Investment Q&A

Q: Hi
The question by J Stephen piqued my interest I have been looking for ETFs that spin out dividends for an income stream. The dividend on this is very good which makes me wonder about risks. How would risks on this compare to a covered call ETF like ZWH . Thanks Keith

Q: I'm looking for a ETF holding US stocks that will work well with ZWH.CA
This would be in a RRSP.

Q: Good morning, i know you are not real keen on income producing funds that sell options to enhance income but if you were buying a few, which ones would you recommend in today's market, thanks?

Q: What are the risks associated with investing in ZPAY? Also are there any similar funds with the same risks and rewards?
Thanks Mike

Q: Hello 5i team, curious to know your thoughts about covered call ETFs, and whether they provide any interesting opportunities for portfolio diversification/hedging. If yes, would appreciate any suggested ETFs for Canadian, US and more international exposure. Thank you!

Q: As I approach retirement I am looking at transitioning more to ETF's (Cdn, US, Europe). Traditionally my comfort level is best when I own good quality divd paying stocks (hard asset to me).
Question: with etf's such as zwh, cdz, zwp (all owned), am I actually owning a basket of stock within those funds? Or do these funds utilize levers such as forward contracts, derivatives, indexes etc (which I have very little knowledge of) to generate their returns.
If not, are their cdn/us/Europe etfs with actual holdings that you can recommend

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.

Q: I have most of my u.s. in these 2 etf. Given that there might be a shift to value investing,which might indicate $ moving out of information tech,would you change or moderate any thing with regards to this set up? Zuq has a lot of tech holdings and could be a concern. Thanx.

Q: ..likely a dumb question but if a company running an ETF finds itself in trouble for some reason and goes bankrupt, or is put out of business for some other reason, what happens to the unit holders? overall, do you see the ETF space as a safe place to invest in and which management companies would you try and stick with....ishares, BMO, Horizon for example. thanks.

Q: Hi 5i
"Rock Bottom" and "staying lower for longer" are the phrases being assigned to interest rates.
I hold pref shares (min rate reset) that seem to be benefiting from income seeker buying.
I also hold Canadian dividend paying stocks that have not recovered due to fears of more dividend cuts and poor economic performance ahead. (ET, FSZ, BCE, BNS, PPL, IPL, ENB.......)

With increasing emphasis now being put on very low rates, are there advantageous investments today for income with growth as investors realize they need more income and gravitate to income producers? (and high interest accounts continue to pay less and less interest)

Does a diversified Canadian ETF like ZWC (Covered Call Canadian) or ZWH (Covered Call US) make sense going forward?

Thanks
Dave

Q: I'm interested in covered calls and note that ZWU, ZWC and ZWH are all down 15-20% YTD.
For an income portfolio, they look very appealing with their 7% to 9% yield.
Would you recommend to bump up the income?
What % of an income portfolio would you recommend?
Can you rank from most to least favourite?

Q: As part of my u.s. exposure which would you consider a better option in an rrsp and why? Thank you.

Q: I am 72 and retired. I have been building a part of my portfolio (58.4%) for the last three years with ETFs. Current holdings are (% weight of portfolio in brackets): zwh (10.5), zwu (9.1), zwc (8.5), mft (5.9), xtr (5.3), xhy (5.2), zwe (4.7), cdz (3.2), zdh (3.2) & zre (2.9). With 24.2% cash, I plan on slowly adding to these etfs. How would you do this? The remainder of my portfolio is in dividend paying Canadian large caps.
Thanks, Jim

Q: Good day team, question re Covered Call ETF vs non. I've set up my daughters TFSA with CDZ & ZWH as a starting base. In an earlier question you mentioned covered call (ZWH) may reduce upside. Acknowledging this; does covered call also offer additional protection though (from large downward swings for eg). If so, I'm ok forgoing additional upside.

Q: Hi General investing question. I have both ETF and actual stocks that are in the ETF. Less than 5 years away from retirement so still looking to build my portfolio. What's your opinion on holding ETF to accumulate income or buy the actual dividend stock and get both income and (hopefully!) growth? Thanks guys

Q: Your reply to my June 8 question states "We might swap ZWH to ZWS as we prefer to go unhedged for forex return diversification." Isn't ZWH the unhedged version and ZWS the hedged?

Q: Looking to add some tax efficient income to an otherwise well diversified portfolio. What do you think of the above mentioned ETFs? Could you suggest a couple of more?
Thank you!

Q: Hello 5i team. I am starting an investment accounts for my daughter who has started working. She & I are interested in, for her TFSA, co's such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and other tech consumer names. Is there a Cdn dollar ETF with distributions, that invests in this space. I am additionally considering ZWH & CDZ to round off as a starting base.

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.

Q: Hi

In my RRSP would it be wise to replace VGG, ZDY, and ZWH with ITOT.

Looking for lower fees and growth.

Thank you

Mike