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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: I read on the FAQ's of an ETF Website the following question:
"Are an ETF's Assets Under Management and Trading Volume good indicators of liquidity".
The answer they gave was: "No. The most important aspect related to the liquidity of any ETF is that while the liquidity of the ETF itself (the ETF’s own trading volume on the exchange) may be deemed poor or limited, the key gauge of that ETF’s liquidity is the liquidity of its underlying exposure.
With the mechanism of creation and redemption of ETFs, a designated broker (DB) is responsible for ensuring that market prices track the ETFs’ net asset value (NAVs). If the underlying securities can be easily bought and sold, a tight fit between price and NAV is easily maintained.
Hence, an ETF with small AUM and little trading volume can still be highly liquid if its underlying basket of securities is liquid."
Is this essentially correct, and if it is I'm still not sure how this would work? I have avoided many ETF's for what appears to be poor liquidity and trading volume. If I want to sell an ETF and level 2 quotes show a large spread to sell for example 1000 shares, will additional shares in the ETF somehow be created to get a fair market price based on the underlying stocks held in that ETF if I put a Sell order in on what appears to be a low volume ETF? What I am getting at basically is - is there any way of knowing what the price spread will be on the sale if additional ETF units that are created "on the fly" by the DB? I may not be interpreting the answer given above so please try to expand and clarify their explanation.
Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Alan on February 27, 2017
Q: I subscribe to StockCharts.com Do you know of any similar type of charting service or website where it is possible to chart Canadian MARKET CAPITALIZATION changes over time?

Thanks for what you are doing in the small cap niche. Interesting too how trading volumes react as various market cap thresholds are achieved.

I know you mentioned on one of your previous webcasts but could you indicate again what market cap value thresholds are significant when it comes to potential formal institutional coverage as well as fund purchase eligibility.
Read Answer Asked by Richard on February 27, 2017
Q: Peter, can you kindly suggest five investments that typically pay no dividend or other distribution (tax minimization). This would ideally be for a 5-10 year+ holding. My risk tolerance is medium-to-high (but just short of 'stupid'). If one or two of these suggestions were US companies (other than Alphabet; already owned), that would be fine. Thanks as always!
Read Answer Asked by James on February 27, 2017
Q: This note is for the team member who answered my question about ALA.R:

My good Sir, you have a fan for life. I asked my question in the middle of the night (by my calculation it would have been about 5.30am Eastern) and, after I sent it, I clicked back to the Q&A section - and there was my answer!!!! Speechless hardly describes my admiration for your work ethic.
Again, thank you for everything.
Read Answer Asked by Molly on February 27, 2017
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 Gooding 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
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