10,000 / year? Could they continue to hold that 9% position and reduce it over X number of years by investing in other assets?
Read Answer Asked by John on February 24, 2017
Q: The markets have had quite a run and I am considering the manner in which I can protect the bulk of those gains. Although I acknowledge and understand that market timing doesn't work, intuitively given the extent of the market run, the odds of a pullback must be greater and therefor are not some hedging strategies prudent at this juncture? How can I hedge those gains in a self directed account with a mix of registered and taxable accounts, the bulk being in taxables which have in certain securities significant gains? Thx
Read Answer Asked by Patrick on February 23, 2017
Q: Small caps REALLY seem to be moving, many which I own from your growth portfolio. For example, PLI, IRD, PHO, CRH, ECN, TNC, GUD, SVI, and ITC. Is it the individual stories for each stock that is pushing prices up, or do you see a larger rotation into small caps? Do you feel their is still value in the names above and in small caps in general?

Regards,

Robert
Read Answer Asked by Robert on February 23, 2017
Q: Hi 5i team. The bulk of our savings is managed professionally and is balanced and diversified (I hope).My spouse and I manage our own TFSA. We would like the TFSAs to have a high growth potential. Currently my porfolio has 15% cash, 8.14% BAD, 5.82% CGX, 4.52% DRT, 4.89% INP, 6.92% GUD, 4.41% MDA, 5.18% NXPI, 17.53% PPL, 7.14% TC and 18.66% BYD
My husband has 24.35% cash, 9.24% ALA, 6.76% CXI, 20.54% CSU, 8.88% GSY, 18.78% KXS and 10.97% WCN.
We would like to have a balanced asset allocation and still keep it high growth.
Please suggest what we should keep, sell and any buy recommendations.
Please deduct as many credits as appropriate.

Also, could you advise how often I should check on my porfolio and rebalance it?
Read Answer Asked by Teresa on February 23, 2017
Q: I am cleaning up my portfolio and have to deal with a $35k loss on Terra Energy (TTRHF) .. what is the best way to do this? I was sent a form to sign by my online broker (Letter of Authorization - Direction to Remove and Assign Securities (Delisted)) .. is this a good idea? And what about the case of a stock that is still listed (e.g. Knighthawk - KHA) at 2 cents?
Your advice is much appreciated in dealing with these matters.
Read Answer Asked by Patrik on February 23, 2017
Q: RRSP question: Assume I am an Alberta resident with $0 income in 2017. How much can I withdraw from from my RRSP account while maintaining a 0% tax rate (disregard withholding tax)? 2017 Basic Alberta Personal Amount is $18,690 at 10% and Federal amount is $11,635 at 15%. And, can I make this withdrawal now (Feb. 17) for 2017 or does the March 1st RRSP cutoff date apply for withdrawals as well? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Curtis on February 21, 2017
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