Investment Q&A

Q: Hello I am new to 5i (one week!) and am really enjoying the Q&A as a learning opportunity. I use one of the banks to invest our personal retirement funds (ie we don't have company pensions) and am keen to learn to self invest.

As a 60 yr old I have recently started an incorporated and am wanting to invest my incorp dividends appropriately. I have invested about 20% of my available funding and have a high cash position at present.

The information I have gleaned online is that a an incorporation should invest accordingly:

Corporation:

1. Corporate Class Mutual Funds/ETFs
2. Broad market ETFs (stock and bond ETFs) *capital gains only taxed when sold, reducing annual tax drag. Be mindful of whether dividends or capital gains.
3. Canadian dividend stocks (eligible for dividend refund mechanism)
4. Growth stocks (Capital gains taxed at 50% when you sell) but no Dividend reduction management benefits compared to Canadian dividend stocks.)
5. Investment Real Estate (Rental income is considered passive and taxed at 50%. Can reduce small business tax rate eligibility if passive income exceeds $50K)

The online information also indicates that incorporations should not invest in:

1, High Interest Savings accounts and GICs
2. Foreign Dividend Stocks and REITS
3. Actively managed mutual funds

As well - I have completed your portfolio questionnaire which tells me that I am an Alpha Balanced Investor. This happens to align with the personal portfolio that I hold for our retirement which is invested 70% in equities.

Based on the guidance you have been providing in the past week, I feel it is time to start $ cost averaging for my incorporation funding. I believe that my husband and I can live off of our personal portfolio and do not need to pull $ out of the incorporated for 3-10 years.

Given that my current interest is to starting investing my incorporated revenues, can you please recommend the selections?

I understand that you cannot provide personal recommendations. However, I suspect there may be additional members who have set up their own businesses recently and can benefit from a tutorial and investment recommendations. Thank you !

Q: Can you please rank your top 3 Global X
total return funds with no distributions, in order of preference?

Q: Good morning,
I currently own HXS and HXT in most of my RESP/TFSA/RRIF and NON - REGISTERED accounts.
In completing an annual performance review of my family portfolio, I noticed that the difference in calendar year performance between HXS and HXS.U is quite significant. In fact for 2024 the calendar year performance of HXS was 35.04% while the calendar year performance of the HXS.U was 24.48%.
I assume that most of the difference can be attributed to the difference between the Can $ and US $.

Q1. If one believes that the CDN$ will remain depressed compared to the US$ for the foreseeable future, which version of these Global X ETFs, do you recommend holding in RESP/TFSA/RRIF accounts where taxes are not an issue.

Q2. Which type of accounts (RESP/RRIF/TFSA/Non-Registered) stand to benefit the most from holding these Total Return ETFs and in what order?

Thank you and I'll await your response.

Francesco

Q: There is an ETF, that invest in the canadian market, which does not pay out any dividend to investors, instead it is capitalized onto the NAV. I think it was a Harvest ETF. They used derivatives instead of holding the shares. The problem is I cannot find it now. Do you have any suggestions.
Tank you and merry Christmas.

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,
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: 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: Has Horizon simply changed its name or has it sold to a new company?? The above funds are now called Global X.... If sold, can you please tell me about the new company.
Thanks!

Q: Are there any EAFE and TSX ETFs that do not pay dividends or interest?
Thanks

Q: MoneySense recommended HXT as one of the best Canadian ETFs for years, but not in 2023. Is there any concerns that the government may crack down on Horizon's Total return funds that do not pay out any dividends?
Thanks!

Q: For tax reasons, I want to buy some ETFs or stocks in my unregistered account, that pay little or no dividends. Which of the Horizon's total return ETFs would you recommend at this time? HSAV seems to be really unstable and I am concerned it could be a money loser in the short term. I read in the G & M that the manager of Langsford Wealth Counsel in Oakville has been buying HXDM with better valuation than the US. Thanks!

Q: Hi 5i. I hope all is well and you took a break at Easter.
I have noticed in the G&M that john heinzl reports on a dividend portfolio. I like his sense of humor on Stars & Dogs but I really wonder about his dividend hog portfolio. The same newspaper lets me create portfolios for comparison. I started with the same about of money (about $116K) and pretended to invest in October 2017 like he did. I made three one ETF portfolios. Made one portfolio with ETF HXT, One with VDY and One with WXM. All three of these one ETF portfolios beat JH’s significantly and WXM was a clear winner beating it by about $50K i.e., turning $116K into about $200k from Oct 2017 to now. The other two ETFs were not far behind. $50K can pay for a few dinners!
My question is whether you see any issues with WXM in the current investment environment and with the above comparisons.
Thanks as usual for this great service and patience with my questions. Thanks Danny-boy

Q: What are the pros and cons of buying HXT.ca

Thanks ralph

Q: Which do you prefer and why. HXT seems to have better performance over time. Is there a particular reason?

Thx

Yves

Q: From a dividend growth and overall return perspective, could you please rank the above etfs ? I do not need the income so my preference would go to HXT. Am I getting exposed to a lot more volatility in your opinion ?

Q: Hi Team,

Can you please provide your opinion on valuations and adding to positions in these two ETF's at current levels?

Which would you view as more compelling at current prices?

Thank you

Q: Hello,
I will be switching to an indexing strategy in the near future and have a few ETFs that I would like your comparisons/advice/opinions. All ETFs will be held in TFSAs or RRSPs over a long term.

1)S&P/TSX: XIU, XIC, HXT*

2)S&P 500: ZSP, HXS*

3)Emerging Markets: ZEM, XEC*

*denotes commission free trades.

4) In registered accounts, is there a long term advantage to having capital gains vs dividends distributions as is the case for HXT and HXS? I would reinvest any potential dividends in other ETFs.

Thank you.

Q: I am looking for an index fund that follows the Canadian market, and I have been using XIU for some time. I have funds allocated to each of my two children in the same account, and I want to buy analogous, but unique, index funds to make the bookkeeping simpler. I have come across HXT (claims to follow TSX60) and VCE (claims to follow FTSE Canada index, of which I am unfamiliar), both of which seem to be cut from similar cloth. Can you provide insight on the following:

- Can I consider these three ETFs interchangeable, or are there profound differences between them?

- Do they have similar expense ratios, or is there one that is an outlier (being either more expensive or cost-efficient)?

- Is there another Canadian index ETF that you would recommend above these?

I have separate US S&P ETFs and I feel I have enough selection options, which is why my question is limited to ETFs which follow the Canadian TSX60 index. As always, I appreciate any insight you may have to offer, and I look forward to your response.

Q: Hi Team,
On your response to M Atal today, I am concern by
"The main issue is the tax deferral set up". ?
Horizons has already had to change its structure to adapt to new tax regulations. Horizon clients knows that, I had HXT & HXCN before the change structure. The change structure was made smoothly.
Can you develop "The main Issue" ? Do you mean Horizon will not be able to maintain the TRI structure in future ?
I like TRI structure for deferred gains.
Thanks
Best Regards