Investment Q&A

Q: As a follow up to my last question re International ETF's, it looks like to me that XEC holds the international companies directly and ZEM holds 2 if not 3 US listed ETF's among some direct companies and thus would be less tax efficient, in a non registered account, as the US listed ETFs (holding the international names) would be subjected to two taxes.
I'm going by the chart put out by First asset that you referenced in a previous question on ETF Structure and tax implications.
Thanks again
Jeff

Q: As a follow up to my question on July 30 re International ETF's.
I have quite a significant shift to perform. Reduce Canadian by 30% and increase International by 30% . You gave examples of international ETF's including XEF and ZDI. Did you purposely leave out China especially given the recent tone with the US or would XEC be a decent hold as well? Maybe 1/3 in each ETF?
Is this a good time to start the switch over or would you wait a bit to see where all the markets are heading? This would mainly be for non registered accounts and gather only one layer of withholding tax which is creditable.
Thanks
Jeff

Q: This is a follow up to my question about EM ETFs.

The way I see it, XEC holds only IEMG, but in Canadian funds. With XEC, there are 2 layers of foreign withholding taxes, one from the EM countries, and one from the US, neither of which are recoverable. This amounts to up to 27.75% (15% + 15% of the remaining 85%) withholding taxes on dividends, none of which are not recoverable.

With IEMG, the US withholding taxes are recoverable, so the total withholding taxes are up to 15%. That is a significant difference.

The same holds for VEE (holds only VWO).

ZEM looks like it holds about 15% US based ETFs, and the rest are direct holdings. That means that the withholding taxes are mostly recoverable (4.16% are non recoverable (from 15% of the holding times 27.75% from the above calculation), but the rest may be, depending on the treaties Canada has with each EM country).

Is this correct reasoning?

If it is correct, are there any other EM ETFs that have mostly direct holdings in addition to ZEM? Also, why would you recommend XEC over IEMG and VEE over VWO, especially considering the lower MER for IEMG and VWO?

If my reasoning is not correct, why, and which ETFs would be best from a taxation perspective?

Thanks, and I hope my question is clear,

Fed

Q: 2 questions - please deduct as many points as needed.
Q1 - according to Portfolio Analytics, I need to increase my fixed income allocation by $90k. I own 4% positions in XBB, ZIC & PMO005 and 2.6% in CPD. Would you recommend adding to one of these or would you suggest adding another ETF?
Q2 - I need to add $125k to International exposure. Current international holdings include XAW, XMI & XEC at just over 2%. Should i add to anyone of these or add something else?

Q: Hello

I am aiming to have about 20% of my equity portfolio in international stocks (ie. not US or Canada). I currently own ZDH (4.3%), ZDM (5.06%), ZEQ (1.87%), ZLD (4.19%) and ZEM (4.15%).

Do these ETFs appear reasonable to you? Do you see any need to change/consolidate, or to reduce MERs? The Portfolio Analyzer recommends VIU, XEF, VEE and XEM. Do you think it is worthwhile replacing my ETFs for the recommended versions?

Also, VEE and XEM do not appear to be as tax efficient as ZEM, or am I missing something?

Thank you for this great service!

Q: I have the above international ETF's in my RIF at a total allocation of 39%. I am interested in your assessment of my choices. Any duplication? Should I delete any? What should I add in it's place? Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for adding analytics. It's a great assist.

Q: I ZEM, VEE, and XEC. The yield on ZEM is approximately 1% but the others are approximately 2 - 2.5%. My thought is to migrate from ZEM to XEC, for the improved yield.
1. Are there any significant differences between the 3 (eg tax treatment)?
2. Do you think it is worth migrating for that bit of extra yield?
3. Or there other reasons why ZEM would be good to hold? I will still have some diversification with the VEE.
thanks for your great service.

Q: I have 25 holdings in my RRIF, all Canadian Equities. I want to diversify. I am considering XAW, VXC, XFH, VSP, ZEA and ZEM. Of these which 2 or 3 would be my best choices?
Also would consider a couple of Bond funds.

Q: Hi 5I, I will appreciate your help in picking the best of intc or csco and or suggesting better choices for safety and growth, and the same for zem or xec.
Many thaks, J.A.P, burlington

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.

Q: Which Emerging Markets ETF with growth and some dividend for a long term hold in TFSA and/or RESP account would you recommend? THX

Q: Good Day: I'm wondering if you have a recommendation in regard to an ETF for emerging markets that trades on the TSX? I have held ZEM in the past and have no particular concerns but as I now think about re-entering emerging markets it seems prudent to access your wisdom about possible alternatives that might be superior to the BMO product. Many thanks.

Q: The Emerging Markets took a bit of a hit today with ZEM being down about 2.5%. Would you consider adding to my position now or should I wait a bit to see how things shake out with the change in the U.S.? Currently ZEM is about 5% of my portfolio

Q: I'm considering adding a 3% emerging markets component to a growth portfolio. The two ETFs I am looking at are ZEM (C$) and EEM (US$). They both track the same index, ZEMs MER is about half that of EEM and its dividend is slightly higher. It is however, much smaller with a 157M market cap vs. 27.8 for EEM. Is the size differential a concern?