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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: I am looking to take a position in this fund .
Does this fund go up as a rule when the overall market go down
How are the monthly distributions for tax purposes calculated. If I take a position now I would not be taxed at year end for the months that I did not hold the fund or are taxes applied at year end for the full year to all holders regardless of when the fund was purchased.
Thank You
Al Mississauga


Read Answer Asked by Al on March 25, 2019
Q: Please comment on XTR as an source of income and diversification ie, is it a good retirement holding?
Morningstar classifies it as a high risk ETF-do you agree? Would it move downward say like an XHY if the market declines? Is the distribution safe?
What types of taxation is applied given its a mixed bag of holdings and therefore what account would you favor to hold it in?
Thanks
Jeff
Read Answer Asked by JEFF on March 21, 2019
Q: I hold HBF in a non registered account 5%. Based on total return I’m barely above water. It’s good for income , 7%, . I’ve been investing mainly in quality dividend stocks and have done quite well on dividend income and growth. Mainly investing in CO’s that have a history of increasing dividends, aristocratic family. This is the only etf in the portfolio. Any suggestions as to a replacement?
Read Answer Asked by Roy on March 13, 2019
Q: Hi
I'm trying to reduce the risk in my TSFA with the intent of using ~$60K towards a down-payment for a new home in mid-2020. My plan is to sell most of the current investments and invest the money instead in a much safer income generating ETF, though I'm open minded to where I could invest instead. I've done pretty well on (some) of these investments, but am prepared to sell the winners and losers and cut my losses to move forward and decrease my risk. I'm most concerned about having to sell at an even greater loss when we are ready to buy next year. I've listed my current investments.

Are any of current investments worth holding into for the next 16 months instead of selling now and which ETFs you would consider buying?
I'm planning to sell:
BBU.UN (no loss/gain), CM (up 3%), EMA (up8%) IAN (up200%), XEC (down 5%), LB (no loss/gain)

I'm planning to buy instead XTR.

Please take as many credits as you think fair.

Read Answer Asked by Michael on February 25, 2019
Q: When the "XTR" etf is part of a non-registered account (not RRSP nor TFSA ) : 1) Are the dividends from any US ETFs included in XTR submitted to a taxation within XTR (so before any payment of dividends by XTR) ? 2) Is it the same for Canadian dividends included in ETFs within XTR? 3) In such case, for US dividends, can this be considered like a “double taxation” at the end? 4) What is the percentage of taxation of dividends from a US ETF included in XTR , if taxed before XTR distributions ? Regards Jean-Yves
Read Answer Asked by Jean-Yves on February 22, 2019
Q: I hold about 3% in XHY and CPD in a registered account. I'm wondering if selling those and moving to XTR would be a prudent move? XTR adds diversification beyond the two I currently hold.

Thanks....
Read Answer Asked by Ronald on February 20, 2019
Q: Hi 5i,

A portfolio construction question. I've selected a mix of XTR (36%), XSB (7%), CDZ (17%), XAW (19%), and then a mix of laddered GIC options (17%) and a small cash holding (4%). This is for a family member's portfolio, retired, needing income, security, and modest growth (in that order).

This ends with an allocation of approx. 55% equities and 45% fixed income/cash, and 69% Canada, 22% USA, and 9% Global.

This mix also generates distributions/dividends almost dead on 4%/year, so following the 4% withdrawal rule more or less allows for not needing to sell anything to cover cash flow needs.

Wondering if you could comment on the ETF selections and overall structure with the understanding of course that its always a highly personal decision. More just want to know if you have better ETF or security selections for this scenario...

Thank you so much!
Ryan
Read Answer Asked by Ryan on February 19, 2019
Q: Hi 5i team,

I have 817k in a LIRA to invest. This is a portion of my retirement money that I will rely on for income. I still however would like some growth too. I was thinking 50% in VFV and the balance in a high yield dividend paying etf. Your thoughts and could you please recommend a high yield dividend paying etf. Thanks for your amazing insight!

Glen
Read Answer Asked by glen on February 14, 2019
Q: Assume for the moment that I believe that the current market has just experienced a pull back as opposed to being at the start of a longer downward trend (bear market, recession, ...).

I have about 25% of my portfolio in income generating, relatively diverse, ETFs (xhy, xpf, xtr, ...) but I don't currently need the cash flow. These fell more or less in line with the TSX - in some cases less.

I feel like now would be a good time to move these ETF holdings to solid individual companies that have done worse this year (BNS -20%, TD -18%, ctc.a -23%, etc.) and in a recovery period should do better than the ETFs.

Your thoughts on this strategy?
Read Answer Asked by Gordon on January 02, 2019
Q: Hello 5I,
I will be retiring in 3 to 4 years and I would like to know if the following ETF would provide a suitable diversification while reducing volatility and providing a monthly income to compliment my pension.
50% CND: CDZ/XTR/XEI/PDF/ZRE
30% United States: ZWH/ZDY
20% Intl: ZWE/ZDH
Feel free to add/remove ETFs as required
Finally, would you limit the exposure to each ETF to 15%?
Thanks
Sylvain
Read Answer Asked by Sylvain on November 30, 2018