Investment Q&A

Q: Hi 5i
I purchased this etf for my mom. Can you tell me:
1) would 5i expect it to trade below its one year expected yield return from dec 31,2019 to dec 31 2020?
2) Mom’s capital position is currently underwater. What is 5is best guess for the closing price of each share dec 31, 2020?
3. I’m trying to assess the overall risk of the etf. How would this ETF do if a recession broke out in 2020?
4. Can you recommend a better replacement? Why is this better?
Thank you.

Q: I have been investing in ETFs for several years, using a simple 5 ETF portfolio which includes VCN (27%), XUU (27%), XEF (19%), XEC(7%), and ZAB (20%). When I use the portfolio analytics, the suggested ETF portfolio includes about 15 ETFs. Just wondering what if the added complication of the additional funds is worth the effort. I assume that yours has better downside protection as it reduces some of the concentrated sectors and perhaps has better returns? My portfolio has grown in size over the past years so I am ok with the additional work to manage the portfolio, just wanted to better understand why.

Thanks,

Q: I have money parked in a GIC that will expire very soon. Needless to say that the current rate isn't good enough and I'm looking for a higher return without too much risk. As a replacement of my GIC, can you suggest 4 or 5 mutual funds (bond oriented or others - I am open !) that I can rely on for an "adequate" yield ? I am not looking for an homerun with bases loaded. I would be satisfied with a yield of 4-5 % approx. per year. I am not a fan of mutual funds showing yields that vary a lot year after year.

I really appreciate your excellent services !

Q: I just noticed that 60% of ZAG’s holdings are other BMO bond ETFs, and the rest are direct bonds. I am wondering about the implications of this of MER, yield, and taxation.

In the BMO documentation for ZAG, they note “as ZAG is a fund of fund, the management fees charged are reduced by those accrued in the underlying funds,” which I find confusing. ZAG’s MER is 0.09%, but the underlying ETFs have MERs ranging from 0.11% to 0.33%. Is the 0.09% MER in addition to the MER paid to the underlying ETFs, or is it just 0.09%?

Does the ‘fund of funds’ characteristic of ZAG mean there are taxation issues in terms of it’s dividends being eligible dividends in Canada?

Are the dividends considered eligible dividends or interest?

Thanks again,

Fed

Q: Good morning,

I currently have fixed income as 30% of my portfolio, made up right now of ZAG and CPD (15% each). CPD is dripping and within a few more months of contributions ZAG will be too. Once they are both dripping, what would be the next Canadian-listed fixed income ETF you would add to compliment those two? Thanks in advance.

Q: Good Morning, I have been watching ZAG and XBB in order to deploy cash. Not sure when is a good entry point? I know we cannot time the market but what would you suggest I should look for (e.g.. off it's 52 wk high, net asset value etc). Which one would you prefer ZAG or XBB. Thank you. Heather

Q: Thank you for for answer yesterday about setting up my parent's investments. To summarize, they are very conservative, above 80 years old, and looking for safety and income.

I would now like to ask you about the distribution of the equity component of the investments (composing only 17% of the total, the rest being in bonds, preferred, and GICs). Those below are all in equal weight. What do you thing?

BEP.UN, BCE, BNS, CM, CU, ENB, TRP
XHC for healthcare exposure
IWO for US growth
VGG for US exposure
XEF (in a half position) for international exposure
VEE (in a half position) for emerging market exposure

Could you please suggest some more to round things out? I need another 5 or 6 stocks.


Also, do you have any objection to using ZAG and HYGH as bond substitutes for their conservative portfolio? I am buying individual preferred shares for that component.

Thank you once again,

Fed

Q: Hi,

My wife's group RRSP has Manulife AllianceBernstein Canadian Core Plus Bond as one of the options. How does it compare with CLF. Should I instead invest in MAW102 in the group RRSP and buy CLF in her regular RRSP account as part of bond portfolio allocation.

Thanks
Ninad

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

Q: We have about $150k in a Family RESP invested in the Fidelity Clearpath 2025 Portfolio Series B ISC target date fund. On the Fidelity fact sheet it says "Series B has the highest combined management and administration fees among the series in the Program". We were put into the fund by our previous financial advisor. Funny how that worked. The current MER is 2.17%. Could you recommend two or three alternative ETF's or funds with more reasonable MER's or even possibly a handful of suitable stocks? The funds won't be needed for another five years. Thanks.

Q: Thank you for your answer regarding the Can $ interest payment of ZAG. I would appreciate it if you could also please respond to the last part of my question, re XBB or ZAG purchase decision. (which I am copying below). The amount of purchase being suggested by the Portfolio Analytics is a significant (to me) value of $240,000, so I would like to get it right.
"Are there other pros/cons I should be considering ? Also, any thoughts on purchase timing of these bond etfs - or would you recommend a gradual entry over the next 6 months or so?

Q: Your Portfolio Analytics recommendations was a good reminder that I really should increase the Fixed Income component in our RIFS by a fair amount. There were 3 categories each with two suggestions: 1) "Regular" Fixed Income 2) Fixed Income Defensive Diversifier 3) Fixed Income Aggressive Diversifier. In the 1st category - what I call "Regular fixed income, Two suggestions were given : ZAG and XBB. I was going to select ZAG as it has a better yield (3.86 vs 2.83 %) and a lower MER (.10 vs .19), however, I also notice that the distribution for ZAG is paid in US $. We do not have a significant need for US $ and do not have an active US account . Will the cost of conversion from US to Canadian $'s offset the better yield offered by ZAG ? Are there other pros/cons I should be considering ? Also, any thoughts on purchase timing of these bond etfs - or would you recommend a gradual entry over the next 6 months or so?
Many thanks as always.

Q: A lot of research and writing has addressed the reality that it is *very* hard for an active fund manager/stock picker to beat the indices on an after-fee basis.

But what about the bond market? Does 5i know of a body of research/evidence that explores whether or not over time, an active bond trader/manager could beat a passive bond index fund such as XBB/VAB/ZAG? Should I go passive or active with my fixed income allocation? Which actively managed fixed income ETFs do you like, if any?

Thank you.

Q: Hi, 60 year old investor. Wanted to get your thoughts on a portfolio consisting of about 11% each of zlb, xiu, wxm, zqq, zsp, zlu and ~ 33% zag. Won’t need the money for about 5 years. Thanks, Mike

Q: Hi 5I,

Could you please rate the following bond ETFs.
VAB, ZAG, XBB.
I'm thinking about XBB because I can trade it for free on my itrade account.

Thanks.
Steve

Q: I would liked to switch the focus of my investments from equities to ETF's. Could you give me some broad parameters for guidance.
Could you suggest 10 ETF's for starters. Mid to long term with medium risk.
Thanks for your help.

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan & Team
In addition to my current 5i Balanced portfolio I want to build an additional RRSP ETF portfolio.Time horizon 3-5 Years and my risk level is moderate.
I am thinking to invest in the following ETF. Appreciate you advise on the distribution, concentration and risk level.
XMD 30%
VUN 20%
XIU 10%
VEE 10%
VXUS 10%
IXC 10%
IWO 10%

Thanks,

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.

Q: I loaded these three ETFs into a dummy Globe & Mail Portfolio with a mock purchase date of January 2, 2018. The output returns to date are CLF (4.5%), ZAG (4.5%) and HYGH (10%). Why did HYGH do so well or is the Globe utility having issues?

Thanks so much!

Q: I own both ZAG and VAB in equal amounts, are they similar enough that I should own just one?
I am retired and follow both the Income portfolio and Conservative ETF portfolio fairly closely.