Investment Q&A

Q: For a ten year investment, what would you recommend as your top three ETFs for international equities (i.e. non-US and non-Cdn equities) from a risk-reward standpoint? Does your recommendation change if the ETFs are to go in a registered or non-registered account? Dividends are not necessarily an objective. The ETFs can be from a Canadian or a US firm (i.e. Vanguard, iShares, BMO, etc.).

Thank you for this great service!

Q: One of the BNN guests stated that ZDI dividends do not qualify for the dividend tax credit. Would this be the same in a TFSA as well? I assume there is no issue in an RRSP.

Q: I am looking at increasing my international exposure by purchasing ZDH or ZDI. Have some confusion about withholding tax. From prior question relating to withholding tax that someone else had your reply referred to layers of taxation. ZDH basically just holds ZDI. If ZDI pays withholding tax from international investments and pays dividends in Can$ then what would be the benefit of purchasing ZDH over ZDI as tax is already withheld and both pay in Can$?

Q: Hi 5i team, Regarding my question on Apr 26 on foreign properties to be reported on T1135 to CRA, your answer was “If you are buying Canadian-based ETFs that hold foreign securities, then no. If the ETFs are US-based (US domiciled, US management companies) then yes.” Please expand and clarify your previous answer so I am not making assumptions. Are you saying if I buy ETFs from Vanguard or Blackrock then they are considered ‘foreign’? How about if I buy ETFs from Canadian subsidiaries of Vanguard, Blackrock, iShares? Or are you saying all ETFs listed on the Canadian exchanges are Not considered as ‘foreign’? Examples would be useful. Thanks for the clarification.

Q: Can ZDH be held in a RRIF and would there be a withholding tax if held in a RRIF?

Q: Hello 5i:
What do you think of ZDI vs XEF? Are they both expose to the same regions internationally? Which one is better for international exposure? Thank you.

Q: IF, this pays a 5.5% yield with .40 % mngt fee and .44 % mer is my net
5.5% - .84% = 4.66% THANKS

Q: Hi, could you please recommend:
A global dividend equity ETF
A global high dividend equity ETF
A US dividend ETF
A US high dividend equity ETF
In all cases traded on the TSX, also hedged to $CDN is preferred.
Deduct as many credits as required.
Thanks.

Q: Hello 5i,
I currently hold both of the above ETF's at approximately 4.90 % (ZDI) and 5.5% (CYH). My primary concern is income along with diversification. However, I was wondering if you feel I am well-served by having both at a total of 10.5 % of my PF? Is there an alternative approach that you would recommend? Pare down to just one or switch to something else altogether, or stay the course? In particular, I would be interested in some alternative suggestions for my international exposure given my focus on income.
Thanks for any assistance you can provide.
Cheers,
Mike

Q: Disregarding the yield, would you buy the 2 country-specific ETFs or stick with the international ETF. I understand this is an apples vs. oranges type of question. Over a longer term, would there be a growth advantage with ZCH and XID over ZDI. Thank you.

Q: Hello,
Needing confirmation about withholding taxes.

European/International stocks are held in a Canadian "wrapper" within TAXABLE account then some websites say we can get dividend tax credit and others say we cannot. Confused.

For which type of account account should I buy above two holdings where dividend taxes can be mitigated?

Thanks!

Q: Hi team, I am looking to add some international diversification to my monthly income portfolio. I am looking for monthly income with some potential for capital appreciation. Do any of these funds overlap with each other? Which of these funds or combination of funds would be best for a non-registered account?
Thanks

Q: I am considering switching from PID (although I like their holdings)
which I am down on 4.25% to ZDI. Your opinion and explanation is appreciated. Thx James

Q: I am a senior and rely on my dividends for income in a RIF. I would like to know what I should do with ZWE, I own a 4.8% position and I own ZDI 6% position. DO I sell one and combine? I have a balanced income portfolio of 5i approved stocks with a 10% weighting in ZWH. Thanks for all the help, I use you for 99% of my decisions. Great job on the new web sight. Gary

Q: Hello 5i,
I would just like to clarify: are both ZDI and AW.UN suitable for a TFSA or - in general - would one or the other be best suited to another type of account? The expectation is that both would be held as part of an income strategy, not necessarily a trading strategy.
Thanks for you help - as always, much appreciated!
Cheers,
Mike

Q: What are your thoughts on ZDI as a core holding in an RRSP for dividend income?

Thank You,

Joe

Q: Hello 5i,
I am looking to increase my U.S. and International exposure. I currently hold VIG-N, JNJ-N and a number of Canadian ETF's which also hold U.S. equities. I am open to either USD or hedged products and would like a yield in excess of 2.25% if practical. Since I look to yield for income I was considering ZWA. Would you have any other options you would prefer over ZWA?
On the Int'l. side I hold CYH and ZDI and am happy with both; I held VEE at one time, but the yield is on the lower side for my needs. Should I just increase my holdings in these two or, again, do you see a better option? I could move out of one or both of those if you think there is a more compelling option I'm missing.
As always .... thanks so much for all of your help - very much appreciated!!!
Have a great summer!!
Cheers,
Mike

Q: My daughter has these 4 ETFs in equal weighting in her TFSA. Do you think she needs more diversification? Would you add something else with future contributions or just add to her positions when opportunity arises? Thanks for providing your great service.

Q: Hello. I currently hold zdi in my cash account and am thinking of increasing my exposure to this part of the world (now about 1.5% of that portfolio). I'm wondering about the pros and cons of doing this by adding zea. I realize it doubles my exposure to the UK, but it also adds more of Japan. Alternately, I could just buy more of zdi. Your recommendation, please.

Q: I think it's time that I put some money back into emerging markets. Currently my only holdings (other than ADR's held on International stocks thru New York) is my investment in ZDI. All in, these current investments represent less than 3.5% of my equity portfolio. So my two part question is as follows: 1) what rough percentage would you recommend for international holdings in total (tough question I know), and 2) please give me your opinion on the relative merits/demerits of VEE vs ZEM (on a line chart they track almost identically in terms of performance, so I'm wondering if there's something "under the hood" in either of them that might be important for my decision)? Many thanks.