Investment Q&A

Q: If a new Canadian investor wanted to get into the North American market and use low cost index investing to achieve both diversification and simplicity what would you consider for such a portfolio. And if international exposure was desired what could be considered as additions for that.

Q: Hi 5i,

Looking to start an RESP for a newborn. Any recommendations in how to configure an ETF portfolio? If you had to limit yourself to a selection of 3 ETFs, which would you choose and why?

Q: please suggest 3-5 Canadian etfs for an 18 year old's first TFSA portfolio - something to keep him interested in the concept of growth through investing, including stability and risk. My thoughts are S&P, Nasdaq, Russell, large-cap and crypto. But please use your own judgement - thanks!

Q: Hello Peter
I have been a member since the early lunching of 5I and I have done very well thank you. I also managed my family portfolios with success. My approach was and still is 100% Stocks with a growth tilt and no Bonds.
Now 86 years old, I am starting to transfer gradually to my heirs the proceeds of my stock portfolio. My heirs a son and a daughter both professionals have no interest in managing a stock portfolio.
I am thinking of converting gradually my stocks and their portfolios to ETFs such as ZSP 30%, XIC 30%, VMO 15%, VIU 10% and QQC 15% with the intention of rebalancing once a year.
Is this approach and suggested portfolio viable for the next 5 to 10 years, please do not hesitate to suggest appropriate changes to achieve for the long term capital preservation, a reasonable return of 8% and a certain peace of mind with minimum effort.
I always valued your wisdom and advice and above all I would like to thank you for your help to manage my moneys with success.
Raouf

Q: Hello 5i,

Could you recommend 2 to 3 ETF's for a long term hold in a RESP.

Thanks

Q: I have some money to deploy in my partner's TFSA and RRSP, and they currently have the following holdings. As we move towards retirement, the objective is to hold more income and defensive stocks. What three might you add today, and what three would sell from this list? Thank you for your insights.

Q: My daughter has the above investments in her regular account. She has now opened a TFSA and plans to contribute regularly. The horizon is long (money not needed for 10-20 years). Her portfolio is not very well balanced. Could you offer advice on 5-8 best stocks (Canadian or available on the NEO exchange) that would be promising investments whilst improving sectorial balance?

Q: Hi 5i Team,
My husband and I are in our RRIF years so we have large injections of withdrawn cash into our investment accounts throughout the year. We also sell stocks from time to time when they reach a target price and end up with more cash. The intention is to reinvest but often deciding what and when to buy means that large sums are sitting idle for long periods. HISAs, GICs and other interest bearing alternatives are generally not worth the effort given how they are taxed.

We would like your recommendations on what to do with these funds while researching and waiting for appropriate investments to surface. I’m thinking index funds and ETFs - things that are taxed efficiently and are liquid.

Have you any specific, short term recommendations? They could be Canadian or US as long as they can be bought and sold easily and quickly.

Thank you for your thoughts!

Q: Hello 5i team,
I hold a concentrated stock portfolio. If I was to start buying ETF's; which 5 or 6 would you recommend me buying slowly over the next few years that will give me a diversified portfolio. Five or six ETF's that I can continue to dollar cost average into over the next 5 years.
Thank you,
Brent

Q: Hello 5i. I am now planning to help my 30 year old daughter invest $10K of RRSP for a long term value. Can you recommend 3 stocks and 2 ETFs? As well, given current conditions, would you recommend equally spreading the investments over 3-6 months or invest in one full swoop given current conditions? Thank you!

Q: I will be simplifying my RRSP portfolio whereby it will be mainly comprised of ETF's that can give growth as well as income that i can use to draw on when RRSP are converted to RRIF.

Can you provide me ETF's / Index funds suggestions for:
S& P 500 index
Global large cap index ex USA
Dividend appreciation index ( large cap) for Canada and US

Thank you

Q: Is a 5 year return comparison of HXT and ZSP an apples to apples comparison? Is it total return in both cases, or should HXT return be a little higher as any dividends are reinvested?

Q: I currently hold these 4 ETF's in a RRSP account. Is there any other ETF that you would add to this list?

Q: I have a cash account with CDN stocks and CDRs. I am retired but will not need to dip into this account for at least 5 years. I am thinking of converting all the holdings into 5 or 6 etfs, all in CDN$, to reduce my time managing this account, while still holding the probability of a reasonable amount of growth.
I have not yet started the switch over but at the moment my list is : XIU and WXM for 30% Canadian; ZSP, XQQ and FCMO for 60% US; and VE for 10% other.
The usual questions about the overall strategy, alternative/better ETFs to hold, or other suggestions.
Thanks
Elliott

Q: Hello, would like to know for total returns of these ETFs (ZWC, ZWU, CNCC, HCAL, ZSP, VCN, VE, XGRO, VEQT, XBAL) which is your favorite in order for each and in which account type is each best suited for. Also please give me your number 1 top pick of all Canadian listed ETFs for each account type.

Thank you

Q: My son currently has Meta (META), Nebius (NBIS), Amazon (AMZN), and EIF Corp (EIF) in his TFSA, plus an ETF (ZSP) for some diversity. It’s a small portfolio but he really wanted to hold some individual stocks and not just ETFs. Would you be comfortable adding Nvidia (NVDA) and Axon (AXON) at current prices? They are two of my favorite stocks in my non-registered account but I know the prices have really run up. Would you have any better suggestions? Thanks.

Q: VFIAX. What is so unique about this US fund?

Why is it unavailable in Canada?

Is there a similar one for Canada or in the US?

Thank you.

Q: My son is 20 yrs old just opened a TFSA has $15K to invest for 10+yrs, Looking for high growth, Fairly risk tolerant, Can you please suggest how many and what Stocks/ETF's to invest in (US and/or Canadian) to get started? Thank you.

Q: I am coming into a $50,000 gift from aging parents, and would like to invest for my 10 month old son’s education. I want long term growth until he needs the money (probably 18 years or so). Would you recommend 100% ZSP or some other ETF? Also, should I buy in one shot as soon as I have the money ?

Q: Hi,

I set up an unregistered account for my wife several years ago with the following ETFS, with the thought that it would be relatively easy to maintain:

VGG
ZSP
ZCN
ZIU

In looking at it today, I'm wondering whether I have too much overlap. I can't remember what my logic was for these four ETFs! I should have written it down as my memory doesn't work so well anymore.

Does the above work ok? Or would you slim it back? And add VIU?

Thanks,
Robert