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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 a retirement portfolio. i know that in your view allocations are personal but if you were setting up your retirement portfolio what would be your highest ZUT allocation that you would be comfortable with? what would be your allocation per dividend/conservative non-overlapping ETFs? what would be your top 5-6 ETFs for such a portfolio?
Read Answer Asked by JR on December 04, 2025
Q: hello 5i
your analytics say that i need to increase my holdings in basic materials and the utilities sectors. I have avoided these in the past because I wanted to avoid dividends, favouring capital gains instead. but i am wondering whether i should top up a bit here and how to go about it.
can you advise me on whether i would be wiser to buy a handful of individual stocks rather than an etf for conservative| sectors like this/ if so, how many stocks would i need and can you suggest a few of the best
thanks
Read Answer Asked by joseph on December 02, 2025
Q: I am looking at fixed income potential across sectors as a low risk offset to my equities and would appreciate your recommendations. It doesn’t look like the space has good future prospects overall with rates having just dropped.
Of notable options, high interest saving accounts, bond funds, utilities, dividend index’s and perhaps reits, the reits and dividend indexes have superior yields.
Could you please comment on the space overall, which sectors are advisable and possible suggestions for purchase please?
Read Answer Asked by Peter on November 26, 2025
Q: What do you think about VIG, VDC annnd PPA as defensive purchases and is this time to think about adding defensive positions to a portfoliio? Do you have any suggestions for a defensive play?
Read Answer Asked by Ron on November 25, 2025
Q: For safety's sake, and some income, can you suggest some Utilities ETFs?
Read Answer Asked by James on November 19, 2025
Q: I noticed this yesterday nov 13th: ZUT -2,9% , XUT - 1,5% ,the equal weight ETF being the underperformer by far ( double) on that day . I know that the " equal weight" version is probably a better choice for longer term..What utilities ETF would you suggest on CDN market and ranking your best choices !
Read Answer Asked by Jean-Yves on November 17, 2025
Q: What is the best way to play Utilities in Canada & US? Stocks or ETFs? Which ones? Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Austin on October 24, 2025
Q: I am under weight in utilities and consumer defensive could you please provide your top picks for each category including stocks and ETFs
Read Answer Asked by Roy on October 23, 2025
Q: I have owned all 3 for a few years. I am wondering if I do just as well or better with moving the money to non covered call investments ? I also own ZWU which you like. Please deduct appropriate credits for a comprehensive answer. Thanks Steve
Read Answer Asked by STEVE on October 22, 2025
Q: Hi fellows,

Looking for a utilities ETF for a growth portfolio.

What do you think of HUTS-T, HUTL-T, UTES-n (Virtus Reaves Utilities ETF)?

Any other coming to mind?

Many thanks,

Jacques IDS
Read Answer Asked by Jacques on October 21, 2025
Q: Do any of the utilities held in these ETF’s offer the same kind of energy power support for the mega computers running AI applications as something like VRT in the US?

If not are there any Canadian companies that do so and would be an attractive investment in this area?
Read Answer Asked by Donald on September 23, 2025
Q: UMAX = covered call, UTES= covered call + 1,25% leverage. In a downtrend, UTES would probably go down around 25% more than umax (ex -10% vs -12,5%...) and ZUT.Since the markets are presently high +the economics, do you believe that there could be a significant probability of a downtrend in 2025 and in such case ,would it be safer to sell UTES for ZUT now (or another stock), in order to reduce the risk ?
Read Answer Asked by Jean-Yves on September 03, 2025
Q: Hi,

I’m a real estate investor and I love monthly distributions—HMAX and UMAX felt a lot like collecting rent. However, after realizing a significant portion of their payouts is ROC, I’m exploring alternatives that offer high dividends, low ROC, DRIP eligibility, and potential capital appreciation.

My horizon is 20+ years. Could you suggest 2–3 ETF ideas in Financials and Utilities that fit this profile in the Canadian market ideally or global.

Thanks,

Read Answer Asked by Richard on August 25, 2025
Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. I have long term holdings in both ZLB and ZUT. Both are in registered accounts...no tax issues.

For asset allocation reasons, I am considering trimming ZUT and adding the proceeds to ZLB. When I use your charts and compare these two, ZLB appears to be the better performer over most timeframes.

Normally I would simply proceed, but this is a minor asset allocation tweaking. Also, I think that the BOC may be reducing interest rates this fall, which should have a positive impact on ZUT. Do you agree with this assumption?

Would you proceed or wait....I know this is a bit of a "market-timing" question?

Thanks for your help....Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on August 14, 2025
Q: Have had XCD for years and done ok. I’m looking to trim/replace on theory consumer spending is not as robust and there are etfs in better sectors going forward. Can you name a few sectors and best etfs that will be better performers going forward.
Read Answer Asked by Craig on July 08, 2025
Q: I would greatly appreciate your thoughts on the above 5 ETFs proposed for TFSA. Any tweaks? The plan is to tilt towards growth without getting carried away. Your thoughts and suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks again for this super service. Dan
Read Answer Asked by Danny-boy on July 04, 2025
Q: After a "crack", and during a potentially persistent bear market, could you suggest some US and Canadian dividend ETFs ( whether standard, enhanced,or even cover call etfs if indicated ),that could maintain more stable revenues during uncertain economic periods ?
Read Answer Asked by Jean-Yves on April 23, 2025
Q: Does the combination of its recent stock price declines and today's apparent negative reaction to CPX's acquisiton provide an attractive entry point?

If not at the current price, is there a price you would consider attractive or would you prefer FTS, other utilities or an ETF?

Thanks
Read Answer Asked by Ian on April 15, 2025
Q: Are those funds advantageous to hold in a rsp account regarding on the withholding of US dividends? I am never sure if those dividends get charged fo all holders, or just the cash accounts. So if these do not shelter the rsp from the tax, which equivalent would you suggest.?
Thank you
Read Answer Asked by francois on April 01, 2025
Q: Which are presently your top picks for Canadian and US ETF's for each sectors ? Which ones would you consider buying now ? Entry prices ?
Please take as many credits to answer this as required.

Gratefully,

Jacques IDS
Read Answer Asked by Jacques on March 19, 2025
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