Investment Q&A

Q: Hello 5i
3 analysis requests per above : can you comment on these ETFs in regards to North American holdings overlap and geography overlap for the international exposure etfs (all are 1/2 to full positions). If you have replacement etf options please feel free to comment. Finally in regards to respective sector identification / allocation what would 5i recommend for the north american focused etfs (source the fund fact disclosure or simply enter as an index?) Thanks for the innovative hi level investment platform & your service.

Q: Good morning 5i
In a recent question asking what regions you might underweight you mentionned that you were agnostic on Europe. I have been concerned about Europe myself. But, i need to increase the foreign content in my portfolio and this is where it is lacking. How would you approach this under current conditions. Thanks fort he great service, as always

Q: Currently my only international exposure is with VEE and ZWE. Can you please recommend 2 international equity ETF's that would compliment these?
Preferably one low cost index and one high yield.

Thanks

Q: Good morning,
I currently hold ZWE in my TFSA and I have two questions as follows:

a. Given that there is a witholding tax on ZWE when held in a TFSA, I was wondering if it would not be better to simply sell ZWE and buy it back in my RSP instead. I note that in one of your responses to a similar question, you recommended that ZWE be held in a Non Registered account. Not sure that I understand the rational for this over holding ZWE in an RRSP. Your thoughts on this would be appreciated.
b. Do you think that it is wise to invest in Europe, UK in particular at this time and if so, would you recommend a change from ZWE to another ETF with a better growth opportunity and if so which one?
Thank you and Merry Christmas to the 5i team.

Q: Hello Crew
I am nearly retired and I like a total growth approach (dividends plus capital appreciation). During a down market however I don't wish to sell my capital appreciation funds for living expenses. Therefore, my question is what ETF's can I pair -dividends vs capital appreciation that that might serve that end. Examples ZLB/ZDV, XMI/VIGI/ZWE, VGG/XMU/ZWH..your suggestions are appreciated
regards gary

Q: Why would you advise holding these five ETF's in a TFSA, given that the foreign withholding tax is unrecoverable?

Q: Greetings 5i,

I will be adding the following ETFs / Mutual Funds to my portfolio over time in order to round out my sector and geographic imbalances. Could you please suggest the prefered account to hold each of these in. RRSP, TFSA, or Regular Trading Account.

VXC, MAW108, ZWU, QQQ, VEE, ZCH, EWL, REET, ZDI, ZWE

Cheers!

Q: Hi,

I own both these funds. Both are held in a TFSA, and I am looking for "total return". I was thinking of selling one and adding to the other.

1. Is there a lot of overlap between the 2 ETF's? (I noticed on some trading days, they sometimes have a negative co-relation).

2. If you were sell one and add to the other, which would you sell? Or would you simply keep both "as is".

Thanks,

Craig

Q: I am looking to add a little to some positions the criteria is :
1. capital preservation
2. dividend safety
WIR.UN, ENB, IPL, ZWE, BEP.UN, CHW, PIF, SPB SYZ, HEP, AD, SIS, NVU.UN, HOT.UN

please order the above and if you could give some reasons that would be helpful.ThanksYossi

Q: I have 50k to deploy from Crius. Amusing no overweight , time or sector considerations.
Top considerations
1. safety
2. income
3 less sensitive to recession
could you rate the above from best first.
PLEASE ADD OTHER OPTION THAT FIT THE CONSIDERATIONS
thanks you

Q: your opinion for now going forward, are they safe?

Q: Hi Peter and Ryan,
We currently have a 3% position in ZWE as our only European exposure. Currently we are down 6.6% on the ETF but only 3.8% when taking dividends into account (nice dividend). What is your opinion of investing in Europe? Do we retain the ZWE ETF, switch to a different ETF, or exit Europe due to financial and economic headwinds? We will cash in 3% yearly from our RRSP portfolio in 5 years.
Cheers
Jerry and Debbie

Q: Good Morning 5I.

I have the following positions in my RRSP ...
BNS 6.5%
TD 5%
BCE 5%
ENB 4%
BEP.UN 4%
SRU.UN 4%
MFT 3?
CDZ 5%
ZWE 4%
ZWH 9.5%
The list above cover the equity side of my portfolio.
The other 50% is in a GIC ladder yielding over 3.0%
I plan to retired within the next couple years.
Could you please comment on any changes needed that stand out to you?
I think I should add more US exposure and possibly another reit, what would you suggest?

