Investment Q&A

Q: Are there US withholding taxes associated with the ETF's that are offered by Vanguard Canada (or any other Canadian ETF issuer) that pay a USD distribution??
Thanks

Q: Global X total return funds have been your recommendation for taxable accounts for quite a while. However, recently, I have observed an alarming trend with the largest of their ETFs, such as HXS, HXT, and HSAV: the premiums have been shrinking significantly, and HXS now trades below NAV. I have more than half of my investments in these three funds, so I am really concerned about this situation. Do you have any explanation as to why the premiums on total return funds have been shrinking and even turned into discounts?

Q: Hello,
I’m not sure if this question is out of scope. However my daughter and son in law are moving from Switzerland to Canada in the new year. They have some questions regarding their investments so I thought I would see if your team can help with answers.
- We have UCITS Irish domiciled ETFs so that we don’t have to pay US withholding tax - are these available in Canada?
- If not, are there any options to invest in for example an S&P 500 ETF (or other US ETFs) without having to pay withholding tax?
- do you have a brokerage account that you recommend? We currently use CornerTrader/CornerBank but they are not present in Canada so we have to switch

Q: I like what Global X has to offer in their line of ETF's. However, I think I read one of your Q&A responses a couple months ago that their can be a concern with overloading the overall percentage of ones portfolio with a given ETF company. Did I understand that correctly? If so, just wondering what the potential consequences are in doing that, and if you do recommend spreading investments over a number of ETF companies.

Percentages are personal, but perhaps 5i has a ballpark-ish range that they would be comfortable with for a given ETF company (?)

Q: Hi 5i,

For a US ETF in a non-registered account, would it be more tax efficient to hold HXS because it doesn't pay a distribution, versus ZSP which does? Would you recommend ZSP over HXS for any particular reason?

Thanks

Q: Hi 5i
I am a 78 year old senior.

I have a significant portion of my investment wealth in my Non Registered account.
In my TFSA I have picked up several high yielding ETF's from Purpose Investments and other companies.
Each month I transfer out the TFSA Etf monthly distributions to support my income needs.
The following year I transfer into my TFSA the current year contribution plus my prior year income distributions that were withdrawn.
I fund this annual contribution with funds from my Non Registered account managing the capital gains/losses in this process.
I have had significant capital gains in these TFSA Etfs in addition to the significantly higher yields being paid.
I am very careful to ensure that I stay within the requirements around timing of taking out funds from a TFSA and recontributing.
Having followed this plan for a few years now, I am almost meeting my annual income needs with non taxable income from my TFSA and maintaining my original capital invested plus capital gains within my TFSA.
My goal was and continues to be reducing my income for tax purposes and managing to not having my OAS clawed back.

What do you think of this strategy and is there anything you see that I could be overlooking.
Thank you for your feedback.

Q: This is a follow-up question to one I asked a few days ago regarding increasing Int’l exposure to my TFSA. Would the structure of the Global X Corporate class ETFs, eg. HXDM, HXS, HXEM, eliminate the drag of withholding taxes on the portfolio?

Q: I currently have the above in various portfolios. I would like to add an ETF or 2 for the US market in that deals in (CAD) funds. Can you provide a few for ETF's that would complement my current holdings . Thanks David .

Q: Awhile back I asked a question about the Horizon etf's , which pay in capital gains, rather than dividends. You were good enough to supply me with HXS and HXT. The HXS is the S&P 500. But, it is bought in Canadian dollars. I didn't mention it but I was looking for one that could be bought and sold in US dollars. Is there something from Horizon that can do that? Or, from another company?
thanks for the great service

Q: Hello,
Horizons used to have a series of funds, designed for non-reg accounts, that reflected any income as capital gains, as they lowered the cost base with each recognition of 'income.' I believe they changed their name to Global X, but I was hoping you might be able to offer a couple funds for some growth potential. Canadian funds would be preferred, but if U.S. denominated are better, I would appreciate knowing those as well.

Q: Why don't you have a sector breakdown in portfolio tracking and analysis for HXS. It is important to me, I hope you can fix this. I really appreciate all of you at 5i Research and often tell others about you.

Q: In a C$Cash account, Is there an advantage buying HXS or VFV? Which one do you recommend and why?

Q: Hello 5i
I notice that you have often mentioned Harvest etf’s in relation to tax efficiency. I haven’t paid too much attention to this in the past. But, now I am interested. I have searched the questions but don’t seem to find what I am looking for. Currently in a non-registered account I hold some vbal. I don’t like the taxes i will pay, though. I want to switch to something more tax efficient.

How exactly does Harvest manage not to require to pay taxes on dividends? I know they re invest the money but i don’t know how that works.

What would be the downside? Higher mer, i imagine. Anything else?

I would be looking for a general market etf, either Canadian or US, or both, if available. I would greatly appreciate your recommendations.
Thankyou

Q: Are Horizons HXS and HXT reasonable ETFs for a beginner investor with no interest in investing? Is there methodology still a viable one?

Q: Thanks for a recent suggestion for U.S. exposure in an open CAD account - HXS.

In my RRSP I was going to add BRK.B and was surprised by its low PE ratio of about 9. Is this correct? Maybe there is a better metric to use to evaluate this equity(?)

AVNV seems to be the perfect non-U.S. compliment in my RRSP (except for that bit of exposure it has to Canada…which is fine). I like the fact that it is an international Value ETF - a mixture of large, small and Emerging Market. I doubt there a better comparable option, but figured I’d ask if you are aware of one.

Q: The tax gross-up effect of my Canadian dividend paying stocks is creating an OAS clawback concern in my non-registered account. Looking for tax-efficient US and International ETF’s. I don’t want ex-Canada ones because I want to have the flexibility to adjust weightings between these two.

Would HXS be a good option for US? The MER isn’t the best but maybe okay. I don’t know for the International. Thoughts?

Q: Is there an equivalent to HXS in USD? If not, which ETF would be similar with no dividends?

Thanks for your service!

Q: I am looking at putting together a medium to high risk portfolio of ETF's to generate above average returns (above 9-12%) over a 5 to 10 year timeframe for a portion (5-10%) of my overall portfolio. Sector diversification is not a major consideration in this portfolio of ETF'S, more the long term growth. If I were to pick 4 or 5 what would you recommend from this list or if you have a better alternative please suggest that. I am looking to equal weight into each of the ETF's. Thanks in advance for your suggestion.

Q: Crystal ball question: Would you buy XUS now or wait a little? Any other ETF or stocks you would suggest for US exposure in RIF? Much Thanks for your comments.

Q: I am considering buying HXS but noticed the mer is .11% and the ter is .30% for a total of .41%. This seems huge, especially given other S&P 500 etf's like VFV have a ter of 0. Why is this?