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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: I'm down 35% on ZEM & don't know whether I should sell or hang in there. With the increasing US $ & many emerging countries with debt in US $ will those markets continue to fall. I believe that 30% or so of ZEM is China based with Alibaba & Ten cent being larger %ages. These stocks continue to be out of favour in China & are dropping in New York as well. Your opinions are always appreciated.
Dave
Read Answer Asked by Dave on October 29, 2022
Q: I am currently in a loss position with ZEM. Would Revenue Canada allow me to claim a capital loss if I sold ZEM and immediately bought VEE?

What are the rules as to how Revenue Canada determines whether a new investment is sufficiently different to allow a capital loss?

Thank you for this wonderful service and the excellent advice.
Read Answer Asked by Dale on October 13, 2022
Q: I have noticed that VEE outperforms ZEM both ytd and over 5 years. Do you anticipate that VEE will continue to outperform going forward? For a taxable account, which of these two ETFs do you recommend for a long term investment?

Thank you for all of your excellent advice.
Read Answer Asked by Dale on October 07, 2022
Q: I have run Portfolio Analytics and it shows that I am overweight by region in Canada (5%) and the US (10%) and underweight in International (15%). Can you suggest 3 ETFs that will increase my International exposure in a non-registered account and include some details on these ETFs (projected performance, fees, yields, etc)?
Read Answer Asked by Don on September 07, 2022
Q: I am currently managing my TFSA/RRSP funds and some money outside of registered accounts, which are largely individual stocks. With the market volatility, potential recession and war in Ukraine, I am finding it more difficult to keep on top of the individual stocks and am therefore considering going to ETF's. I am a year away from retirement but would be ok with more risk in the TFSA/RRSP's.
Could you please suggest 5 ETF's for the registered accounts and 5 ETF's for the non-registered accounts.
Thank you,
Jacquie
Read Answer Asked by Jacquie on June 02, 2022
Q: Dear 5i team.

Further to Cyril's question where you "hand selected a few of your favs from the three portfolios", is this a diversified enough list to put a small ETF portfolio together based on? Can you suggest which ETFs may be appropriate?

I recently upgraded to include your ETF portfolios. Can you "handpick your favs" in these given the current market backdrop, risks, and opportunities ahead?

Many thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Arthur on March 30, 2022
Q: I have a small position in each of the above listed ETFs. I believe one must be invested in more than just North America but, I am concerned with the Geopolitical situation in Russia (re Ukraine) and China (re Taiwan). Additionally, these ETFs have been down lately and I'm thinking of selling them. What percentage of each ETF is invested in Russia/China? What would you recommend to replace these ETFs in order to exclude or have minimal exposure to Russia/China?

Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Sean on March 01, 2022
Q: Hello,
I will be switching to an indexing strategy in the near future and have a few ETFs that I would like your comparisons/advice/opinions. All ETFs will be held in TFSAs or RRSPs over a long term.

1)S&P/TSX: XIU, XIC, HXT*

2)S&P 500: ZSP, HXS*

3)Emerging Markets: ZEM, XEC*

*denotes commission free trades.

4) In registered accounts, is there a long term advantage to having capital gains vs dividends distributions as is the case for HXT and HXS? I would reinvest any potential dividends in other ETFs.

Thank you.

Read Answer Asked by Dave on January 25, 2022
Q: I would like to exit my brokerage RRSP to a self directed RRSP and I am looking for 4 to 5 Canadian EFT's to provide balanced diversification across sectors, nations, Portfolio Analytics suggests 70 equities/30 fixed income. Other ideas you have to create a balanced diversified ETF RRSP would be appreciated.
Are there any strategies( eg time of year) to make the switch or just do it.
Thank you for your service.
Read Answer Asked by Mike on October 28, 2021
Q: The above ETFs represent my current holdings for Intn’l Equity exposure and are held in my RRSP. I am able to add to my Intn’l exposure in my RRSP and would like your recommendation for a C$ ETF that might fill in any gaps that my current holdings don’t cover or alternatively I could just add to my current holdings.
I do not need to RIF for 8 more years but some dividend yield would be preferable as I do draw out my div/int earnings annually.
Read Answer Asked by Bruce on October 14, 2021
Q: I am looking to invest in an ETF for a period of 5 to 10 years and have a medium to high risk tolerance. Can you suggest 5 to 10 ETFs that should be considered? Thank you very much
Read Answer Asked by Don on July 22, 2021