Investment Q&A

Q: For non-NA coverage I own ZDI, ZEM,XIN, and VWO. Do any other ETF's need to be added or do I have the world covered? Thanks Ron

Q: Good morning team, just for clarity ZDI is not subject to withholding taxes in a tfsa correct? Also is there much overlap between vxc and zdi?
As always, great work.

Q: If I buy ZDI in my TFSA, will the dividends be subject to a withholding tax?

Q: Retiree looking for suggestions to putt some money into a TFSA. Long term investment with a good dividend and reasonable capital appreciation. Please advise.

Q: In Portfolio Tracking and Analysis you suggest a portfolio allocation of 35% in international stocks.
I currently hold ZDI for 5% and need an additional 13% according to your recommendation.
At 18% (if I stick with ZDI) this seems like much for just one etf. Should I split between 2 or 3 etfs? Which ones do you recommend?
Please take credits as needed.
Thank you.

Q: I need to increase my international exposure by 20% according to your analysis. Because we are retired and depend on our investments to supplement income what companies or ETF would you recommend? Thanks for your input.

Q: I'm a bit underweight in the consumer cyclical sector and a bit underweight in my international allocation (the latter being somewhat of a chronic condition). I'm trying to make a buy decision between MG, ZDI and XEF. I already own the two ETFs and MG would be a new position. I understand that a direct comparison of a single company with an ETF is not possible and that you can't personalize sector weightings, but all else being equal, which one of these would you be most interested in today? Many thanks!

Q: Own both ZDI and PDI to cover international divs, Was going to sell PDI as a tax-loss and put proceeds into ZDI. Do I need both ZDI and PID or does ZDI provide enough diversification? Thanks Ron

Q: Hi

Hoping to reduce the number of etfs in our RRSP accounts.

Is there a need to have both EQL and EQRR?
Is there a need to have both IYW and METV?
Is there a need to have ZDI and XEH?

Thank you and any other suggestions are most well.

Thank you

Mike

Q: Can you compare ZDI vs VXUS and rate which you prefer?

Q: What is your top international dividend ETF?
Does an ETF like ZDI provide enough diversification or should it be supplemented with something like XEF?

Q: Just did a revue of my PORTFOLIO ANALYTICS and have a couple of questions as follows:
Under Fixed Income Defensive I have CBO, VGG & ZDI in my TFSA. Are these okay here or can be added to or any deleted?
Under International Allocations I have VXC, XAW, XEF, VEU & XWD in the TFSA. Are these okay as they are or shoud I be considering some changes?
Best wishes for the New Year and thanks for your great service!

Q: I presently hold this in a RRIF although not much income is generated . I would like to switch to a global or international dividend ETF. What would be your top 3 choices for income, stability and hopefully some growth

Q: Hi team, I presently hold ZWA @t 8.63%, ZWE @ 4.74% and ZDI@ 2.89% of my portfolio. I am very happy with ZWA (up 46%), happy with ZWE (up 5%), and not impressed with ZDI (under water about 5%).
I'm thinking of selling ZDI and either redistributing funds into ZWA or ZWE or into something better at your recommendation. Conversely, would like your thoughts on ZDI? is better performance just waiting for the international economies to rebound after COVID? I'm looking for distribution with growth. As well, I fully understand that portfolio % holdings are individual risks. Convoluted question here but would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. Cheers, Bill

Q: Hello 5i,
I’m helping a conservative investor with a tfsa. Vbal makes up half of the account.
In trying to boost monthly income I’ve come up with the above etfs.
Based on 2020 distributions,how would each of the above etfs be taxed if held in a tfsa?
Also, can you please verify the sector exposure of zup (similar to pff - usd) I thought the financial % was underweight.

Q: Hello 5i,
How would you compare/rank these two for International exposure?
Which would be your favourite and why?
Could both be held or is the overlap too significant?
Many thanks as always!!
Cheers,
Mike

Q: How would you rank these two groups of ETF’s for future investment returns, where the best is listed first. European ETF’s VE, ZEQ, FEZ, & XEU. Emerging market ETF’s VEE, XIN, and ZDI. In the two groups if there is a better ETF in i5Reseach opinion, please add it to the list. Please correct the list if I have incorrectly categorized an ETF. Also what percentage of a portfolio should be invested outside of North America. Thanks … Cal

Q: This is a list of the ETF's in my portfolio, (I have omitted the fixed income ETF's that comprise of about 20%).

Do you see any issues with the selection? Any overlap? Perhaps there are better alternatives than the ones chosen.

Thanks for the great service.

Q: Thank-you for your great service. The improvements to the site are excellent.

My wife and I are value/income investors, currently focussed primarily on the Canadian Market. We had started our portfolio in early 2020 - and felt that the exchange rate was prohibitive to buy US stocks. Also, with the “Covid Crash” and trying to “learn the market” (more like drinking from a fire hose) we thought it best to focus on companies we knew (Country bias). We have done very well, in a very large part to the 5i community, and have built up a diversified portfolio of 36 holdings (including 2 ETF’s); paying six figures in dividends.

We are about a year from retirement and we have started to diversify more geographically and are looking primarily at ETF’s to achieve this. While the exchange rate is much better, the US now looks expensive to us, so we are looking to focus on the developed International markets. While ETF’s are lower risk, the broad array of options makes our heads spin. If this question is too long, please feel free to edit/omit the above paragraphs.

We have a few questions around ETF’s. Please deduct as necessary. We have read all the 5i Questions and viewed the “Fact Sheets” with the ETF’s mentioned below, as homework, and would appreciate your advice.

1. I like the idea of utilizing covered call EFT’s to help offset some of the lower yields (and potentially underperformance during a market turndown) in some of our growthier positions. For example we have a 1.5% position in LIFE (Evolve Global Healthcare CC Hedged), to help balance out SIS’s lower dividend. What percentage of a portfolio should be covered calls before it starts adversely impacting portfolio returns?

2. We also hold a 2.25% position in ZWE (BMO Europe High Dividend CC Hedged) and are looking to add either a 2.25% in PID (Purpose International Dividend) or ZDI (BMO International Dividend) which offer a decent dividend, and potentially more growth. PID currently pays a higher dividend, and we like that no one company has no more than a 2% weighting. Which of the two would you recommend, or are there other ETF’s you would suggest?

We have considered the impact to our sector weights with the above (as best we can) and will be upgrading to Portfolio Analytics to better allocate these. As we move to increase our weightings in ETF’s this will be extremely helpful.

Thank-you!

Q: I’m 71 years old. As I get older I’ve tried to simplify my portfolio, going from about 50 stocks years ago, to my current portfolio of about 16 stocks, 3 ETFs and 15% cash.
I am a subscriber to your Portfolio Tracking and Analysis service and I’m told I need to make changes to reach a suggested asset allocation and portfolio diversification. Right now I’m tech, utilities and financial services heavy.

Here’s what I’d like to do:
The following set up gives me an allocation of 70% equities, 20 % bonds and 7% cash. I’m comfortable with this and have gone through many 20 and 30% corrections in the past 30 years without too much despair.

In my Canadian cash account I’d have CDZ, FTS, AQN.
Locked in RSP (LIRA) I would have AAPL, ZSP, ZEM.
Unlocked RIF I ‘d have CLF, ZAG.
TFSA would have QQQ, ZEM, ZDI, CSU, TOI, SIS.
I’d like cash around 8% of portfolio.

I’m wondering if I have my portfolio diversification covered and if the right stocks or ETFs are in the appropriate accounts for best tax efficiencies?
Your input would really be helpful.
Thanks
Frank