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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 . My house is paid off. I would like to set up a reverse mortgage or home equity loan to cover the cost of running it. Which 5 dividend payers would you recommend for my project? Is my plan reasonable and which is better home equity loan or reverse mortgage? Much thanks for your excellent service.
Read Answer Asked by Florence on April 24, 2019
Q: Please provide a comparison on CPD,FIE, and XTR. My objective is dividend income and security. Can all 3 be owned ? If not which do you prefer ? Or provide a better choice ?
Many thanks,
Read Answer Asked by Luc on April 18, 2019
Q: Can you give a quick comparison of these 3 ETF’s ? For dividend income and security, long term hold, should I own all 3 , if not explain why and in which order would you buy ?
Please advise anything else relevant.
Many thanks,
Read Answer Asked by Luc on April 17, 2019
Q: I have a non-registered a/c, a RRIF and a TFSA and would like to add fixed income investments to each using ETFs. I am looking at the above mentioned ETFs. Is there a general rule of thumb as to which type of income should go in to various accounts and would XHY and XPF be subject to withholding tax?
Read Answer Asked by Lloyd on April 16, 2019
Q: For the above I have the following percentages:
VSC - 2.5%
XBB - 3.3%
XHY - 2.0%
CPD - 1.0%

Next year I must convert to a RIF and was going to work toward lessening my equity portion and increase the portion paying reliable dividends.

What would you increase these holdings up to? Are there others I should consider? I currently have 24% in utilities and a small position of 2.8% in CDZ.

Thank you
Read Answer Asked by Ronald on April 16, 2019
Q: As suggested in Portfolio Analytics I need to add Fixed Income to family portfolio. It suggested ZAG or XBB; Defensive CBO or FLOT, Aggressive CPD or ZPR. Which of the three would you suggest to invest in? Also researching them they refer to Dividend Yield. Is it actually dividend yield or interest income? The reason I am asking should the fixed income be in RRSP (I know it is preferable for US$) or would a non-registered corporation account be fine also?
Heather
Read Answer Asked by Heather on April 16, 2019
Q: Are preferred shares suitable for the retail investor?
I admit to not fully understand them but it seems to me that:
- value is primarily impacted by interest rates, so constitutes an interest rate speculation
- the positive or negative effect of an interest rate change will vary depending upon the particular issue
- even on a reset date, an issue will not necessarily trade at par
- the characteristics of individual issues varies a lot, complicating comparisons
- thinner market for individual issues, making for bigger spreads
- trading prices are not transparent
- a pref share ETF may be a better choice
Comments?
Read Answer Asked by Carl on April 08, 2019
Q: I would like to understand better why preferred shares, as represented by CPD, plummeted in 2007-2008 and again in 2013-2016. They dropped about 35% in the first (recession) episode and about 36% in the second one. Most recently, between September 1, 2018 and now, they have dropped about 13%. How vulnerable would CPD be to another huge drop if the economy continues to weaken through 2019?
Read Answer Asked by Philip on April 05, 2019
Q: My 14 month total return for this preferred share etf is - 7.53%. It should provide better downside protection than HAZ , so maybe having a ten year time horizon would be better, and just look at it as part of a diversified income portfolio. Would you step into HAZ at this time if you needed Dividend income?
Thanks Gord
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on March 12, 2019
Q: Preferred Shares

Upon reviewing the holdings of the four (4) largest preferred share etf, I have noticed the majority of preferred shares are issued by the banks, insurance companies, electrical utilities and pipeline companies. I am a holder of the common shares of the same companies (as they are stable long term dividend payers).
The first question I have is am I increasing my "company" risk by holding both common and preferred shares of the same companies? Should I continue to buy the common shares, which are paying very close to the available preferred share yield and gain long term from dividend increases.
The second question is of the four etf listed, which is your preferred etf. Are there other Canadian Dividend eft I should look at?

Thanks in advance for your excellent service.

Stephen
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on March 05, 2019
Q: I hold about 3% in XHY and CPD in a registered account. I'm wondering if selling those and moving to XTR would be a prudent move? XTR adds diversification beyond the two I currently hold.

Thanks....
Read Answer Asked by Ronald on February 20, 2019
Q: I bought for the first time preferred shares last year as part of a defensive strategy overall. These shares performed as expected and fell in unison with the market in October and December. The rest of my portfolio has nearly recovered and is back to where it was in early fall.
Why are these preferred stocks not recovering? Does the market now believe that interest rates are unlikely to rise so the re-sets now have less value?

Thanks for all your help,
Read Answer Asked by Paul on February 15, 2019
Q: Hello 5i...The preferred share space took a real hit from which it has not recovered. I am thinking of adding one of the above as part of my fixed income allocation but to my non registered account. All of my fixed income and GIC's are in my RSP. I am conservative age 68 and need 4-5% long term. The recent volatility however does concern me. I value your opinion ..thank you Gary
Read Answer Asked by Gary on February 13, 2019
Q: I have a substantial USD investing and as I age am beginning to think that I should invest some of it in fixed income ie bonds, gic type or preferreds. Do you have any suggestions for me as everyone I listen to focusses on Capital gains strategies only.
Read Answer Asked by James on January 28, 2019