Look forward to your reply.

Q: I have the above securities, as well as RBC Cdn Equity Inc, Sentry Cdn Inc, Sentry Global REIT, and fixed income via Fisgard Capital, Annuities, a company pension, CPP and soon-to-be OAS.

I really focus on asset allocation and am a little light on Consumer stocks, holding CGX, PBH and TCL (although some consider TCL to be in the Industrial sector). I am normally a buy-and-hold investor who trims-adds around core positions.

Question 1 = I am looking to add 1 more consumer stock and am looking for a dividend ideally > 3%. Based on my stock-ETF-MF mix, are there a few stocks you could suggest that would fit in my above set of securities.

Q2 = if I was to consider ideas from the Income Portfolio, is there an issue with having multiple food stocks....like PBH and A&W and NWC. Why have more than one food stock?

Q# = because A&W is a ".UN" company, how are their dividends treated for tax purposes? Are they eligible for the dividend tax credit?

Deduct as many credits as you deem appropriate....got loads and will never use them all up.

Thanks as always...Steve

Q: Hi, I'm a dividend/ income investor new to 5i and have a question on portfolio allocation % with regards to geographical location. ie - I have ETF's ZWA (USA) at 8.6% and ZWE (Europe) at 5%, (13.6% total ) of my overall portfolio. I have a general rule that no one position should be over 10% and no one sector more than 25% of my portfolio. What is 5i's perspective on this and would your recommendations be higher when you're talking ETF's that hold a basket of stocks?

Q: I have held ZWE for a couple of years. I see BMO has released (in March 2018)
an almost identical ETF, ZWP. Has the same top 10 holdings and all other metrics are close, except the daily volumes.
Can you tell me why they did that?

Q: ZWE is down 15% from my purchase price but with the 7.54% dividend I'm still up; however, the MER of .65% is a bit high & I'm wondering if I should stick with this ETF or is there a better alternative for an RRSP? Thanks as always for the great advice.
Dave

Q: Conservative, retired investor who loves dividends. I am normally a buy and hold investor, who trims-adds around core positions. I have a 3% position in ZWE. I've owned it since Oct '17 and am down 8%, including the dividends. So capturing some capital losses is an option.

Two questions...#1 is regarding the currency hedge. Normally I like the hedge product, since it takes some of the risk out of the investment. Your thoughts of keeping ZWE vs switching to an unhedged version, based on your "currency" crystal ball?

#2 is regarding the prospects for securities within ZWE and the current turmoil in the EU (Brexit, etc.). Has the market already priced in a lot of this turmoil? Should I consider adding or should I accept this is one of those investments that just did not work out and take my losses?

Thanks...Steve

Q: Folks can you recommend one or a few ETFs that trade in US dollars that would compare with the ETFs listed. I want to put some US cash into lower beta equities and strategies and am thinking that the ETF fees may be worthwhile to gain the covered call approach and enhanced income that results at the additional cost of sacrificing upside in rising markets. Also any comments on this intended approach for an equity investor who is transitioning from a balanced to an income tilt is appreciated - all the best.

Q: I have the above securities as well as RBC Cdn Equity Inc-D shares, Sentry Cdn Income, Sentry Global REIT. I am a retired conservative dividend income investor with a company pension, CPP, annuities and Fisgard Capital for fixed income.

I currently own ECI and will sell and look for a Consumer stock to replace it (not interested in BIP...I have a full slate of Utilities). I filtered several candidates using fundamental metrics (P/E, beta, P/BV, P/CF, P/S) and technical metrics (200 dma, etc), as well as yield and price targets (for what they are worth).

I will keep my CGX and PBH. I'm looking for a long term hold (conservative, liquid stock with a good and growing dividend). My short list of candidates include CLIQ, CTC.a, PLC, TCL.A. I already flushed ADW.A, KBL, RSI and since I already have 1 food stock, I flushed L and NWC.

Please provide your insights into the appropriateness of these Consumer stocks (CLIQ, CTC.A, PLC, TCL.A) for my portfolio, given my circumstances and existing stock positions.

Are there other securities I should consider, even those that I have flushed?

Thanks for your help...Steve