Investment Q&A

Q: Could you please recommend a few good ETFs that deal with short term bonds? I listened to a webinar last week that suggested these and I don't know which ones to look at.
Many thanks as ever,

Marilyn

Q: I am presently fully invested and want to raise 30% cash by selling some of my holdings…..My question is, where to invest the cash?? I used to invest in Short term bonds/tbills to preserve cash which roll over monthly but think that this is not the time for that as everything is pointing to lower interest rates! In your opinion would it be wiser to invest in longer term government bond etfs and if so which ones do you prefer? Thank you?

Q: Hello team
with the Fed govt going into more debt , interest rate pending cut by Bank of Canada
what is going to happen to the bond funds in gneral? I do have XBB, XLB all losing some grounds
If indeed there is inflation due to the tariffs hitting the basic goods and little growth, how does it affect the bond funds?
thank you
Michael

Q: Hello,

For bond (in CAD) exposure and relatively safe income exposure: is owning both BMO Money Market Fund (ZMMK) and Purpose Global Bond EFT a way to go? Or do you prefer one over the other? Or other alternatives?

Thanks

Dave

Q: Hello 5i,

We have decided to trim equity positions by 15%-20% and replace those stocks with less risky investments. This move is to retain capital investments for the near term due to leveraged market evaluations and the Narcissist who is making a serious attempt to change the US from a democracy to a Totalitarian state.

Can you please provide a list of safe havens to shelter against some of the potential risks?

Thank you
D&J

Q: Hello 5i,
largely thanks to you, I have made a fair bit of money over the past few years. Certainly, more than I would have made on my own. Thank you. But, I am thinking that in my mid 70's I should start thinking about preserving it in order to pass it on. I know that stocks are you're forte, but i noticiced that you have been generous enough to give advise on other matters, as well. I will try to make this question not too close to portfolio planning advice and so hope you can advise me. In reviewing literature I notice that people say at this stage in life, we should not be looking out too far. Therefore shortterm bond etf's are best. AGG, which I own, for instance, is discouraged because it goes out to six years and there could be a downturn at just the wrong time. They also mention holding tips, corporate bonds and a GI C ladder. I didn't think that I would need these latter assets. Just bond etf's in US and CDN. I also thought government would be better than corporate, as well, because they would be more secure. Anyway, I hope that at this point in the game you can also dsirect me to the right choices, as you have in the past. Here is a list of assets suggested:

short-term Canadian bonds XSB or VSB Core stable income
Short-term corporates ZCS Slightly higher yield
Laddered GICs (1–5 yrs) GICs from brokerage Guaranteed principal
U.S. short Treasuries VGSH Safe USD diversification
U.S. short TIPS VTIP Inflation hedge
High-interest savings ETF CASH.TO or PSA Liquidity buffer

Q: Hi Peter and 5i Team,

Just a followup to my question about ETFs that focus on long term and mid term Treasury bonds, are there any ETFs that focus on Canadian Treasury bonds, or are the ones that you suggested (TLT, SPTL, VGLT, IEF), the best options?

Thanks again for your great work!

Q: What type of bond funds are best to invest in right now? Long term duration or short term, funds or can I buy individual bonds? Could you make recommendations for investing in todays market for the bond side of portfolio. I would prefer to make a 4-5% dividend but don't know if that is possible. Thank you!

Q: Thank you and your team for all the helpful information and advice. What might be a good place to park cash for about 90 days?

Q: Could I have your opinion on XHY?

Thank you

Q: Hi,

We could very well be heading into stagflation, which I understand to be slowing or negative growth, high unemployment, weak demand and rising inflation.

In such a scenario, which would be the best stocks or ETFs to favour ?

Many thanks,

Jacques IDS

Q: Canadian HISA accounts do not have such good yields anymore. And the income is taxed as interest. I was looking at my 2022, 2023 tax returns and the revenue from canadian ETF like ZAG, XSB, XLB was mostly ROC. If I’m not wrong, thus, much more tax efficient? Wouldn’t be a good idea to switch from HISA to XSB, XBB, etc to park money in the next few months?

Do you know if high-Yield ETFs are taxed the same way (ROC) ?
USD-HISA are more generous so the logic might be different.
Thanks.

Q: For long term investment what would be a neutral proportion of bonds in terms of distribution among these 4 or are there better options? Currently sitting on 17% cash which I intend to redeploy in stocks when we have better clarity, 36% XBB, 26% XLB, 12% XHY and 9$ XSB for 100% of my bond/cash portfolio.
Thank you.
Yves

Q: Generally speaking what would your percent allocation of the above ETF's be in ones bond portfolio?

Q: Hello 5i,

We were reading a report on the risk for corporate bonds due to a tightening of spreads. Our goal from a previous question is to protect funds needed in the next 3 years to augment CPP and OAS (no pensions).

We added bonds, but that plan may require a new assessment. Currently, our portfolio has a small position (2%) of Bonds consisting of AGT, VCLT, VCIT, & VAB. We also have laddered GIC’s for 5 years, plus PSA & BIL (for vacations in the US).

We are looking at replacing AGT & VAB with PSA and VCLT & VCIT with BIL. Do you have any other suggestions that may meet our goals?

Thank you
D&J

Q: Hello

I have been accumulating short term bonds ETFs and ladder ETFs. Now in a new cycle should one focus on accumulating long binds such as XLB. Also do you have a active bond
ETF name you recommend?

Thank you

Thank you

Q: Hi Peter, looking for a suggestion of where to park $400k (from a house sale) for the next 1 year. Besides GICs and Cash ETFs is there a slightly higher risk play you would consider at this time if it was your own money ? Thank you, Paul

Q: I am concerned about the possibility of a bear market and would like to reduce my equity risk. I am looking for a safe investment which is highly liquid. I am in the process of considering cashable GICs. Are there any ETFs which you would recommend for money market funds? Can you please recommend an ETF for the Canadian market and one ETF for the US market.

Also, for a 1-2 year hold, what type of bond ETF would you recommend (long bond, mid-term, etc) for a fairly safe investment? Again, can you please recommend one Canadian and one US ETF.

Thank you again for this excellent service.

Q: Good afternoon 5i staff
To a question concerning the possibility of inflation and David Rosenberg’s reaction to that, you said:

For Canada, we like XSB, and for the US we like SHY.

I hope I am not quoting you out of context here. But, I was wondering whether you were saying that ´supposing ‘ an inflationary environment, we would choose these. Or, whether you meant that we would be facing an inflationary environment and these would be the best choice. In other words, in your opinion, which would be the best choice for today for a permanent allotment to bond funds, short term or longer, such as xsb and agg.?
Thanks

Q: Hello. David Rosenberg is recommending a move to cash and, I think, short duration treasuries (per Globe article published today). What are the best investment vehicles for short term treasuries? And what do you think of his current opinion?

Thanks!