skip to content
  1. Home
  2. >
  3. Investment Q&A
You can view 3 more answers this month. Sign up for a free trial for unlimited access.

Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Hi 5i,

I need to create a fixed income allocation in my LIRA. Would you recommend an equal allocation to the following ETF's: CBO, XBB, ZEF, CPD and ZHY? If not what would you recommend for a fixed income etf position.

Thanks,
Read Answer Asked by Christopher on June 18, 2018
Q: Hi 5i,

Need to create a new fixed income/bond position in my portfolio. Looking to allocate holdings (equally?) across the following ETF's: CBO, XBB, ZEF, CPD, and ZHY. Would you recommend this as a good long term strategy or would there be a better ETF combination you'd recommend.

BTW loved your May issue in ETF Fund Update (etffundupdate.ca) on balancing sector allocation.
Read Answer Asked by Christopher on June 18, 2018
Q: Hi, 5i!
We have 10% of our portfolio in CPD... What do you think of selling half of this position, 5% of the portfolio, and replacing it with ENB (Enbridge), say, and/or another "hard to ignore" etf (recently Ryan, in an Etf & Mutual Fund article, identified 3 "hard to ignore"opportunities: CPD, VOX and ZUT)? Please note: we hold the Balanced Equity portfolio, so already have 2% of the Canadian part of our portfolio in ENB.
Thanks!
Rod
Read Answer Asked by Roderick Jay on April 27, 2018
Q: To follow-up on Claire's comment, is there an reasoned/optimal % allocation to each FI ETF (i.e. evenly split)? I have: CBO 20%, CPD 12%, HFR 26%, XBB 17%, XHY 12%, LQD 13%. I consider HFR as low-risk cash-like holding.

Thank you again.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on April 11, 2018
Q: Hi 5i. FI = Fixed Income

My (6) FI holdings with rough total returns (including MER & dividends) for period held (average ~ 1.5 years): CBO -1.3%, CPD +15.0%, HFR +1.7%, XBB -2.2%, XHY+5.5%, LQD -0.6%.

NOTE: LQD not selectable, so picked HYG for question above.

Question: I understand the reasoning behind having the above FI holdings in my portfolio, but holding CBO & XBB seems like a sure way to lose money. So why not move CBO & XBB holdings to HFR (and possibly also XHY) which at least returns me ~ +1.7% pretty reliably? Your opinion on my FI mix would also be appreciated.

Thank you for continued solid wise advice.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on April 10, 2018
Q: I read in a previous post that you favored HPR and ZPR over CPD (Sept 18, 2017) because of the rate reset. I am currently adding to my fixed income and would it be a good strategy to add 50 / 50 ZPR and CPD for the preferred portion ?
(I also own a larger position in CBO).

Also, do you recommend adding a convertible bond etf (CVD or other) for diversification purposes ? Thank you for your comments.

Read Answer Asked by Pierre on March 16, 2018
Q: I keep reading the traditional fixed income portion of a portfolio that has been allocated to bonds in the past, is a bad idea as a long term investment going forward. With that being said, what type of investments/products would you suggest the average investor allocate the fixed income portion of their portfolio going forward?
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Curtis on March 04, 2018
Q: Hi,

Presently I have no fixed income position, just cash. (70% of portfolio is in equities). This is mostly due to lethargy. I was thinking of allocating equal weights of the following: XHY, CPD, ZAG, CBO and PIMCO Monthly Income, what are your thoughts? Also, how should I approach entering a rising interest rate environment? Now?, Wait?

Thanks for all you great advice.
Read Answer Asked by Robert on February 13, 2018
Q: Over the last little while I purchased the above securities because of a rising rate environment. All have performed as expected except ECN.pr.A. Is there any particular reason for this. Would it be wise to average down . I’m still thinking that with rising interest rates their will be more demand for their services. What about the margin will this increase, decrease or stay the same ?
Read Answer Asked by Roy on February 08, 2018
Q: Good Evening
Today's decline in the TSX and Dow was due primarily due to the increase in interest rates.
Can you please comment as to why several rate reset preferred shares like slf.pr.i and bam.pr.z declined as well? CPD also declined by .7%. It is widely believed that the increase in interest rates will favour the rate reset preferred shares.
Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Terry on February 06, 2018
Q: For someone in their early twenties and has 30K in a TFSA, what would be an appropriate amount of stocks to hold, and what would be some of your top suggestions?

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Daniel on February 05, 2018
Looking for more? Sign up for a FREE 14 day trial! No credit card required

We invite you to sign up for a 14 day free trial of 5i Research!
Experience all the benefits and tools we have to offer; stock research, model portfolios, Q&A with our experts, and so much more. Join a community of like-minded investors today!