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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: Is there a Canadian équivalent ETF ,or close to it,to this excellent sélection approach and choice of Cies like this US ETF?

Read Answer Asked by Jean-Yves on December 13, 2022

Q: I have the above ETF,s in my TFSA in roughly equal weights along with a number of stocks. Is there sugnifcat any over lap here? Where would add first or all equaly? I know your not a fan of covered call ETSs. Any suggested changes or additions?

Read Answer Asked by Henry on November 23, 2022

Q: As STIP and TIP have ceased to pay their previously excellent distributions, I have been looking for alternatives with similar distribution, diversification and volatility characteristics. XHY seems a valid choice; however, can you comment/provide alternatives? Thanks.

Read Answer Asked by David on November 23, 2022

Q: Good Morning,
Would you rank ZWH as a buy in the current environment is there any comparable ETFs listed in CAD that perhaps have a smaller covered call overlay to allow more growth.

Read Answer Asked by Kyle on August 02, 2022

Q: I have the above in my TFSA along with 5 individual stocks currently.
Any gapes or duplication in the ETFs, Should I just add to each equally with any new contributions to an approx 10-12 % weighting for all and thereafter considerate on individual stocks for more growth torque.

Read Answer Asked by Henry on June 17, 2022

Q: Can I have your thoughts about these stocks and ETF’s for someone with a 3 to 5 year timeframe and who is in their mid 30’s?

Thanks

Read Answer Asked by David Michael on February 07, 2022

Q: Hi,

What are your thoughts about my current portfolio? I am also looking at adding ZRE.TO and ZWC.TO.

Appreciate your help.

Read Answer Asked by David Michael on January 27, 2022

Q: Hi Peter and Ryan

Understanding that timing the market can be difficult and trying to follow your recommendations for the most part has been very useful information. Thank you
I am looking to “lie low” through what I believe to be a coming correction and wish to invest in ETFs with some protection

I am looking at ZDY ZLU ZLB ZEB as a 20 % of my portfolio over the summer. Your comments please and so you have other etfs that might be of interest... Icahn comes to mind

Peter

Read Answer Asked by Peter on May 25, 2021

Q: Greetings once again and my continued thanks for your steady hand. Can you please suggest an array of balanced fund or high grade dividend fund etfs which can give me exposure to Canada, USA and the rest of the world, in roughly equal portions. KIndest regards, Al

Read Answer Asked by alex on May 20, 2021

Q: Hi gang, have $200,000.00 canadian to invest for 2-3 years. Just want to invest 50-50 Canada-USA. Would like to be as safe as possible. Some stocks and some ETF. If possible dividend paying one. Thanks
Alnoor.

Read Answer Asked by Alnoor on April 28, 2021

Q: Could provide an opinion on these ETF - ZDY/ZGI - read a Morningstar report on each and their opinion is they are underperforming peers.
Can you provide examples of better performing ETFs to replace them.
Thanks

Read Answer Asked by Reg on April 09, 2021

Q: With BAM's takeover of BPY I will have some cash in my RRSP to invest. I want to add to my position in the US market. I currently hold the above ETFs in my RRSP in fairly equal weightings and represents a total of 20% of my total investible assest. The cash from BPY would represent a half position relative to my other US holdings. I do not need to RRIF for another 8 years.
2 questions:
1. Can you recommend another ETF for the US market in CAD that might supplement my current holdings or simply add proportionally to my existing holdings.
2. I am a bit concerned about the S&P 500 and the recent addition of Tesla which is at a stratospheric valuation in addition to the FANG stocks which are also at high valuations. (I also have a position in FANG with ZQQ). Would a switch to EQL or similar ETF provide a better balance and take advantage of a more broad market recovery in 2021.
Thanks.

