Investment Q&A

Q: Hello Peter,
Are both etfs providing similar exposure to US 500 index (similar to SPY) and are they hedged? Would you recommend one over the other or both are about the same? Thanks very much. Does hedged mean the securities are protected if Canadian dollar goes up or down?

Q: Hello Peter,
For an RESP today and future contributions with focus on Canada and USA, I was thinking of allocating more monies to indexes such as xic and xsp and less to sectors such as xfn or zeb , and xit. What are your thoughts? Also, i noticed that xsp has not done as well as SPY. i am assuming it is do to currency. In an RESP, I would think xsp on toronto and SPY on NYSE, both have withholding taxes.. Please comment. Thank you

Q: What Canadian ETF would you recommend that follows the S&P 500 index. Of your top choice please suggest a hedged and unhedged ETF and which would you recommend, hedged or unhedged. Is your recommendation solely based on the ETFs MER. Thanks … Cal

Q: My 25 years old son is starting a portfolio by buying all equity ETFs XSP (30%), TEC (30%), and XWD (40%) in Canadian dollars, which he intends to hold for a long time. 1. Is the selection of ETFs OK ? 2. Are there better alternatives in performance and fees? 3. Is the allocation OK? 4. Do you have any suggestion? Thanks.

Q: Hello Peter and team,
Can you please provide explanations of how these etfs work in terms of hedge and unhedged. XSP tracks the 500 US index but it is hedged to the canadian dollar. Does this mean that if the Canadian dollar goes up, there will be no impact currency wise. Tech.B tracks the 6 large tech companies but it is unhedged. What does that mean in relation to the tech etf which tracks same stocks but it is neither hedged or unhedged as the tech.b is doing better lately? Much appreciated, and thank you.

Q: Hi Peter & 5i,
Wishing you and the staff a joyous holiday season!
Would you see any red flags in this portfolio for a conservative investor needing the dividends for cash flow. The portfolio would be 50% equities and 50% fixed income - 5 year laddered GIC's.
Here are the stocks and their proposed weightings:
Financial Royal Bank RY 5.7%
TD Bank TD 3.6%
Sun Life SLF 4.4%
Power Corp POW 4.0%
Utility Fortis FTS 5.7%
Brookfield Renewable BEPC 4.2%
Algonquin Power AQN 2.2%
Comm TELUS T 4.7%
Bell BCE 4.1%
Cons Staple Costco COST 4.3%
Loblaws L 4.0%
Cons Discr. Magna MG 3.8%
Restaurant Brands QSR 2.4%
Industrial CN Rail CNR 5.2%
Savaria SIS 3.6%
Energy Enbridge ENB 4.6%
Suncor SU 2.9%
Materials Nutrien NTR 4.3%
Real Estate BMO-Equal Weight ZRE 4.2%
Tech Thomson Reuters TRI 4.8%
Health Evolve Global Health LIFE 3.8%
ETF BMO-Low Volatility US ZLU 8.7%
iShares-US Equity-Hedge XSP 4.8%
Thanks so much for the fantastic service.

Q: I am looking for some US exposure. Out of these two ETF's what would you choose for US exposure and why? Thanks.

Q: What 4 dividend stocks or ETFs would you suggest for a long term hold to see the power of compounding

Q: Recently I sold units in FID6000 in my grandson's RESP because of its poor year to date performance and high MER. We did book an overall gain of 130% over a 3 year period. The RESP account owns a variety of income producing positions. that have modest gains. I am looking to invest in something growth oriented, with maybe a 3 to 5 year horizon ahead. I am considering splitting between one or two ETFs listed above and possibly TOI. Do you expect further growth from TOI?. Opinions on ETF's please. Moderate risk OK. Canadian currency only account.

Q: What are the Can ETFs that cover the main US ETFs, like SPY? And what are their mers?

What are the advantages of using these Canadian versions?

Do you still require W-BEN forms if you buy these?

Thanks for all your help.

Q: Are there any tax disadvantages to adding XSP or ZSP to a non-registered account?

Q: Is this ETF a safe way to invest in the banking sector in a RRIF account for income and some growth and do you believe the strategy used by this ETF can outperform other ETF such as ZWB or ZEB. Can you suggest a couple of alternatives ETF that are more appropriate for a RRIF or do you feel it is better to just own the individual banks.

Q: As of today, what would be your top 10 most stable Canadian companies, or ETF's, to invest in. Stable meaning those best able to ride out any market or economic downturn. Dividends are always nice but not essential. Thanks as always.

Q: Is there a set/portfolio of ETFs you would recommend for a medium risk investor to ”set and forget” forever? What % allocation would you attribute to each? Timeframe would be for 25+ years.

Q: Hi, I realize you are not tax experts but wonder if you could help. I sold short XSP ETF in 2020 and have some net realized losses to report. I have heard that CRA requires G/Ls on short sale as income not realized gains. Is this correct and on what line of my return would I report it. Thanks.

Q: hi, What yours thoughts for those Fund for 2/3% portfolio?
is it to expensive?
thanks jean guy.

Q: Words you hear often -"You can't beat the Index" . If one was to follow this theory - what would you invest in?

Q: I am looking to get some US exposure in my portfolio via an ETF. Both of these ETF’s have similar holdings. Can you please comment on which one you prefer and why.

Thank-you.

Q: I need to increase my us exposure, any suggestions for etf in non-registered, 5-10 horizon?

Q: I am helping my niece set up with ETF. She is holding the below funds right now. Can you please advise their fees and which ETF would you suggest replacing them with? Is there a site where you can check the mutual fund fees and performance?

PH&N LifeTime 2045 Fund
RBC Canadian Equity Fund
RBC Balanced Fund
BLK Balanced Index
Capital Global Equity
BLK US Equity Index

Thanks for your help
Hector