Investment Q&A

Q: Hi Peter,

Over the next five to ten years, what is your expectation from a risk-return prospective for the following asset classes? Please provide your ranking with a brief explanation for your rationale.

Annualized returns for the past ten years are noted below as per BlackRock:

U.S. equities – 13%
Canadian equities – 8%
Infrastructure – 7.3%
Japan equities – 6.6%
REITs – 6.1%
European equities – 5.3%
China equities – 4.9%
High yield bonds – 3.4%
Emerging Market equities – 3.3%


Thanks George

Q: What are your thoughts on index funds and if you were to buy a few which ones would it be, following the Canadian and US exchanges?

Thanks

Q: Hi team!
I am considering a hybrid portfolio of either (A) 80% ETFs and 20% individual stocks or (B) 80% in an All-in-one ETF (VEQT/VGRO) and 20% individual stocks. I understand there may be foreign withholding tax considerations on the Vanguard All-in-one ETFs depending on the account type in which it's held and I'm wondering how significant this actually is.

Questions:

- Which accounts out of RRSP/LIRA, TFSA, RESP, and Non-Registered would US listed ETFs be a better alternative due to this foreign withholding tax drag?

- At what account value would the tax drag from these withholding taxes be material enough to warrant buying individual ETFs (ex. VT, VTI, XUU, XEF) instead of using an all in one fund (VGRO or VEQT)?

Trying to avoid losing 15% or more of any US/foreign dividends due to unrecoverable foreign taxes if possible!

Thanks for your great work!

Q: I'm looking to increase the dividends in my portfolio and wonder if there is an ETF that you would recommend for dividends?

thanks as always,
Paula

Q: Which Canadian Index ETF would you suggest holding in your portfolio?

Thanks for the great service.

Q: I have a question regarding the distributions for XIU, XIC and XAW. According to Morningstar these ETFs are close to 100% equities, yet it looks like interest income can make up a sizable component of the yearly distribution. I would have thought most of the distributions would be from dividends. Any information regarding this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

Q: I am thinking of investing in these three ETFs because I believe we are getting near the bottom of the market and all three of these ETFs have good growth prospects over the next 2 years. Would you agree with my thinking?

Thanks. David

Q: I am thinking of setting up my portfolio with 25% positions in XIU, ZLB, XSP, ZLU. I am trying to avoid bonds and International stocks as they always seem to be a drag on the portfolio. With this arrangement I feel I have a better chance for returns closer to the market. With the low volatility ETF’s, I am hoping my positions would cause less volatility and would smooth out returns as the holdings in each are well correlated. Would you consider this plan to be too risky or would you have any other commentary or suggestions?

Q: My sister has an RDSP with BMO. She has 75,000.00 in each the above funds. The lifestage money will mature in June and automatically go into a money market fund. The money will not be needed for years. She also has a trust fund. Do you have any suggestions for the 75k? Also, I believe the Cad and Usd equity funds are mutual funds. Should I move them to a lower cost ETF?

Q: Would like a current opinion on this mutual fund?
Is the fees worth the returns or would a global ETF perform better?
Greatly appreciate your opinion.

Q: Hi 5i Team,

I have held a balanced Canadian Couch Potato Portfolio with the above etfs in my son's RESP which i started when he was born in 2009. The portfolio has done pretty well (in my books at least) at 8% annual return. I am now looking at a 6 year time horizon for when he will need to begin to draw from the RESP. I am thinking of starting to rotate toward more conservative holdings as the timeline for needing the funds draws closer. Under "normal" circumstances from what i have learned this would mean moving more into bonds at this point but I am having trouble believing this is appropriate in the current market. With interest rates and inflation both rising i am wondering if low debt dividend stocks might be a better bet to hold onto purchasing power in this time frame? Maybe something something like CDZ vs XBB? I know you can not suggest specific portfolio recommendations but looking for suggestions/best bets for maintaining value and keeping up with inflation over this time frame.

Thanks,

Q: Good Morning,

I have recently retired and need to improve yield. The above noted holdings have a low yield or have not performed well.

Can you please rate from first to sell down to last to sell and possibly provide some basic reasoning.

Thanks very much.

Q: Do to a few errors/mistakes in switching brokerages, I ended up removing these from an RRSP and TFSA accounts and left them in limbo in a non- reg account. I am aware of the serious overlap among the RBF266, XDV,CDZ and XIU. (They were in separate accounts at one time). If I should consolidate, what are your thoughts? What stays and what goes? If I were to begin selling and adding stocks, I was thinking BAM.A and ?Twenty year time frame. Have maxed TFSA.
Cheers and thanks,
Paul

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, Happy new year!!

When looking at the long term rates of return of Emerging markets, developed INTL markets, Canadian and US stocks, the US has outperformed by a mile. I hold mostly stocks that are Cdn and US and I have global international and developed exposure through the mentioned ETF's, which only account for around 6% of my total portfolio. My questions are:

1. What is the simplest way to break down portfolio exposure without getting too overly complicated and detailed? Currently I break it down by where they trade. But for example, I hold stocks such as BAM, SLF, GOOG, JPM, V which are more global. How would I go about classifying some of these stocks? Would I allocate some % of these towards international exposure based on the company revenue breakdown, etc? any other metrics? Any good sites that easily summarize this info. or do I need to go looking through the companies financial statements?

2. Is there any mean reversion long term between CDN, US, INTL, and EE markets? So since INTL and EE has underperformed so much lately, is it time to rebalance equities from US to CDN/INTL/EE? Or for a long term growth investor, is the US still the best place to invest for growth whereas INTL/EE look cheap and have better value, although slower growth? Thoughts?

Q: I have CIF 843 in my RRSP - it comprises 8% of the RRSP. What is your opinion of it's performance & costs. Also- could you provide 3 or 4 alternates each of both Mutual Funds and ETF, in the same asset class.

Q: Hi,

I'm looking for 2 or 3 broad based ETFs that track the CDN TSX closely, and two or three ETFs that track the US broad market closely, for a 'couch potato' strategy.

Q: Hello, if my calculations and interpretation are correct the 5i Balanced Equity Portfolio 5yr annualized return is 11.05% which is pretty good. But at the same time why would i not just invest in an index fund such as XIU which has a very similar 5 yr annualized return of 11.07% or SPY which comes in at 18.93%

Q: What are the similarities and differences between the TD Canadian Index fund (e series) and XIU? The TD fund is based on the Solactive Canada Broad Market Index. XIU is based on the S&P/TSX 60 Index. After reviewing materials I'm not sure of the similarities and differences. Please explain.

Thank you for your ongoing excellent commentary on questions. I review questions and answers daily. It's a little after one year after signing up, and I am a much, much better investor because of your service.