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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: Can you comment on these ETF's I presently hold in a corporate unregistered acct. I have a large amount in DVY.US - not sure why (previously with a FI ) Looking to update this portfolio based on present times. In At least a 5 year hold. Please take as many credits as needed.
Thanks so much.
Read Answer Asked by lorraine on May 05, 2020
Q: With the level of debt monetization, fiat currencies are becoming concerning. I was considering contributing new money into my TFSA, but transferring the funds to a US TFSA, and investing directly into US securities instead of CDN.
Even with getting hit with the currency exchange rate and paying applicable withholding taxes within this account, would you recommend this or see any advantage to this, or would you prefer investing in Canadian hedged funds (i.e XQQ vs QQQ) instead?
Many thanks,
Tom
Read Answer Asked by Tom on April 28, 2020
Q: Hi There,
Just curious if I could get your opinion on the following funds MAW130, XSP, XMS and XQQ. I am looking to invest some money outside of Canada with some decent balanced/growth potential.
Could you please list in order of preference with the first being the most favorable.
Thank You,
Read Answer Asked by Kevin on April 21, 2020
Q: I would like to purchase QQQ but in Canadian funds and not hedged. I think that QQQ.F.CA or XQQ are options. But I notice that QQQ shows about 10% better price increase over the last 3 years than the CDN options.
Are there other pros and cons of purchasing say XQQ instead of converting my cash to USD and buying QQQ?
Read Answer Asked by Elliott on April 17, 2020
Q: Good day team, with current environment for context, and looking at tech/big data companies: Are there etfs (Canadian but with CDN/US/Global exposure) that cater to broad based tech. I feel once we are out of this, technology will play an even greater role in our lives and in industry, healthcare, security etc etc
Read Answer Asked by Harry on April 13, 2020
Q: Considering a 5 year time frame, what would be your allocation toward cdn oil (xeg), cdn ag (ntr), utilities (zwu), fixed income (hfr) and US (zwa & xqq). Above average risk tolerance seeking yield and capital gain. Are there any other suggestions....LSPD would also be a holding. thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Curtis on April 09, 2020
Q: Good morning, stay safe and keep up the good work.
My question is on hedged vs unhedged funds.
My son is 27 and his time horizon for any investment is long term.
Now that our Canadian dollar trades at an all time low against the USD, (last time we hit similar lows was in 2016/2017) and the chances that our CAD trades lower are relatively slim, wouldn't it be preferable to invest in a hedged fund version of the Nasdaq-100 indexed ETF. The reason being is that the return of an investment in a USD equity (when converted back to CAD) decreases in a strengthening CAD environment. On the flip side, in a weakening CAD environment, the same USD investment's return, when converted back to CAD, would be increased.
To recap: My assumption (might not be a valid one) is that our CAD can only increase in value against the USD. In this strengthening environment, isn't it better to purchase a hedged ETF ?
Read Answer Asked by Elaine on April 01, 2020
Q: Hope everyone at 5i is doing well in these times!

I have been sitting on mostly cash in my RRSP/LIRA and would like your recommendations on the best ETFs to consider for my full US and International exposure. All of these would need to be listed on the TSX as I am purchasing in CAD $. While I know you prefer non-hedged, I’d greatly appreciate if you could explain benefits/workings of hedged vs. non-hedged considering the current environment. And provide ETF recommendations for each.

I am looking to achieve a balance of diversification, reasonable MER, minimizing any withholding tax while optimizing the potential in market recovery. For US, I would like to have a technology ETF, health care ETF and a broader spectrum ETF – but also open to ideas. Also, looking for recommendations on International – one broad ETF or perhaps that and a mix of ETFs. I recognize there can be overlap (e.g. between a tech and broad sector fund), so if you can give me a sense of the degree of duplication that may be present in your recommendations. Perhaps going heavier on tech right now could be a good thing.

