Investment Q&A

Q: Hi 5i Team,
Just want to thank you for the 50% discount on ETF & Fund Update.

The segment on Fixed Income in the January issue is most helpful.
Will be reading more back issues as time permits.

Thanks again!

Q: What are the key metrics/parameters of a corporations earnings that one should be looking at and what parameters provide guidance on future performance of the corporation.

Q: In general, do you think it is a good time to convert REITS & Energy mid-stream players to something like XTR or perhaps CPD? I hold HR.UN, AX.UN, RUF.UN, GEI, CHE.UN and KEY as candidates for the switch. I consider these as all fixed income proxy plays and am down in all instances roughly 15-20%. My bigger question would be: Do I have a better chance of capital recovery just holding them or making the switch knowing that XTR or CPD are certainly not big cap growth opportunities. Thanks in advance for your response.

Q: Peter what is your opinion of
Walter Scott glopbal equity growth fund and
Renaissance global growth fund als
Connor Clark& lunnfunds inc

Q: What do you see as the best strategy to benefit from downturns like what we’ve seen lately. Is it just make sure you always have cash to deploy when one happens or is there some stock/fund that is average most of the time but really benefits from the pull backs somehow?

Q: Hello, with the Dow down more than 4% twice this week, can you comment based on your observations (volume, block size, leverage or other) and experience if the automated trading could explain this volatility and trigger this panic. Also, would you know if the level of leverage and use of derivatives has increased over the last few years or vs 2008 ? Thank you.

Q: I use an advisor and pay 1% annually on my assets under management. My mandate is for income and they have me in about 35 equities, a corporate bond ladder and a Govt. bond ladder.

A friend says I should use a basket of mutual funds and self manage. I'm considering switching to your income portfolio along with a few other holdings, but my question pertains to my current situation. What's better, a diversified basket of equities or a basket of mutual funds? I think I know you'll say a diversified basket of equities, but where do I see these statistics for myself? I would really like to be able to tell my friend (respectfully) that they are wrong...historically, a basket of mutual funds doesn't outperform a basket of stocks.

Q: Subscription to the globe and mail provides excellent spreadsheets for your portfolio as well as watch lists with news

Q: Can you please provide your views on investing in corporate class mutual funds. Also recommendations if any. Thank you.

Q: If I may be permitted a comment on Dave's question when he asks "...how to create an investment portfolio that gains from where the capital is going instead of holding investments seeing capital retreating," I have had spectacular results (in my mind) by emulating the Balanced Equity 5i portfolio, gaining over 16% in 2017 (my weighting was different and I hold several international ETFs for diversification outside Canada). Trying to go where the capital is going comes awfully close to timing the market, a losing strategy for most investors. As a contrarian by nature, where most of the market is going is a pretty good indication of turnaround soon.

I re-balanced my entire portfolio in mid-January to very closely align the weightings with the 5i Balanced Equity portfolio.

Q: Hi 5i, I do know you guys are focusing on Canadian Equity. However, I would like to get your opinions on short-vol ETFs like XIV and SVXY since this topic is so popular right now. We all know after today's trade, these products lost most of their values due to the spike of volatility. But in the past 2 year, short-vol has been a money-printing trade that is crazily profitable. I think since the market fundamentals did not change and the volatility will go low eventually, these products are insanely cheap now and looks like they will go up like before? One thing I am worrying is that Credit Suisse announce to liquidate their XIV soon. Will you say this will happen to similar products like SVXY or HVI.TO? Will you recommend to but this "super dip" now? Sorry this question is long, but I bet a lot of people are looking forward to hear your thoughts about this issue right now.

Q: Just as the financial crisis has resulted in identification of banks which are "too big to fail", what, in your opinion would be the consequences if a computer trading program were to be identified as one that is either "market moving or trend prolongation". Would the average retail investor not be on a more equal trading position if those computer were made to make public those events which trigger their buy and sell? If we all decided to jump on the exact same trade, there would be no winners and losers . If AI computer trading accounts for more and more of the trades then, short of the individual investor pulling completely out of the stock market, how does one have any confidence in their own investment thesis?

Q: Will you have more input from Dwight Galusha (Set your stop) on a regular basis?

Thank you,

Tom

Q: Good Morning 5i Team,
I am trying to switch from the following managed funds to 5i recommended investments:
TDB2760 TD RETIREMENT BALANCED PORTFOL
TDB331 TD MANAGED INCOME & MODERATE G
TDB622 TD MONTHLY INCOME FUND - INV
IGI467 IG FRK BIS C/E-A /D'FRAC
IGI348 IG FI CDNEQTF A /D'FRAC
RBF461 Select Conservative Portfolio fund NL
Please evaluate and advise. I am targeting to allocate 65% for conservative and 45% equity investments). I have already small 5i portfolios with most of companies from 5i recommended Balanced and Income models (started in October - Dec 2017). Please advise. Thank you

Q: Today in a question from John he asked about spreadsheets, I too was looking but in fact Action Direct can provide the info he is looking for. Under the My Portfolio tab, click on Analyze and Rebalance, in there you can create a group of all your accounts. Once you have a Group, sector weightings and position size is one click of the mouse. I wouldnt waste my time or yours with this submission except for the fact this knowledge has been a bit of a game changer managing my portfolio - keeping sector weights and position size in line.

Q: I would like to setup a spreadsheet to track our stocks. I would like it to be easy to update and be able to track my sector weighting’s and gains and losses. I use the Royal Bank Direct Investing to keep track of our holdings.
Are there any templates for setting this up?
We have separate accounts for 2 TFSAs, one RIF and one Cash account. Some equities are in several accounts. Should they be consolidated into one account when setting up a spreadsheet so that I can determine our sector allocations?

Your direction and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I realized that this is more than one question. Thanks.

John

Q: Hi All,
I have been receiving a pending approval status on my Investorline account, most recently on a buy order for BYL this morning. For the 5i team what is happening and should I have to wait for approval on a do it yourself platform. For 5i readers have you experienced this as well. Given the quick price movements such as this morning it is difficult to buy at the lows when this happens, can anyone recommend a platform where this does not happen.

Thank you,
Mike

Q: Suggestion about dividend payment history. I use the charts of online brokers as far back as they go and in the events i put dividends. Put the cursor on the bubbles and I see the changes. The records go back 10 years +.

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan, and Team,

In your recent answer to Cyril, (Feb. 2, 2018) in which he asked about your recommended sector weightings for 2018, you suggested the following:
"For a general, growth focused investor: Real estate 5%. Financial 10%. Healthcare 5%. Info Tech 20% . Materials 10%. Utilities 5%. Energy 5%. Cons. Disc. 10% Cons. Staples 5%. Industrial 20%. Telecom 5%."

In general, how often should one balance sector weightings? Specifically, in my case, I find that, as an example, I'm quite a bit overweight in Financials, but am reluctant to sell any when they've recently declined (although I'm in the black with all of them except for AIF). On the other hand, there seems to be some "bargains" in some of my underweight sectors such as consumer cyclicals, industrials, information technology, and materials. Unfortunately, I only have a little excess cash to invest, so I'd really appreciate your guidance on what to do with my dilemma.

Your advice is very valuable. Thanks in advance.

Q: Are there any reliable websites or software programs that will record and show records of dividend payments over time? Any suggestions from readers would be much appreciated as well.

Thank you
Paul