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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 think I understand (mostly?) how the overall choice of holdings in this ETF are determined .
But how is the weighting of any individual holding in this fund determined? E.g. current holdings in the utilities sector include RNW (with a current 4.32% yield) at the top of the list at 3.08%, INE (2.4% yield) at 2.59%, CPX (5.44% yield) at 2.17%, ACO.X (4.51% yield) at 0.92%. Are Blackrock including some assessment of the other metrics of the companies in question (perhaps explaining the comparatively high 0.66 MER)?
Why would e.g. LNF, which would seem to otherwise qualify (2.58% yield with a 17-year streak of increasing dividends) be excluded?
Read Answer Asked by Lotar on January 21, 2021
Q: Hi guys!

Can you please recommend some alternatives/additionas to XTR? I'm looking for high dividend with also an (as high as possible) degree of diversification. Essentially, a couple choice income picks if I were to only choose 1-3 ETF for an entire dividend-based portfolio. This is in relation to my previous question where I was looking to do something relatively safe with ~60k over 2-3 yrs. Thanks!
Read Answer Asked by Andrew on January 18, 2021
Q: Are utility stocks and other dividend names under greater pressure with a rising 10 yr yield? If so, could you please explain why? Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Curtis on January 07, 2021
Q: I need to set up an annual income for my wife, for next 25 years. In TFSA and RRSP, using only ETF's. Dividend growth and HY dividends. Should have 5% yearly and 10% total return. Can you recommend the appropate ETF's. Vanguard/BMO/ I Shares (only)
Please NO EM ETF's One European OK--- Key is 5% annual income. Investment .5M$ It has to be buy and collect for 25 years. No input by my wife.
Thank you
Cec
Read Answer Asked by Cecil on November 16, 2020
Q: Hi,
if you were putting a fund together comparable to VGG, but for Canadian equities, what might be your first 5 top picks assuming the same criteria for the ETF? Also, what would be your 3 honorable mentions?
When comparing CDZ and VGG what are the main differences in terms of the stocks that make up these two ETF's?
Many thanks,
Dan
Read Answer Asked by Daniel on October 27, 2020
Q: Hi,
are the dividends paid by CDZ all eligible for the dividend tax credit or is there a portion that is return of capital? Sorry, I couldn't find it on Blackrock's web site.
Also, what would explain the negative performance of this ETF's in the past year as compared to say the XIC or XIU?
Thanks,
Dan
Read Answer Asked by Daniel on October 26, 2020
Q: HI uys.. Could you think of anything I should do with these 3vstocksdown about 9000.00 since I bought them. thanks fot the input as always.. cliff
Read Answer Asked by cliff on October 22, 2020
Q: Just read your email update on preparing for potential increased volatility. One of the measures was to focus on lower beta stocks, which I do anyway. I went though all of my holdings (easy because beta is one of the metrics I track).

I was surprised with one of my holdings = CDZ, the Canadian Dividend Aristocrats ETF, whose beta is 1.1. I would have thought that with the very nature of this ETF that it would have a much lower beta. Can you explain why the beta is as high as it is?

Thanks for your help...Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on October 15, 2020
Q: Are there any etf's that focus on companies with, strong balance sheets and a track record of consistent dividend growth by sectors, specifically tech, health, cons. staples etc. and if not what would be your recommendation for a general etf that has the same focus. Thanks for expertise.
Read Answer Asked by Ian on September 29, 2020
Q: Hi,

I've held CDZ since I first began investing on my own, about 12 years ago, and it doesn't appear to have done a whole lot. The dividend is great, mind you, but I haven't seen much growth. Over these 12 years, I've been buying many of the individual positions that form part of CDZ.

Does it make much sense to continue to hold CDZ as an anchor for my portfolio? Or can I start to wind it down and use that cash to build up other positions, while maintaining a balanced portfolio.

Thanks
Robert
Read Answer Asked by Robert on September 29, 2020
Q: I just retired with no pension and living off my portfolio. I’m sitting on a lot of cash right now with very little US investments. I would like to start buying slowly. What would you suggest. Preferably ETF’s listed on the TSX with the odd US stock. Thanks
Read Answer Asked by HEATH on September 21, 2020
Q: Retired dividend-income investor. I hold CDZ for the long term and currently have a 75% position, topping up regularly to achieve a full position by year end. When originally purchased the yield was in the range of 5.4%, now it is 3.7% due to some of the constituent dividends being suspended. I believe CDZ is reconstituted annually. When this happens, what will happen with the dividend? With the potential changes to the underlying securities, will the CDZ methodology cause the dividend to increase somewhat?

I am "ok" with the current dividend. I am just wondering if I will get a bit of a bonus when the ETF is reconstituted?

Thanks for your help...Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on September 02, 2020
Q: Further to the question related to the dividend cut for CDZ, is it safe to assume the cut is related to the associated dividend cuts from the underlying securities? And if that is true, then can we assume that once these securities reinstate their dividends, then the CDZ dividend will, in turn, rebound?

OR, is it a case whereby the ETF is periodically reconstituted and it is a fresh start for the underlying securities and we have to wait for the natural progression of dividend increases related to these "new" underlying securities? In this case how long does an individual security have to be "off-side" to be turfed from the ETF?

Thanks for helping me understand...Steve
Read Answer Asked by Stephen on July 28, 2020
Q: Hello
Looks like the CDZ dividend for July 2020 is going to .074 from .104 the months prior.
Thinking of moving to SCHD for more US exposure and I can use the loss on CDZ for taxes
I thank you for your time.
Sincerely
Mike
Read Answer Asked by Mike on July 27, 2020
Q: In each our TFSAs we have ZLB and CDZ plus cash. We understand that we should diversify our TFSA investments with a minimum of 5 different ETFs or mutual funds in each TFSA. Should we also consider having different investments in each TFSA?
Thank you Bradley Kempston
Read Answer Asked by Bradley on July 20, 2020
Q: Hi
In my cash account I want to replace part of my CDZ holding by 4% and increase my US and International by 2% each. I also want to capture the CDZ capital loss. In addition I like the 5.23% dividend.

Would you have any suggestions I was looking at ZSP and VEE as possible replacements and am willing to replace some dividend loss for gains.

I thank you for your time.

Mike
Read Answer Asked by Mike on July 14, 2020
Q: I am well past retirement and trying to consolidate my stock holdings into ETFs. I. may not last long enough to complete this transition, but I'm moving in that direction! My latest thought on this is to divide my Canadian equity between ZLB and CDZ the first for stability, the 2nd for dividends, and for US equity ZSP. I'm staying away from other International stocks at this stage. Does this seem reasonable?

thanks
Read Answer Asked by M.S. on June 25, 2020
Q: Hello 5i, I’ve invested a portion of my grandmother’s TFSA in CDZ looking for a decent diversified relatively low risk dividend (to be reinvested) payer, which I’ve seen recommended on here a few times. I was on morning star and I came across those two funds which seems to have outperformed despite their similarities and higher MER. Could you please explain the fundamental differences between the three and rank them from best to worst for a 5 year horizon according to your opinion? I wasn’t able to access the complete funds’ holding details. Thank you!!
Read Answer Asked by Michael on June 24, 2020
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