While I started off thinking ETF selections would be relatively simple, in reading various Q&A there seem to be many important considerations - your assistance is appreciated. Again, all of these are being purchased in RRSP/LIRA accounts with the goal of optimizing my returns over a 10 year window.
Read Answer Asked by Loretta on March 30, 2020
Q: Which best bang for the buck should a retiree look at when looking for some US exposure through ETFS, for the future recovery, I have no US exposure as of now and would like to take advantage of the downturn, I get by on the pensions I have.
Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by James on March 19, 2020
Q: First off I just want to say thank you so much for your special report you issued last week. For a young investor like myself who has never been through events like we currently are experiencing your advice has been extremely valuable to help navigate these uncharted waters.

I have been sitting on some cash and would like to increase my technology (both Canada and the US) exposure as it is low right now. I am comfortable with moderate risk. I have a few questions on this subject so feel free to subtract as many credits as you see fit:
1) For Canadian tech companies, after reading your special report and the Q&A's, it seems you like CSU, KXS, DSG, and SHOP. Would you recommend buying these individual companies (or others?) or would XIT be a reasonable alternative with these 4 companies composing ~61%? Or is there another tech etf you would suggest?
2) For US tech companies (or any US company for that matter), with the Canadian dollar being low, would you recommend looking at specific US companies or a Canadian ETF that holds US tech companies? I am worried the exchange would eat into possible returns. Do you have any recommendations (e.g. I have seen you mention XQQ for an etf, SKYY highlighted in etfupdate, and companies like MSFT, GOOG, TEAM, etc)?

Thanks for all that you do.
Read Answer Asked by Justin on March 16, 2020
Q: Hi,
Multuiple questions here, please deduct the credits you think are appropriate.

1) Can you please explain when it makes sense to hold a hedged version of an ETF
2) If one holds a Canadian ETF with US holdings, how does taxation work? Does it change whether they are held in a cash acct, TFSA, or RRSP and how?
Read Answer Asked by S on March 13, 2020
Q: Hello, Please provide ETF's that replicates TSX, S&P, DOW & NASDAQ
are there Hedged and non-hedged versions for US stock Indices.
Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Harpinder on March 10, 2020
Q: Once the current rout in the market bottoms, please suggest the best ETF's listed on the TSX to ride the market back up, purely for capital gains, covering both the TSX and the Dow. These would be short-term investments during the recovery mode.
Read Answer Asked by Paul W on February 28, 2020
Q: I am looking for an international equity ETF that has a portion (+/-25%) of its holdings in technology but a good balance of other areas? thanks, Jean
Read Answer Asked by Jean on February 19, 2020
Q: Hi guys, I own the following with the respective total portfolio weightings. My TFSA is all CDN and RRSP is a mix of USD/CDN. When I rebalance, should I try and rebalance with respect to % of TFSA and % of RRSP or rebalance each holding as a percent of overall portfolio? If the latter, I would consolidate some of the holdings in my TFSA to bump up the individual weightings. Are there any obvious adjustments that I should make? I’m heavy on AAPL but have sold so much of it over the years I’m very tempted to let the remaining shares ride.
Please deduct as many credits as you see fit and many thanks for the excellent service you provide. The Q/A is invaluable as are the periodic market summaries. You’ve pulled me away from the panic button many, many times.
RESP:
VFV 1.30%
RRSP:
GOOG 4.78%
AYX 3.77%
AAPL 11.77%
BNS 5.26%
ENB 5.50%
GH 3.69%
XQQ 6.23%
JPM 4.80%
GUD 1.63%
NVDA 5.91%
DIS 3.25%
VXC 24.23%
TFSA:
ATD.B 1.96%
CAE 1.30%
WEED 0.48%
CSU 2.73%
GSY 1.94%
GC 1.59%
KXS 1.42%
LSPD 1.80%
MX 0.67%
PHO 1.14%
SHOP 2.69%
Read Answer Asked by Mark on February 19, 2020
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