Investment Q&A

Q: What are your favorite ETFs in Utilities sector? In the US and Canada. Also in Europe.
(I have a small position in VPU. Not sure if it meets your approval)
Want to structure an asymmetric barbell, just in case there's more
than expected pullback!
Many thanks in advance.

Q: Retired (70 yrs old), dividend-income investor. Been meaning to ask this question for a long time. We run a concentrated portfolio of roughly 10 ETFs and 10 stocks, plus fixed income on top. Our pro-rated MER for the equity ETFs is 0.64 and for the entire portfolio is 0.38.

I use the ETFs above that are sector ETFs (like HHL, NNRG, XIT) as my proxy for the sector and am ok with the trade off of paying fees for a sector ETF instead of having lots of stocks.

I then add my individual stock selections to achieve my targeted Asset Allocation for the entire portfolio (like AD, BCE, FTS, GSY, RY, NWC, PBH, TRP, WSP, etc). I weight each of these relative to my risk tolerance.

Does this make sense to you? Does my "sector ETF" make sense, especially with a potentially large weighting in one ETF. Virtually all of my ETFs are capped at around 7% of the equity portfolio and the stocks are capped at 5% max.

Your thoughts on my strategy and on my MER....thanks...Steve

Q: Can you share your top picks for Canadian and US ETF's that would cover the relevant sectors (e.g. tech, industrials etc.)? Please take as many credits to answer this as required.

Q: I currently own ZEB, ZUT AND ZDV for income. I'm considering to add one of either XEI or XDIV or sell my holdings and consolidate into one of either XEI or XDIV. Please advise whether adding or consolidating is better and which of XEI and XDIV is the better one. Please take as many credits as required.

Thanks 5i !! Ken

Q: Why did both companies prices drop Aug 2022? Interest rates had started going up well before, in Feb 2022.

Q: Could you pls suggest a hedged and the related unhedged US Utility EFT that will earn about 10% including both dividend plus yield over 1 year?

Q: Can you please recommend 3 CDN Utility ETFs and 3 US Utility ETFs that will provide in one year 10% yield including both dividends and capital appreciation?

Q: hi 5i, if picking one (today) which one would you choose , for my RRSP.
thanks

Q: Setting up a simple-to-manage, taxable account, with the goal of reasonable stability/safety of capital and the generation of tax efficient income of 4-5% (ideally dividends so Canadian Div tax credit can be used) . Could I please get your comments or alternate suggestions on the following:
25% in VDY, ZUT, HTA and the final 25% split between EIF and BAM. I believe all of these distribute eligible dividends, other than HTA which seems to be Return of Capital / Capital gains.
Registered accounts are held in diversified equities.
Many thanks.

Q: Can you please recommend CDN ETF for REIT, Utilities and Financial sectors. Would you be comfortable holding 10% in each sector

Thanks for the great service

Q: Retired, dividend income investor. From a value point of view, which has more rebound potential....FTS or ZUT? Ya, I know...single company vs ETF, so tough to compare. I own both and have mostly full positions, with a top up in mind for both. Just wondering which one to do first...I am leaning towards ZUT.

When I look at the charts over various timeframes, it looks to my amateur eyes, that ZUT is much more closely tied to interest rate changes. It looks like ZUT started to really take it on the chin during 2022 when interest rates were being cranked up. Also, I am hearing/reading that the worst might be over for the renewables and they might start to rebound...which would benefit ZUT (for the record, I am overweight Eric's NNRG, so I have that end of the Utility-Energy spectrum covered).

Your thoughts?

Q: Hi, With CDN interest rates maybe coming down I'm wondering if a switch from a covered call utility ETF (ZWU) to an equal weight ETF like ZUT makes sense? ZUT though has a fairly high MER, so is there a better option, or maybe better to just buy individual stocks. Thanks.

Q: I've got 5 years left before retirement, and I want to slowly roll my RRSP from equities to etf's over the 5 years. This year I'd like to buy a few that will have growth over the coming 5 years, thinking of beaten-up sectors like telco's and banks - do you think they have a runway for a 5-year plus hold (also thinking they have a good dividend, jumping in now), and what which etf's would you suggest if you agree with these sectors, or in other sectors. Thanks!

Q: Is there an ETF that provides equal weight coverage of the TSX similar to what EQL does for the S&P 500?
I would like to increase my ETF holdings providing a broad coverage of the Cdn market vs individual stocks. I already have a heavy weighting in individual financial stocks and most TSX ETFs would simply further skew my overall balance.

Q: Utilities generally continue to take it on the chin. I realize- high capital, prolonged elevated rates etc. is this a good time to add to stakes here or not? Is this part of a longer term concern?

Q: Could you please give me a Canadian ETF for each of the 11 GICS sectors within the TSX? An ETF that best represents the respective sector would be ideal. Thank you very much.

Q: Hi, I’m retired and have a $75,000 rrsp that I’m looking to invest. Would like two ETF’s one Canadian one U.S that complement one another, or four to five stocks.
Would like the suggestions to be fairly conservative with possibly 3-4% dividend. ( don’t really need the money). I’m slightly favouring the etf’s as I want a buy and hold portfolio with a sleep at night possibility. I do have lots of financial and energy stocks already, ( fyi) I know there is always risk that I’m willing to accept.
Thanks for your suggestion

Q: From a value perspective, where the current price is compared to it's historical price range and it's future potential, in what order would you add to these equities (NTR, FTS, XIT, XST, ZUT) to reach asset allocation goals?

I understand it is not apples to apples, due to some of the equities are stocks vs ETFs; and some are conservative vs aggressive.

When looking at both the technicals and fundamentals, I would suggest that NTR and ZUT are undervalued and could be earlier purchases, compared to FTS, XIT, XST. Purchases will be spread out over several months.

Your thoughts on the order?

Thanks...Steve

Q: Dear Peter et al:

From many of the articles that I have read, it appears that utilities sector is a safe bet for 2024. The rates are going to be stable and not rising seems to be the consensus.
If you agree with this thesis, what are the companies that do you think can mimic or match the return of an ETF like ZUT/XUT? I don't want to pay the high MER but willing to buy a small basket of stocks and hold them for at least 2-3 years.

Many thanks.

P.S. I have spent an hour browsing through the Q&A section and I "kinda" know what your answer is going to be(!!) but need some "handholding" :)

Q: Retired, dividend-income investor. Sorry...this is a market timing question.

I am in the process of building a position in ZUT. I'm about 70% there. Most of the remaining funds to attain my full position will be sourced over time (3-5 months). However, with the recent run up in NWC and its subsequent impact on my asset allocation, I will be trimming a bit of it (NWC) and plan to direct it towards ZUT.

Q#1 = In the past you have indicated not to worry about market timing, especially when it comes to ETFs. However, with the rise in interest rates and the negative impact on ZUT, roughly when do you think is a reasonable time to start the process of adding (again) to the utilities sector (specifically ZUT)? While the general consensus is that rates have peaked, when do you think the utility sector to start to recover its losses...do rates actually have to decrease or just plateau? Also, you have usually answered this type of question with spread your money out over a number of months and get on with it (my paraphrase). Same answer?

Q#2 = Tied in with this a question => relative valuation of ZUT? Where does it's current valuation compare to its historical range? Is it cheap now or pricey?

Thanks for your help...Steve