Investment Q&A

Q: Hi 5I,
I am retired and living off my RIF. With the current volatility and market downturn, I am thinking of getting more defensive. My current holdings of ZWC, VVL, VUN and VEE are each about 8% of my RIF. I am thinking of switching ZWC for ZLB, switching VVL for VVO, switching VUN for VGG and switching VEE for VXC. What do you think of this strategy? Should I hold some and do nothing? Please explain your reasoning.
Thanks for your help and have a happy holiday season.
Dick

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: Not sure if zlb should still be in my porfolio, since its underperforming. Would i be better off to just put the money in vanguard canadian index vcn if i have a longer term view of the market 20 years out.

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

Q: At 75 years of age I am not comfortable holding a full portfolio of stocks in a world that is so dependent on tweets from a malevolent idiot. Thus I have moved a large portion of my holdings to cash, and have built a GIC ladder as my main attempt at capital preservation. I am now looking for stocks or ETFs that provide good income with a relatively low risk of capital loss. SRU.UN was recommended on BNN recently, in particular because Walmart represents about 1/4 of its holdings. Does this rationale make sense to you, and do you think SRU would be suitable for my new capital preservation portfolio? Any other suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks for your great advice, as always.

Q: Good Afternoon, Curious as to your thoughts on starting a growth oriented TFSA with the following, and your alternative recommendations if any. Thanks
ZLB,XWD, TDB3098,TDB3099. About 20k to start which is why I have not chosen individual stocks.

Q: A very hearty thanks to 5i. I am up a total of 16.3% in 2017, well above the TSX.
I hold all the equities in your model Balanced Equity portfolio (although not in the same weightings). I also have a 5% holding in ZLB which has done reasonably well for me (up 72% since Sept. 20, 2013) but since I already have most of my portfolio in Canada, I was thinking I should switch it to a foreign ETF. I am currently have small holding of ZUE at 3.5% of total, ZDM at3.2% and VEE at 2.9%, all three totaling just under 10%.
Would you agree with switching ZLB and into which ETF if so. Or would you have other suggestions. I am not particularly afraid of volatility as long as the investments are solid.

Q: I believe we are due for a major correction - What do you think are the best ETF's that will hold up the best in
1) Cdn Equities, 2) USA Equities, 3) REITS, 4) Consumer Staples, 5) Commodities,

Q: Morning, New website looks good! I am looking to improve a family members TFSA which was setup by a bank. They put her into some lame and expensive mutual funds, no surprise. Am thinking about XWD and ZLB as replacements, with the goal being balance as well as capital appreciation. Any other suggestions? Thanks, Lavern

Q: Good afternoon. I currently have $30k in my daughters RESP. Where should I park it for 3 more years?

Q: Have over 20 years until retirement. VVL has been a disappointment , seems to be holding too many stocks that underperform and has substantially low dividend yield compared to VCN/VUN.

RRSP Account
ZUH 10%
VVL 7%
ZGI 8%
COW 10%
XWD 6%
ZLU 7%
ZLB 7%
VXC 5%
ZID 2%
VUN 7%
CWW 9%
XGD 6%
XIT 8%
Cash 8%

What would be your top 5 etfs for a long term hold?

Q: Last night I watched an Australian money manager talk about the benefits of Smart Beta ETFs. He mentioned the following which I expect are traded on the Australian exchanges but might also be traded in N America.

Yield shares high income, ishares FI balanced risk, Vanguard dividend appreciation as examples.

Are these the same as low volatility etfs we know about here - or are they another type of etf?

If so, what is your opinion on this type of etf for safety and likely better long term returns?

Q: What etf (or more than one) do you like to cover the broad Canadian market? There are so many, and they are so overweight in financials and resources. I would be most interested in one that has a lot of holdings, but welcome your opinion/advice if you think a smaller holding is more appropriate. This is for a non-registered account, so tax-deductible investment ideas are welcome.

Q: Peter and Team, I want to choose some ETFs for my mother in-laws RRIF and LIF. My approach is to be well diversified, looking for some dividend and a little growth to achieve btwn 5 to 10% annually. I plan to select Equal weights using ZLB,ZWB, ZDV FOR Canadian content and ZLH, ZWH, ZHY, and ZGI FOR US Content. Your opinion and any pitfalls or suggestions would be apprecuated.
Thanks, Steve.

Q: I am a conservative, retired, dividend-income investor with a pension, CPP, annuities and a diversified equity portfolio, consisting of 60% stocks and 40% ETFs-Mutual funds.

I currently have 8% of my equity portfolio in REITs, 5% in Sentry Global REIT and the other 3% sourced from portions contained within ZLB, Sentry Cdn Income and RBC Cdn Equity Inc Fund.

Question 1 = What percentage of my asset mix would you currently recommend be allocated to the REIT sector? In the past, I believe you recommended 5%. If I ignore the "portions" discovered by "looking under the hood", I am at 5%. However, the true number is probably 8%.

Q 2 = About a year ago Sentry REIT was combined with Sentry Global REIT. As of Sept 30/16 it was quite global = 43% Cdn, 28% USA, 6% Singapore, 4% each in UK, Australia, France, 3% Spain, 3% Japan, 2% Netherlands, and 2% Hong Kong. I am concerned about the various currency impacts on the performance of the fund. The fund has a 1 year total return of 6.6% to Sept 30, but a -1.25% return YTD. I have held this fund for over 3 years and have averaged > 6%/year, but I am concerned about the currency impacts on future performance. It has a MER of 2.4%. Is it time to sell and move into something like ZRE?

Thanks in advance, Steve

Q: Peter and Team

As the sector allocation between ZLB and XMV (both identified Low volatility ETF) is significantly different. Could you please confirm which ETF would be most suitable to replace Sentry All Cap Income Fund with a MER of 2.68%?

Thanks

Sylvain

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan, and Team, In today's question from Albert, where would ZLB fit into the mix? I realize that it has a lower yield than PDC, but a better long-term record than it or CDZ. Your thoughts? As always, the advice I receive from 5i is invaluable!

Q: I have transitioned a substantial part of my own RRSP from mutual funds to individual stocks & other investments, with the help of 5i (thanks! Done quite well), over the past 3 years.

My wife is still reluctant to do the same, so we are transitioning her RRSP from mutual funds to ETF's, with only one purchased so far. The specific ETF our advisor put us in was BMO ZDV. At the time, I specifically wanted an ETF with lower exposure to the energy sector.

Unfortunately, we bought in at the August 2014 peak, and are underwater by 20%, even after distributions. Moreover, the distributions have been steadily dropping since we bought in.

Is it time to bail out of this ETF, and if so, what would you replace it with?

Thanks.

Q: Peter and team:
In my kid's RESP, I am trying to transition away from individual equities into ETF's as we approach the time that it will be required.They currently hold ZWB, ZRE, ZLB & ZLU. I was thinking of adding ZDV to this. Would this be redundant, or help in diversity along with increased yield.

Thank you as always.

Phil

Q: Bought a small portion of ZWU(covered call utilities with 0.72% mer) @ $15.04 in mid 2013(now$13.33) & loss is covered by the 0.08pm distribution.Please advise if I should switch to T,BCE.FTS, CDZ(0.67% mer) or Zlb(.39% mer)In 2013,I did not know what stock in the sector to buy.Since I joined 5I,I learn a lot & now tend to prefer a stock that is suggested by You.Thanks for your usual great advices & services.