Read Answer Asked by Bruce on January 07, 2021

Q: My full service advisor has suggested I sell passive ETF's ZDY, ZGI & VDU and buy active fund Capital Goup Global International Equity (CIF 843). The passive holdings have no trailing commission the active fund does. But it seems the active fund performance is much better? Could please give me your opinion if this would be advisable - thanks for your usual great advice.

Read Answer Asked by Reg on October 31, 2020

Q: Hello,
It is OK to have QQQ, VOO and VIG in TFSA accounts ? If not, are there any equivalent Canadian ETFs that are focused on US stocks like them ? Thank you very much.

Read Answer Asked by Yasushi on September 17, 2020

Q: Hi Ryan, Peter
I am an income oriented investor and I want to increase my US exposure. I am looking for good Canada based ETFs that yield 3 to 5% dividend. I shortlisted ZDY, XHU and FCUD. I am bit concerned about their size, at least the last with less than 150m in net assets. Can you comment on these or suggest alternate ETFs

Read Answer Asked by Greyhair on August 17, 2020

Q: My son has asked my advice on how best to invest ~$13K he holds in GICs in registered accounts. He has a very young family and wants to begin investing on the right foot with this initial investment while adding to it over time, funds permitting. My personal investing approach has been to invest in high quality, primarily Canadian, dividend paying equities but for him, just starting out and with many investing years ahead of him, EFTs seem a far more appropriate and safer choice.

Would you consider 60% CDZ and 40% ZDY a good suggestion for him or would you recommend other EFTs that better track the indexes like XIU and ZSP? Do you consider just two EFTs sufficient diversification until his portfolio grows larger? What about the percentage Canada/U.S. split? Does 60/40 seem OK? Many thanks for your thoughts on the matter.

Read Answer Asked by Bruce on June 16, 2020

Q: Hi 5i
Hope you can help me. I've managed my and my wife's registered and unregistered accounts for a number of years and I'm satisfied with the results. Those accounts primarily hold equities and I spend quite a bit of time overseeing them and tweaking as I think necessary.
I've now been put in the position of acting as trustee of funds for two minors. The time frames the two trusts will run are 7 and 9 years respectively and the principal amount of each is approx 75K. I want to invest the funds but I don't want to put them in individual equities and manage them as actively as I do our personal accounts. I would prefer to put them into ETF's that I can keep an eye on monthly or quarterly and not worry too much about tweaking.
Being optimistic by nature I'm hoping to arrange to get it all for these two trusts - capital appreciation, income, sensible degree of risk, Canadian, US and international exposure, favourable tax treatment, etc.
There are an awful lot of ETF's out there and I really don't know how best to evaluate them to shake out a reasonable number to look into further - especially considering how difficult it can be to identify individual holdings to effectively avoid overlap and provide diversification.
With all that in mind, could I ask you to list 5 (or so) equity based ETF's for each of CDA, the US and internationally that you think might accomplish the goals I've listed, so that I can then look into those ones further and make some decisions about where to put these funds I'm charged with managing.
Also, if you do have any general or specific advice that you think might be useful to me in the situation I've described, I would certainly appreciate your including it in your answer.
Thanks very much and please deduct credits as you feel appropriate.
Peter

Read Answer Asked by Peter on June 05, 2020

Q: Looking for some guidance on my US equity holdings. All of my US holdings are in the above ETFs in my RRSP accounts. The US portion represents 21% of my total investment portfolio. Generally I look for a balance between income and growth with dividends used to supplement my pension income. I have 9 years before I have to RIF.
I had held VGG and VUN until recently when, based on one of your answers to another persons question, I switched to ZSP as it has a slightly better return, lower MER and higher Tech weighting. Also more friendly tax structure. I also picked up ZUP at that time for more yield but might be ready to sacrifice that holding for one with more growth or simply add it to the other holdings to keep it simple.
Could I have your opinion on my holdings and any suggestions for improvements and why. I am looking for good overall diversification across the US market with a view to a balance between income and growth. Would like to keep my holdings in CAD.

Read Answer Asked by Bruce on June 04, 2020