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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 am setting up an all ETF portfolio for a 20 yr plus holding period and I have a two-part question. The first part concerns the makeup of the Canadian/US component. Is it better to go with a combination of SPY and XIC or would including CDZ and VIG provide stability and perhaps a bit more growth to the mix (keeping in mind that I intend to hold at least 5% of each but don't need income yet)?

Secondly, I am looking for higher risk assets for my TFSA. I was thinking of IWO. I know that there are specialized sectors I could include but I looking for a fairly hands-off approach. Do you think this approach would serve me well - I know that it is only one asset type - or is there a better mix out there that would still be quite manageable?

Appreciate your insight.

Paul F.
Read Answer Asked by Paul on January 10, 2018
Q: I have very little invested outside of Canada and would like to increase foreign investments. What are the tax ramifications if any, of investing in index funds such as Vanguard or Ishares in a taxable account? I suspect that there may be a withholding tax.

What would your 3 favourites be for investing outside of North America?

Thanks
Ron
Read Answer Asked by Ron on January 03, 2018
Q: There have been a number of comments recently on your site concerning Warren Buffet's advice to put 90 per cent in an etf which follows the broad U. S. market and 10 percent in an bond etf. There has also been a considerable amount of concern on the site that the American market may be over valued at the current time and something like emerging markets might be a better bet currently. If that this worry has substance, is there some portion of the US market which might be a good bet at the mement--for instance a small cap etf? What would a US small cap etf be a good one? Also what bond etf might be appropriate. There are probably a lot of questions in here. But, I have just shown my confidencein5i by renewing for a couple of more years. So I have lots of ammunition in my questions bag.\t
thanks
Read Answer Asked by joseph on January 03, 2018
Q: My daughter has approx 10000.00 in cash in her TFSA and no other investments. Could you suggest a carefree long term growth oriented equity ETF(s) as a basis for future investments.
Thanks for your service.
NA
Read Answer Asked by Nicholas on January 02, 2018
Q: I am very heavy on Canadian equities within my corporate investment account. My personal accounts are all a bit heavy on Canadian equities as well. Plan to purchase ETFs to balance. Which of your current ETF portfolio names would you add right now and is there any advantage to doing so within my INC., TFSA, RSP or personal unregistered account. Would invest a 5% positon in the next few weeks. Balanced equity portfolio is the target, 10 year horizon.
Read Answer Asked by Tom on December 31, 2017
Q: Happy Holidays 5i!!
If you were to pick one or two ETFs or two to four companies which are expected to be show very good growth in the USA in 2018 which would you choose. I am not concerned about sectors and I realize you don't follow US companies closely. I do, however, respect your overall knowledge and welcome your comments.
Thank you
Dave
Read Answer Asked by Dave on December 15, 2017
Q: I currently hold VTWV, and notice that you recommend IWO generally when picking a Russell 2000 ETF. Should I sell VTWV, which hasn't done very well, and replace it with IWO, and if so, why? It seems that IWO is doing better but I don't understand why, as I would think the two are comparable.

Thank you for this wonderful service. The new design is super.
Elizabeth
Read Answer Asked by Elizabeth on December 14, 2017
Q: Hi, for my US exposure, I hold the following 3 US ETFs at the following total percentages:

VTI - 50%
VIG - 20%
IWO - 30%

I have $10K USD to add and I'm wondering whether VTI and VIG are too similar or whether I'm fine to add to all 3 and keep the same rough percentages.

Thanks
Robert
Read Answer Asked by Robert on December 12, 2017
Q: In response to a recent question you said that VXUS is a very attractive possibility for stocks outside the US. I already own VWO and was wondering whether it would be a compliment to that, or whether there would be redundancy? Isuppose I could ask the same question of a European ETF?
thanks for the great help
Read Answer Asked by joseph on December 11, 2017
Q: Hello, One of kids just turned 18 and I would like to start a TFSA. What would you recommend to invest in as a long term goal so that they can also learn about investing. The money will not be required for next 5 years at least
Thanks
Ravi
Read Answer Asked by Ravindra on November 27, 2017
Q: What would you pick as the best handful of etfs to own to build a beginner, well balanced portfolio for building up investment dollars? At what dollar amount would you see it to be more beneficial to split the money among 20-30 individual stocks rather than a few funds?
Read Answer Asked by david on October 27, 2017
Q: 5i Team,

I notice that you have IWO tagged as a financial stock in the growth portfolio, however, when I check the sector break down for it (here: https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239709/ishares-russell-2000-growth-etf), financials are only stated as 6%. The 4 major sectors (Info tech, Health Care, Industrials & Consumer Discretionary) make up 80% of the ETF.

Any specific reason for that classification in the growth portfolio? Should I be tagging IWO as a financial in my portfolio? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Ray on October 16, 2017
Q: After building a portfolio in a TFSA account from a mixture of your portfolios I would like to broaden my exposure with these three ETF's. Is their any considerations when purchasing a fund like IWO that is not sold on the tsx?
Read Answer Asked by Matthew on October 02, 2017
Q: Hi team, I have a small LIRA with only 40K in it which will not be touched for at least 15 years. The rest my portfolio is balanced so no need to worry about sector allocation, etc. I am looking for some growth stocks that I could buy and leave for this time period. I would prefer more medium risk growth stocks versus higher risk US or CAD. I'm thinking of a 10K allocations. You thoughts?
Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Nancy on September 20, 2017
Q: I have US$ in a US account and I am looking for how to best allocate the money. I am a little light in industrials, but was thinking about adding NFI and CAE in CAD accounts, or is there a better US company to add to my portfolio.

Other options are:

Healthcare I have about 5% in GUD and CSH, but I could add a US company or ETF

Or just keep it simple and add IWO.

As always thanks for the guidance.
Read Answer Asked by Colin on September 14, 2017
Q: My portfolio is in need of US and global exposure. Currently I only own two US stocks FB(3%) and BAC (2.8%) I also own VEE(2.4%). Can you recommend how I can add to my US and Global exposure. Also what percentage of a portfolio would you make them? I'm 38 and a rather aggressive investor.
Read Answer Asked by Richard on August 24, 2017
Q: The Russell 2000 has had a nice run up and now appears to be descending. I need US$ and would like to realize my profits in US$ while the Cdn$ is strong. As I have Loss carry forwards for tax purposes there will be no tax payable on this transaction. I would consider buying back in to IWO if you feel the Russell 2000 will reverse and start to rise again. What do you think at this time about investing in IWO? Mike
Read Answer Asked by Michael on August 04, 2017