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: i currently have almost $20000 in U.S. cash in my porfolio.
am looking to invest in the U.S. Banks.
would i be better off in investing in a U.S. bank etf or would i benefit more by transferring my U.S. funds to Canadian dollars and using either ZBK or ZUB??
or would you suggest a U.S. Regional bank etf?
these funds are not in a RRIF or other registered retirement account.
ed in Montreal
Read Answer Asked by ed on August 10, 2017
Q: I currently hold ZBK-BMO Equal Wt US Banks Unhedged and I am considering with the strength in CDN$ adding ZUB-BMO Equal Wt US Banks Hedged to my portfolio. I prefer to hold Cdn$ ETFs that invest in US companies rather than buying those companies directly in US$. Would appreciate your comments on holding both these ETFs as a method of having more US Bank exposure and balancing the currency movements?
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on June 30, 2017
Q: I hold the above in a RIF and have weighted to cover the required withdrawal amount with dividends. Does this sound appropriate and if not, would appreciate your thoughts. Do you see a major loss of principal if markets continue its downward trend. Thanks for all your help.
Read Answer Asked by diane joan on June 16, 2017
Q: Can you confirm that ZUB is the better from a performance analysis standpoint. My take is that as both are priced (?) in CAN $, ZBK will reflect changes in the US/CAN $ relationship which are separate from the underlying bank performances while ZUB because it is hedged will be a more accurate measure of the underlying assets behaviour. Is this correct?
Read Answer Asked by Mike on April 27, 2017
Q: I'm trying to get my wife's rrsp some international exposure with an ETF that pays a decent dividend for income.Aside from it's small size[ 11.42 M ] but a nice 6.02% div, is there any down side in your view. If so, your alternatives?It currently has XHY and 22 other income and some growth stocks each about equally weighted.
Secondly, a suggested CDN ETF with US large cap/financial exposure that as pays a 3+ % div.
Read Answer Asked by Henry on March 14, 2017
Q: DXU is a new ETF and would appreciate your thoughts on it. Is this a good time to purchase or would it be best to do a "wait and see"? I currently hold ZUB and am wondering if it should be switched to an ETF that is not hedged. Which bank ETF would you consider for the unhedged or would you go with a single US bank. Thanks for your advice.
Read Answer Asked by diane joan on February 13, 2017
Q: With 17% of my portfolio invested in these US ETFs, I'm thinking about adding another 5-10%. However, I'm wary of the Trump implications. All of the above are near 52-week highs. As a long term investor, should I not worry about timing the market, or is it advisable to wait a bit before investing in the US? Is XUS worth buying or am I fine sticking with VUN, if I go ahead and invest in the US?
Read Answer Asked by Ryan on December 23, 2016
Q: I am thinking of selling GWO and PWF and replacing them with a 50/50 split of ZUB and ZBK. I would appreciate you thoughts.
Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Elliott on December 21, 2016
Q: Thanks for your answer on ZUB - one basis point for hedging is neither here nor there. However, you refer to the "true" cost of hedging i.e. the efficiency of the mechanism, and I wonder if there is a gradual slippage over time such as you get with the (leveraged?) inverse ETF's where you never get back to your start point. In those cases I believe the slippage is significant over time - enough in theory to make it worth shorting the inverse product. Point is I expect to hold ZUB for some time - years potentially - and would like to hedge but think I have to avoid the cost of extended incremental slippage.
Read Answer Asked by Mike on December 19, 2016
Q: I assume hedging is a two way street - you get protection back to Can$ if the US $ falls but lose the gain associated with a US$ rise, and there is a cost to provide this?? So if the US$ looks strong going forward relative to the Looney is this the best strategy and are there other US banking sector ETF choices. What do you think?
Read Answer Asked by Mike on December 16, 2016
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!